The Pulse Retreat Terms and Conditions

The élan tlc Pulse Retreat is facilitated by Velius Travel Limited. Please read their full booking terms and conditions before submitting your payment.

Important InformationAccessibility and alternative arrangementsIt is your responsibility to notify Velius Travel If you think you may require any special assistance to access the retreat activities. Velius Travel reserves the right to refuse any booking from prospective clients whom Velius Travel considers unsuitable for the type of travel to be undertaken.If you have any special dietary requests or needs, you are responsible for telling Velius Travel at the time of booking. LiabilitySouth Africa is a beautiful country, but socially and economically it is still a developing nation. Even the most meticulously planned arrangements can, and do, go wrong. Clients booking on the Pulse Retreat implicitly accept the above. Velius Travel accept no liability for the results of delays, or any loss, consequential loss or contingent liability arising from them. Clients, their baggage and property travel entirely at their own risk, acknowledging that in participating in the trip, certain risks may occur, including, but not limited to, the hazards of travelling in the bush, the forces of nature and the limited medical facilities of the region. ItineraryIt is very unlikely that the basic itinerary of the Pulse Retreat will be altered unless there is an unavoidable reason for it. However, the itinerary given is a guide to intentions rather than immutable contracts and occasionally it may be necessary for us to make small alterations to the accommodation, transport or order of an itinerary. Please note that no refund or compensation will be payable in these circumstances. Minimum numbersThe Pulse Retreat requires a minimum number of 6 participants to be confirmed. If this number is not met by January 1st 2020, the retreat will not go ahead and a full refund of your deposit will be made by Velius Travel. Not included in the cost1. Flights [Flights below]2. Comprehensive travel insurance. It is a condition of our accepting your booking that you be insured for the duration of your travel arrangements with us [See Insurance in Booking Conditions below]3. Visa fees [see Visas below]4. Porterage/bag carrying, laundry, telephone calls, items of a personal nature and gratuities unless otherwise stated.5. Activities, other than stated in the itinerary.6. Food, other than stated in the itinerary FlightsThe airport in Johannesburg is O.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB). It is your responsibility to book a flight that arrives on Saturday 21st February 2020 at any time and departs no earlier than 19:00 on Friday 28th February 2020. VisasIt is your responsibility to check the visa requirements for South Africa and to obtain all documentation necessary to travel. VaccinationsIt is your responsibility to consult with your GP to find out which vaccinations you may need for travel to Johannesburg and Madikwe Game Reserve. Booking ConditionsPlease pay particular attention to the following paragraphs: 1 Deposits and final payments8 Cancellations by you15 Insurance16 Your responsibilities Your contract is with Velius Travel Limited (registered in England under Reg No. 11687255), trading as Velius Travel, hereinafter called Velius Travel. When making a booking, you (the lead name on the booking) guarantee that you have the authority to accept, and do accept for you and on behalf of your party, that you are subject to the following conditions, and are deemed to have read, understood and accepted these as well as the paragraphs above under the heading Important Information. 1. Deposits and final payments1. To secure your booking a deposit payment of 50% of the holiday must be sent in full.2. Payment may be made via bank transfer or debit or credit card. Debit card and credit card payments to us attract no surcharge.3. Payment of the balance will be required not less than 60 days prior to the holiday start date.4. If the balance of the booking is not received when requested 60 days prior to the holiday start date, your place will be offered to those on the waiting list.5. Deposits are non-refundable.6. If the booking is made within 60 days prior to the holiday start date, then full payment must be made to secure your place.7. Confirmation of your place reservation will be sent out via email after your payment has cleared. 2. AcceptanceVelius Travel reserves the right to refuse any booking from prospective clients whom Velius Travel considers unsuitable for the type of travel to be undertaken. 3. Final paymentsFinal payment is due not less than 60 days before departure, or immediately if you book within 60 days of departure. 4. Minimum numbersIf the minimum number for a trip to be viable has not been reached, the trip will not go ahead and a full refund of your deposit will be made by Velius Travel. 5. Booking other servicesThe price shown excludes flights to the start of your trip. We strongly recommend you do not confirm or pay for any flight or other arrangements until we have confirmed your retreat reservation to you in writing. If you do, Velius Travel does not accept responsibility for any costs incurred for cancellation of such services if your chosen retreat does not confirm. 6. Independent arrangements and discontinuous itinerariesClients may already have flight, accommodation or transport reservations in place when they book arrangements with us. Please note we accept no liability for dovetailing with these independent arrangements, or where your booked itinerary with Velius Travel is discontinuous. In these circumstances if for example you arrive late to join a trip or to make onward connections, we shall endeavour to rearrange hotels and transfers, but we accept liability only for the elements of the itinerary that we are contracted to provide. 7. Alterations by you before departureIf you decide to change any part of a confirmed booking up to 60 days before departure, we will try to assist but will charge for additional holiday costs incurred, including cancellation charges that may be incurred for services cancelled. We reserve the right to make in addition an administration charge of £50 per person. Whilst Velius Travel will do its utmost to assist you with any changes this may not be possible. Any amendments must be made in writing by the lead passenger on the booking. Alterations within the periods below in paragraph 8 before departure we may choose to treat as a cancellation, and the penalties stated will apply. 8. Cancellations by youAny client who wishes to cancel must do so in writing and the following fees or percentages will be charged based on the date of receipt in writing, by fax or by email by Velius Travel of notification of cancellation. Cancellations will take effect the day said written notification is received by us.a) Standard conditions

If cancellation occurs less than 60 days before departure and full payment has not been received, the appropriate charge will still apply and unpaid moneys are due immediately. If the reason for your cancellation is covered under the terms of your insurance policy you may be able to reclaim these charges. b) Alteration or cancellation after commencement of travelVelius Travel will do its best to implement any alterations that you request after your holiday has commenced, but we cannot guarantee that it will be possible. In the event of such amendments being made you will be liable for any alteration or cancellation charges that may be levied for the services originally booked, and for the booking of revised arrangements and the arrangements themselves. As a basic principle, no refund will be paid to clients who do not commence or complete a tour, extension, or sector but please see paragraph 12 Refunds. 9. Booking TransferIn circumstances where a client is unable to travel, you can transfer your booking to another suitable person for the same trip, if that person satisfies the conditions applicable to the trip. For services which have already been purchased by Velius Travel and are non-refundable, additional costs of amending and/or acquiring these services for the replacement client must be paid by you. Velius Travel must be given reasonable notice of the transfer request, which is considered to be at least 7 days prior to the outward departure date. 10. Cancellations or alterations by Velius Travela) AlterationsWe will of course aim to provide the services we confirmed. However, arrangements are planned several months in advance and rely on the services of independent airlines and other service providers over whom we have no direct control. Therefore, Velius Travel reserves the right at any time to make changes to your holiday arrangements (including flights, accommodation, transport or services) and if changes are made we will advise you where possible before you depart. Flight timings and carriers details given on your Itinerary are for guidance only. Even details shown on your e-tickets may be subject to change locally especially in respect of airline schedule changes or any other operational decisions. In the unlikely event that there is a change to the actual airline after you have received your tickets you will be notified as soon as possible. Such a change is deemed to be a minor change. Other examples of minor changes include, but are not limited to, alteration of your outward/return flights by less than 12 hours, changes to aircraft type, change of accommodation to another of the same or higher standard. In these circumstances, Velius Travel will try to notify you where possible but will not pay any compensation in respect of minor changes. The flight number and airline shown on your ticket may not be the one you actually fly with - this is called code-sharing. Usually, airport departure information boards will reflect this, and ‘toggle’ between two flight numbers even though it’s the same flight. If we make a material change (examples of which are a change before departure involving a significant change of resort or ground itinerary; a significant – usually more than 24 hours - change of outbound flight time), you may cancel your booking and obtain a prompt and full refund of all money paid by you to Velius Travel provided that you have given us written notification of cancellation within 7 days of the date on which we notified you of all alterations. Please note that where an airline schedule change or disruption causes a potential material change, Velius Travel may choose to switch flight routings at no additional cost to you, to enable us to fulfil our obligations to you. In these circumstances, if you choose to cancel, normal charges will apply and insurance premiums cannot be refunded. If we make a material change within 8 weeks of departure, you will also be entitled to compensation per person in accordance with the scale below.Period before scheduled departure date within which a material change is notified to you. Notification period Compensation

Payment of compensation shown above will not be made for any change or cancellation caused by events such as war or threat of war, terrorist activity, insurrection, riots, strikes, civil action, decisions by governments or governing authority, natural or nuclear disaster, health risks, epidemic or pandemic illness, bad weather, unavoidable technical or maintenance problems with transport, cancellations and changes of schedules of air, land or sea carriers which are the force of force majeure, closed or congested airports, ports or stations, or similar circumstances beyond our control. b) CancellationsVelius Travel reserves the right in any circumstance to cancel all or part of your travel arrangements. We will not cancel within 8 weeks of our booking departure date, except in circumstances of force majeure, or the clients’ failure to pay the final balance on time, or where the minimum number of clients required to run an integral excursion or element of the trip is not met. In these circumstances, we will try to offer you alternatives (if available) but Velius Travel accepts no liability for compensation or associated costs beyond a full refund of the deposit or other payments made to Velius Travel for the trip. Where we are obliged to cancel all or a discrete module of your travel arrangements for reasons beyond our control, as described in 10a (force majeure) or 10c, Velius Travel shall inform clients as soon as possible and offer alternative arrangements of comparable standard, if available, or a prompt refund of all moneys paid for the retreat. If the alternative is cheaper we will refund the difference. Any refund shall be sent to direct clients within 14 clear days. Velius Travel Limited accepts no liability for compensation beyond this full refund.If any of the causes for cancellation or amendments occurs after the tour has commenced or after we are able to advise you, we reserve the right to allow our local supplier to amend the planned itinerary and accommodation on your behalf and where these amendments are made as a result of force majeure, no compensation will be paid. Delays in departure and failed transport connections will sometimes make it impossible for a client to use services contracted and paid for, and in these circumstances Velius Travel Limited shall be under no liability to pay compensation. However, where amendments are within our control, you will be entitled to compensation of £40 per person. c) FCO Travel AdvisoriesIf the FCO (www.fco.gov.uk) offers advice against all or non-essential travel to a country or area, Velius Travel will follow the recommendations of ABTA and offer an alternative itinerary or if appropriate, a full refund. ABTA offers only general guidance on when this offer should be made bearing in mind the date of issue of the Travel Advisory and passengers’ date of travel. Velius Travel will be as sympathetic as possible and will use common sense and information from the appropriate British Embassy to make this judgement. For example, if we have information that advice against travel is likely to be downgraded shortly, we may delay the offer of an alternative itinerary, or a full refund. Please note that the above paragraphs do not apply if the FCO advice is to consider postponing travel. 11. Pricesa) Exchange ratesThe price of a retreat or holiday may be varied at any time before we have accepted your booking, and thereafter if you make any amendments to the original booking. b) SurchargesWhen your holiday is confirmed, we guarantee we will not surcharge for any additional costs associated with currency fluctuation, government action or government imposed taxes/increases, overflying charges, increase in scheduled airfares, airport taxes or embarkation or landing fees at ports. 12. Refunds and compensationAs a basic principle, no refund will be made for any unused hotel accommodation, service or transport. However, where we ourselves are able to obtain a refund from hotels or principals for services not used, we will endeavour to pass this on to the client, less reasonable administration charges. Velius Travel’s responsibility will not extend beyond this refund (where possible) and no payments will be made, or compensation given in respect of claims for contingent liability or inconvenience experienced by clients. No refund can be made on lost, mislaid or destroyed e-tickets or vouchers. 13. Variation of conditions of contractNo employee, servant, agent or associate of Velius Travel may vary or omit any booking conditions without the written consent of a Director of Velius Travel. 14. JurisdictionAll matters concerning the booking shall be governed and construed in accordance with English law and each party agrees to submit all such matters to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. 15. InsuranceIt is a condition of booking with Velius Travel that you take out travel insurance at the time of, or prior to making your booking, and which fully covers your period of travel. We recommend that you take out insurance early (we recommend ensuring that your policy covers loss of deposit), so that you get full value for money for cancellation insurance. The price of policies varies according to age, pre-existing medical conditions, duration of travel and the amount for which you need to be insured. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you buy is suitable and adequate to your particular needs and especially in relation to personal accident, all medical expenses and repatriation costs. You must send us details of the policy you do take including the insurers’ name, policy number and 24-hour emergency telephone number. You are also required to carry proof of insurance with you and produce it if reasonably requested by our local suppliers. If you lose any personal items whilst on holiday you are advised to obtain a written police report and/or from a local representative to assist with any insurance claim upon your return. 16. Your responsibilitiesBefore booking, please refer to the FCO website to ensure that you’re comfortable with the travel advice to the place you’re going to: www.fco.gov.uk/It is incumbent upon clients to behave in a responsible, restrained and sober manner when dealing with our local suppliers and representatives, with local authorities and with fellow travellers. If you are affected by any condition, medical or otherwise, that may compromise your or other people’s enjoyment of the holiday, you must advise us at time of booking. Clients agree to accept the authority and decisions of Velius Travel’s employees and local suppliers whilst on holiday with Velius Travel. If, in the opinion of such persons, the health, level of fitness or conduct of a client at any time before or after departure appears likely to cause danger, distress or loss of enjoyment to others or to the client him/herself, the client may be excluded from all or part of the tour or excursion without refund or compensation. Similarly, you must meet any expenses Velius Travel incurs as a result of your behaviour. The behaviour and well-being of minors is the responsibility of parents or accompanying adults. You must ensure that all your travel documents, full passport, visas, inoculation certificates, credit cards, currency and travellers’ cheques are in order. No credit or refunds will be given as a result of lost, misplaced or destroyed travel documents. If your accommodation has a safe, keep your passport there (but always carry a photocopy of the important pages for identification purposes). Use your common sense to judge whether hotel safe-boxes are indeed ‘safe’, since, even if we have booked the hotel for you, Velius Travel will accept no responsibility or claims for contingent liability for theft from hotel rooms or safekeeping.Please consult a qualified medical practitioner to ensure that you have all required vaccinations, inoculations and prophylactics against malaria required for your travel destination. We are able to give general advice, but cannot be held responsible for any information not stated in writing as indicated below.Please note that if you believe that we have stated orally that a particular facility or service would be available, we ask you make a brief reference to it in writing so that we may confirm it to you when accepting your booking. The same applies to requests for special diets, room/cabin allocation and other sleeping arrangements, facilities for the disabled, all of which we must be made aware of in writing at time of booking. If Velius Travel or any local supplier reasonably feels unable properly to accommodate the particular needs of the person(s) concerned we reserve the right to decline the booking. Whilst every effort will be made to meet requests for special diets and disabled facilities, they cannot be guaranteed in all of the destinations where we offer holidays, nor can we accept claims for compensation associated with their non-provision. Similarly, any special request for room allocation is at the discretion of the service provider and all special requests are subject to availability, and cannot always be guaranteed. 17. Our responsibilitiesOur obligations, and those of our suppliers providing any service or facility included in your holiday, are to take reasonable skill and care to arrange for the provision of such services and facilities. You must show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make any claim. In many destinations around the world, standards of quality, safety and hygiene may often be lower than those which would be expected to be found in the UK. Indeed the allure of some of our destinations is to experience relatively untouched parts of the world and thus facilities and infrastructure in some areas may be of a basic nature and more appropriate to the local culture than to foreign tourists. The nature of the prevailing conditions may also give rise to events or entail risks beyond those either planned for or usually encountered. All bookings are accepted on the understanding that such differences are appreciated by clients and that they undertake all tours and excursions of their own volition. The services and facilities included in your holiday will be deemed to be provided with reasonable skill and care if they comply with any local regulations which apply (for example those of a civil aviation authority) or, if there are no applicable local regulations, if they are reasonable when compared to the local standards and customs.We accept responsibility for the proper performance of the travel services included in the holiday itinerary. If any part is not provided as promised, other than as a result of force majeure (see 10a) we will pay you appropriate compensation if this has affected your enjoyment of the holiday. Our liability in such cases shall be limited to a maximum of the total price of the package. We accept no responsibility for any services and arrangements which do not form part of the booking with us. Our liability will also be limited in accordance with and/or in an identical manner to the contractual terms of the companies that provide the travel services that make up your package. These terms are incorporated into this booking. NB this entire clause does not apply to any separate contracts that you may enter into for excursions or activities whilst on holiday. 18. Prompt assistance in resortIf you’re in difficulty whilst on holiday and ask us to help we will provide appropriate assistance, in particular by providing information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance; and helping you to find alternative arrangements and any necessary phone calls/emails. You must pay any costs we incur, if the difficulty is your fault. 19. If you have a problem on holidayYou must inform us without undue delay of any failure to perform or improper performance of the travel services in the package. If you have a complaint, please bring it to the attention of Velius Travel’s local agents immediately to enable them to do their best to rectify the situation. It is sensible to expect a client travelling in a developing country to be reasonably resourceful if things go wrong; this does not mean spending limitless money and expecting us to pick up the tab, or doing nothing at the time, and writing a letter of complaint on return. If your local agent is a few minutes late in meeting your flight, give him a chance to put things right on the ground – this is by far the best solution for you, for us and for our agent. If all else fails, call Velius Travel in Bristol on our 24-hour emergency line provided in your final documents. If you have a problem during your holiday, it is a condition of this contract that you communicate this to the supplier of the services (e.g. hotel) and to our representative locally, and put your complaint in writing. If you fail to follow this simple procedure, we will have been deprived of the opportunity to take remedial action whilst you are away. This may also affect the outcome of the complaint and your rights under this contract. If the problem remains unresolved please write to us within 28 days of your return to the UK with all the relevant information and quoting your booking reference number. Please keep your correspondence concise and to the point so as to assist us quickly to identify your concerns and respond accordingly. We will acknowledge and investigate, and reply in full as soon as possible. However, please allow for the fact that we often have to deal with suppliers in developing countries, and delays of several weeks are not uncommon. 20. Seasonality and maintenanceIn off-season, certain activities and hotel facilities, e.g. excursions, pools, restaurants, etc may not be available owing to weather conditions or lack of demand. Similarly, day-to-day maintenance may mean certain facilities are temporarily unavailable. Conversely, during busy periods hotels often experience full occupancy which may result in a livelier atmosphere and slower service in busy facilities. Velius Travel can offer no refund or compensation in these circumstances. 21. Consumer protection, public liability and professional indemnityWe carry both public liability and professional indemnity insurance. You, the passenger, should beware of signing any documents (e.g. through any sub-organiser whilst abroad) which absolves a local organiser from the results of its own negligence and reduces your common law rights, since this may invalidate your own travel insurance. 22. CopyrightThe copyright of all written material, including maps and layouts, in brochures and on the website is held by Velius Travel unless otherwise stated. The copyright for photographs is either retained by the photographer or held by Velius Travel. No part of these publications or website may be reproduced, stored or introduced to a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The information contained herein has been compiled with all reasonable care and is accurate to the best of our knowledge; some information may be subject to reasonably foreseeable changes during the life of printed brochures, but we try promptly to keep online information up to date. If you have questions about any of the Terms and Conditions please contact Kate at Velius Travel Limited: kate@veliustravel.co.uk