BOOKING CONDITIONS9. Special requestsIf you have any special requests, you should inform us of suchrequests prior to departure. We will advise the relevant supplier ofyour requirements but we cannot guarantee that such requests willbe met. Furthermore, we have no liability to you if such requestsare not met. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed onto the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on yourconfirmation invoice or any other documentation is notconfirmation that the request will be met. If you or any member of your party has any medical problem ordisability which may affect your holiday, please tell us before youconfirm your booking so that we can advise as to the suitability ofthe chosen arrangements. In any event, you must give us fulldetails in writing at the time of booking. If we reasonably feelunable to properly accommodate the particular needs of theperson concerned, we must reserve the right to decline theirreservation or, if full details are not given at the time of booking,cancel when we become aware of these details.10. BehaviourWhen you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damageor loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full paymentfor any such damage or loss must be paid direct at the time to theaccommodation owner or manager or other supplier. If you fail todo so, you will be responsible for meeting any claimssubsequently made against us (together with our own and theother party's full legal costs) as a result of your actions.We expect all clients to have consideration for other people. Theoverwhelming majority of Naturetrek clients are non-smokers. Toenable them to enjoy their holiday in comfort (and fresh air!), weinsist that smokers refrain from smoking in the proximity of all othergroup members, and whilst watching wildlife, at all times. Inparticular, smoking in any confined space - be it the lounge, diningroom, minibus, bedroom (if shared with a non-smoker) or at anyother group gathering is not permitted. If in our reasonable opinionor in the reasonable opinion of any other person in authority, youor any member of your party behaves in such a way as to cause orbe likely to cause danger, upset or distress to any third party ordamage to property or fauna (including the collecting of anyspecimen from the natural world for example any plants orinsects), we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate theholiday of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s)concerned will be required to leave the accommodation or otherservice. We will have no further responsibility toward suchperson(s) including any return travel arrangements. No refunds willbe made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as aresult of the termination. 11. ComplaintsShould you have any complaint whilst on holiday, you mustimmediately inform your leader and the supplier of the service inquestion (for example any accommodation supplier) who will dohis/her best to remedy it. If he/she is unable to do so, we mustrequest that you make the complaint known to us in writing within14 days of your holiday's scheduled return to London, and we willdo our best to reach a settlement with you. In the unlikely eventthat you are still unhappy, you may refer the matter to Court (seeclause 2) or to arbitration under AITO's independent DisputeSettlement Service (details on request) in order to bring the matterto a speedy and amicable solution. This scheme does not apply toclaims of more than £2,500 per person, or £10,000 per bookingform, nor for claims which are solely or mainly in respect ofphysical injury or illness or the consequences there from. 12. Our liability to you (1). We promise to make sure that the holiday arrangements wehave agreed to make, perform or provide as applicable, as part ofour contract with you, are made, performed or provided withreasonable skill and care. This means that, subject to theseBooking Conditions, we will accept responsibility if, for example,you suffer death or personal injury or your contracted holidayarrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as aresult of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents orsuppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing orproviding, as applicable, your contracted holiday arrangements.Please note that it is your responsibility to show that reasonableskill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claimagainst us. In addition, we will only be responsible for what ouremployees, agents and suppliers do or do not do if they were atthe time acting within the course of their employment (foremployees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (foragents and suppliers). (2). We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss(for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost or othersum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from anyof the following: -- the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the person(s) affected or anymember(s) of their party or- the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected withthe provision of your holiday and which were unforeseeable orunavoidable or- 'force majeure' as defined in clause 6 above(3). Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any serviceswhich do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example,any additional services or facilities which your hotel or any othersupplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilitiesare not advertised in our brochure and we have not agreed toarrange them and any excursion you purchase whilst overseas.Please also see clause 13 'Excursions, activities and brochureinformation'. In addition, regardless of any wording used by us onour website, in any of our brochures or elsewhere, we onlypromise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and wedo not have any greater or different liability to you.(4). The promises we make to you about the services we haveagreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract - and the lawsand regulations of the country in which your claim or complaintoccurred - will be used as the basis for deciding whether theservices in question had been properly provided. If the particularservices which gave rise to the claim or complaint complied withlocal laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time,the services will be treated as having been properly provided. Thiswill be the case even if the services did not comply with the lawsand regulations of the UK which would have applied had thoseservices been provided in the UK. The exception to this is wherethe claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety featurewhich might lead a reasonable holiday maker to refuse to take theholiday in question.(5). Where any claim or part of a claim (including those involvingdeath or personal injury) concerns or is based on any travelarrangements (including the process of getting on and/or off thetransport concerned) provided by any air, sea, rail or road carrieror any stay in a hotel, the maximum amount of compensation wewill have to pay you will be limited. The most we will have to payyou for that claim or that part of a claim if we are found liable toyou on any basis is the most the carrier or hotel keeper concernedwould have to pay under the international convention or regulationwhich applies to the travel arrangements or hotel stay in question(for example, the Warsaw Convention as amended or unamendedand the Montreal Convention for international travel by air and/orfor airlines with an operating licence granted by an EU country, theEC Regulation on Air Carrier Liability No 889/2002 for national andinternational travel by air, the Athens convention for internationaltravel by sea). Please note: Where a carrier or hotel would not beobliged to make any payment to you under the applicableInternational Convention or Regulation in respect of a claim or partof a claim, we similarly are not obliged to make a payment to youfor that claim or part of the claim. When making any payment, weare entitled to deduct any money which you have received or areentitled to receive from the transport provider or hotelier for thecomplaint or claim in question. Copies of the applicableInternational Conventions and Regulations are available from uson request.(6). Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage,loss, expense or other sum(s) of any description (1) which on thebasis of the information given to us by you concerning yourbooking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen youwould suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you or (2)which did not result from any breach of contract or other fault byourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them,our suppliers. Additionally we cannot accept liability for anybusiness losses.(7). You must provide ourselves and our insurers with allassistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us andthe supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out inclause 11 above. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or ourinsurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever elseis responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concernedis under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must alsoagree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or ourinsurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.13. Excursions, activities and brochure information The information contained in our brochure is correct to the best ofour knowledge at the time of the brochure going to print. We mayprovide you with information (in our brochure and/or when you areon holiday) about activities and excursions which are available inthe area you are visiting. We have no involvement in any such activities or excursions whichare neither run, supervised nor controlled in any way by us. Theyare provided by local operators or other third parties who areentirely independent of us. They do not form any part of yourcontract with us even where we suggest particular operators/otherthird parties and/or assist you in booking such activities orexcursions in any way. We cannot accept any liability on any basisin relation to such activities or excursions and the acceptance ofliability contained in clause 12 of our Booking Conditions will notapply to them. We do not however exclude liability for thenegligence of ourselves or our employees resulting in your deathor personal injury.We cannot guarantee accuracy at all times of information given inrelation to such activities or excursions or about the resorts/areayou are visiting generally (except where this concerns the serviceswhich will form part of your contract) or that any particularexcursion or activity which does not form part of our contract willtake place as these services are not under our control. If you feelthat any of the activities mentioned in our brochure which are notpart of our contract are vital to the enjoyment of your holiday, writeto us immediately and we will tell you the latest known situation. Ifwe become aware of any material alterations to resort/areainformation and/or such outside activities which can reasonably beexpected to affect your decision to book a holiday with us, we willpass on this information at the time of booking.14. Passports, visas and health requirements The passport, visa and health requirements applicable at the timeof printing to British citizens for the holidays we offer are shown inour Pre-departure Pack. A full British passport presently takesapproximately three weeks to obtain. If you or any member of yourparty have not yet got a passport, our recommendation is that youshould apply for one at least six weeks before your holiday. TheUK Passport Service has to confirm your identity before issuingyour first passport and will ask you to attend an interview in orderto do this.Requirements may change and you must check the up to dateposition in good time before departure with the Embassy orconsulate of the country(ies) you are travelling through and to.Information on health is contained in the Department of Healthleaflet T6 (Health Advice for Travellers) available from your localDepartment of Health office and most Post Offices. For holidays inthe EEA you should obtain an EHIC (European Health InsuranceCard) prior to departure. N.B this card replaced the E111. FromJanuary 2006 E111 forms have not been valid. It is the party leader's responsibility to ensure that all members ofthe party are in possession of all necessary travel and healthdocuments before departure. All costs incurred in obtaining suchdocumentation must be paid by you. We regret we cannot acceptany liability if you or any member of your party are refused entryonto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part tocarry correct documentation. If you or any member of your party isnot a British citizen or holds a non British passport, you mustcheck passport and visa requirements with the Embassy orConsulate of the country(ies) to or through which you areintending to travel. If failure to have any necessary travel or otherdocuments results to fines, surcharges or other financial penaltybeing imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing usaccordingly. 15. Financial securityWe hold an Air Travel Organiser's Licence issued by the CivilAviation Authority (ATOL number 2962.) This means the airholidays in this brochure are ATOL protected. ATOL Protectionextends primarily to customers who book and pay in the UnitedKingdom. In the unlikely event of our insolvency, the CAA willensure that you are not left stranded abroad and will arrange torefund any money you have paid to us for an advance booking.For further information, visit the ATOL website at www.atol.org.uk. Ifyour holiday does not include flights it will be financially protectedby an AITO Trust Bond (AITOT). This arrangement protects yourholiday in the same way as above except where your contractedarrangements with us do not include transport to and from the UK.In this case, if already abroad, you will be returned to the pointwhere your contracted arrangements with us commenced. 16. Prices and brochure accuracyPlease note, the information and prices shown in this brochuremay have changed by the time you come to book your holiday.Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the brochureand prices at the time of printing, regrettably errors do occasionallyoccur. You must therefore ensure you check all details of yourchosen holiday (including the price) with us at the time of booking. This brochure is our sole responsibility. It is not issued on behalf ofand does not commit any independent organisation/carriers whoseservices are featured in it. 17. Conditions of suppliersMany of the services which make up your holiday are provided byindependent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services inaccordance with their own terms and conditions. Some of theseterms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier's liability toyou, usually in accordance with applicable InternationalConventions (see clause 12(5)). 18. DelayWe regret we are not in a position to offer you any assistance inthe event of delay at your outward or homeward point ofdeparture. Any airline concerned may however providerefreshments etc.19. Safety standardsPlease note, it is the requirements and standards of the country inwhich any services which make up your holiday are providedwhich apply to those services and not those of the UK. As ageneral rule, these requirements and standards will not be thesame as the UK and may often be lower.20. FlightsIn accordance with EU Directive (EC) No 2111/2005 Article 9, weare required to bring to your attention the existence of a"Community list" which contains details of air carriers that aresubject to an operating ban with the EU Community. TheCommunity list is available for inspection athttp://europa.eu.int/comm/transport/air/safety/flywell_en.htm.In accordance with EU Regulations we are required to advise youof the carrier(s) (or, if the carrier(s) is not known, the likelycarrier(s)) that will operate your flight(s)) at the time of booking.Where we are only able to inform you of the likely carrier(s) at thetime of booking, we shall inform you of the identity of the actualcarrier(s) as soon as we become aware of this. Any change to theoperating carrier(s) after your booking has been confirmed will benotified to you as soon as possible. We are not always in a position at the time of booking to confirmthe aircraft type and flight timings which will be used in connectionwith your flight. The flight timings and types of aircraft shown inthis brochure and detailed on your confirmation invoice are forguidance only and are subject to alteration and confirmation. Thelatest timings will be shown on your tickets which will bedespatched to you approximately two weeks before departure. Youmust accordingly check your tickets very carefully immediately onreceipt to ensure you have the correct flight times. It is possiblethat flight times may be changed even after tickets have beendespatched - we will contact you as soon as possible if thisoccurs. Any change in the identity of the carrier, flight timings, and/oraircraft type will not entitle you to cancel or change to otherarrangements without paying our normal charges except wherespecified in these conditions. If the carrier with whom you have a confirmed reservationbecomes subject to an operating ban as above as a result ofwhich we/the carrier are unable to offer you a suitable alternativethe provisions of clause 5 (Changes and cancellation by us) willapply.285