Last updated March 2022.

These are the terms and conditions of Sia Mondo Escapes Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 12219584 whose registered office is at 177 Main Street, Witchford, Ely, England, CB6 2HP (“we” or “us”).

This page tells you about the terms on which you may book a travel experience with us (“Retreat”). By booking a Retreat, you accept these terms, and a legally binding contract is formed between you and us. If you don’t accept these terms, please don’t book a Retreat. We may update these terms from time to time, so please check back regularly as any updates will apply to your Retreat.

1. Booking

Bookings for our Retreats can be made on our website or via our social media by making an online payment using our booking link.

To secure your booking, we will require a 25% non-refundable deposit (“deposit”). The balance of the Retreat fees must be paid within 10 weeks of your outbound travel date. If you book your Retreat within 10 weeks of the outbound travel date, we will require the full Retreat fees up front.

A failure to pay your full Retreat fees within 90 days of the travel date means you will lose your place on the Retreat and you will be subject to a cancellation charge as specified in clause 3 below.

Please discuss with us if you require a payment plan and we will do our best to facilitate this.

2. Cancellation or postponement by us

If we have to cancel your booking for operational reasons, for example if the minimum number of passengers required on the trip does not materialise, we will transfer your deposit to another Retreat and refund you the balance of monies you have paid us for your Retreat.

Each Retreat should have a minimum of six persons booked onto it, and so we reserve the right to postpone your Retreat when the minimum number isn’t met. If that happens, we will give you as much notice as possible and we your deposit will be transferred to another Retreat of your choosing, subject to availability. All other booking fees will be refunded to you within 30 days.

It is possible that, due to Covid-19 or any other cause outside of our control, your Retreat may need to be postponed or cancelled. We will refund you in full for a cancelled trip, and in the event of postponement, we will transfer your deposit to another Retreat, subject to availability.

3. Cancellation by you

If you need to cancel your Retreat after booking, you will forfeit your deposit and we will refund you a proportion of the balance of your fees (if paid), as follows:

• 90 and more days before Retreat start date – retention of deposit
• 45-89 days before Retreat start date – 50% of balance or retention of deposit if higher
• 30-45 days before Retreat start date – 75%
• 29-0 days before Retreat start date – 100%

4. Your Retreat

The Retreat will be run by us and a local guide, which may be subject to change depending on availability of the guide.
The Retreat fees include:

• accommodation for the duration of the Retreat
• transfers from airports/train stations
• the tours as specified on our website
• all food as noted on the itinerary.

It does not include the flights, which is your responsibility to arrange and pay for separately, tips to your guide or any spending money.

5. Your responsibilities

Travel insurance

Travelling without insurance is unnecessarily risky. As such, it is your sole responsibility to obtain adequate travel insurance. We recommend that you purchase insurance when you book your Retreat so that you are covered for trip cancellation.

We recommend that your insurance should cover:

• Evacuation and repatriation
• Travel delays and cancellation
• Medical expenses
• Baggage insurance
• Your personal belongings
• Any activity you are scheduled to undertake during the Retreat.

You are responsible for ensuring that your personal belongings are kept safe at all times. We cannot be held responsible for your baggage and personal belongings except when they are specifically in our care or the care of our suppliers. When your baggage is stored on vehicles or in accommodations it is at your risk and it is your responsibility to see that it is correctly and safely stored.

Flights

All fees paid by you to us for your Retreat do not include your flights to and from the Retreat – these are to be booked by you and it’s your responsibility for catching your flights.

You should not book flights or make any travel arrangements in conjunction with your Retreat until you have received confirmation from us that the Retreat is going ahead.

Passport, visa and health requirements

It’s your sole responsibility to ensure you have a valid passport with at least 6 months left from the date of your return to the UK. We may offer you advice on visa requirements but it’s your responsibility to obtain your visa and that it is granted for the duration of your Retreat.

We strongly advise you to regularly check with the relevant embassy to ensure that no recent changes have occurred that might affect your visa. You must ensure that you have the correct entry documentation to the country of your Retreat, including any necessary inoculations, such as yellow fever.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is possible you may need to comply with further entry requirements. You must ensure you comply with all such requirements and have all supporting documentation in order to gain entry. Regulations may change regularly, and it is your responsibility to keep yourself updated with any new requirements. You should continually check the relevant FCO advice and embassy websites as we cannot be held responsible if you’re unable to travel to the Retreat due you not adhering to the latest entry requirements.

Behaviour

It is essential that during your Retreat you treat all those you encounter with kindness and respect and in particular adhere to all local customs. It is important that you familiarise yourself with these prior to the Retreat.

Guests who are deemed by us or the local guides to act inappropriately will be asked to stop and if such inappropriate behaviour persists despite warnings, you will be asked to leave the Retreat and we are not liable to you for the consequences of this and you will not be entitled to a refund.

For the avoidance of any doubt, inappropriate behaviour includes (but is not limited to) verbally abusive, aggressive or violent behaviour, the excessive consumption of alcohol, drug use, sexual harassment, including sexual comments and unwanted physical contact, and any behaviour that intimidates, offends or humiliates a person because of their personal characteristics such as age, race, gender, disability, religion or sexuality.

Health and diet

It is your responsibility to ensure that you are in good health and physically able to travel to and participate in the Retreat. We strongly recommend that you consult with a medical professional prior to travel and to seek their advice about any inoculations and/or medicines you may need.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition (including any mental health issues) that could affect your ability to participate fully in the Retreat, you must tell us at the time of booking. You will need to provide us with your emergency contact and we reserve the right to contact them if we or the guide are concerned about your welfare, or the welfare of others during the Retreat due to your actions or behaviour.

Prior to travel you must have received two rounds of the Covid-19 vaccine and be able to provide evidence of your double vaccination by presentation to us of your NHS Covid pass. As food is provided to you during the Retreat, you must notify us of any allergies and/or dietary requirements so that we may plan accordingly.

6. Our legal responsibility

We will ensure that the Retreat you book with us is as described and we will provide the Retreat to you to a reasonable standard.

We will not assume any liability for any direct or indirect losses or damages that may result from your booking or attendance of a Retreat, including, but not limited to, economic loss. Nothing in these terms shall exclude any liability under the law that cannot be excluded, including death or personal injury caused by negligence.

We will provide information to you about your Retreat and it is your responsibility to check this information carefully, as things can change and any errors or omissions are inadvertent and we cannot be held responsible for them, other than to refund you for any services which you have not received as a direct result of our negligence. As summarised in clause 7, we cannot be held responsible for changes made to your Retreat as a result of weather, political or terrorist threats or other events beyond our control.

We’re not liable to you if you become injured, hurt or ill during the Retreat, and we shall not be responsible if you contract Covid-19 or any other illness, disease or infection during the Retreat, which shall include your journey to and from the Retreat.

Our liability to you is limited to the total Retreat fees paid by you to us.

If you have any issues during your Retreat, please raise this with us or the guide immediately and we will do what we reasonably can to resolve this for you. If your complaint cannot be resolved during the Retreat, please contact us by email setting out your complaints when you return and we will process accordingly.

7. Force majeure

If we have to cancel or make major changes to your Retreat because of events beyond our control we won’t be liable to refund your Retreat fees or pay you compensation. We will use our reasonable endeavours to offer you an alternative Retreat but we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do this. These events can include, but are not limited to: war, the threat of war, civil strife, epidemic, pandemic, terrorist activities or the threat of terrorist activities, acts of governments or local authorities, strikes, industrial disputes, demonstrations, natural disasters, unnatural disasters such as explosions, or any similar event which is outside our control or the control of our suppliers.

We will always follow the advice issued by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). If the FCO issues an advisory against all travel to the country your Retreat is in, we will do our best to offer you an alternative Retreat or a refund of as much as we can claim back from our overseas suppliers on your behalf.

It is possible we might need to make changes to your Retreat once your booking is confirmed or you have already departed, for a number of reasons, depending on circumstances. You acknowledge that travel can involve delays and other issues due to the nature of the country or the transportation infrastructure. Once you are on your Retreat, changes will only be made if it concerns your personal safety or convenience, and there will be no refund for any activities or other parts of the Retreat which you might miss as a result of our changes. You acknowledge that travelling through some regions of the world in which we operate does involve potential delays and hazards and we cannot be held responsible for cancellations and changes that are beyond our control.

8. Acceptance of risk

Our Retreats operate in different places around the world, and some may be or become politically unstable, suffer extreme weather, disease or other conditions which could cause you discomfort or even a risk to your safety. In booking your Retreat, you accept that this can involve such hazards, and changes or disruption to your Retreat may occur.

We cannot be responsible for events or the actions or failures of people and organisations over whom we have no control, and you cannot make a claim against us in this regard. We accept your Retreat booking on the basis that you agree and understand that there may be risks associated with the Retreat and we cannot be held liable or responsible for any delays, accidents, damage, loss, health issues or other issues resulting from the failure of people and organisations other than our own staff.

Some trips are entirely operated by third parties. We vet these third parties and arrange trips with them on your behalf, but any liability for claims you may wish to make against them lies with the third parties and not Real Gap Experience, although we will help you with claims in the event that we deem your claim fair and reasonable.

9. Covid-19

As we have seen in recent years, the Covid-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on the travel industry and we must always comply with any local or national guidelines.

We will monitor the Covid-19 situation in the UK and the destination of your Retreat and will keep you updated on any changes to plans as a result by updating our website. You should however also be monitoring the situation by checking the applicable government websites.

10. General

We change these terms from time to time and you must check them for changes because they are binding on you.

Any notice given by a party under these terms shall be in writing and sent to the relevant party at its last notified contact email address (which, for us, is dawn@siamonescapes.com). Notices are deemed received at the time of transmission. This condition does not apply to the service of legal proceedings.

We may assign, subcontract or encumber any right or obligation under these terms, in whole or in part, without your prior written consent. You may not assign, subcontract or encumber any right or obligation under these terms, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent.

These terms represent the entire understanding and agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter of these terms, and supersedes all other negotiations, understandings, and representations, if any, made by and between the parties. No representation, inducement, promise or agreement, oral or otherwise, if any, not embodied in this agreement or any other agreement related to these terms and expressly references herein is of any force and effect.

If any provision or part-provision of these terms is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. Any such modification or deletion shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of these terms.

If there is a dispute arising out of these terms, the English courts will exclusively deal with it. English law applies to these terms and conditions.