Ebola outbreak

30 October 2014

There continues to be regular media updates in regards to the ebola outbreak in West Africa, and we want to assure our clients that our trips have been in no way affected. 

The countries impacted are in West and Central Africa, a considerable distance from where the tours operate. The majority of reported incidences are over 5,000 km away from Kenya, and travel options apart from flying are very limited to move from West Africa through to East Africa. 

Ebola is spread by contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person. It isn’t an airborne disease making contamination possible only through direct physical contact. Whilst there may be a very few isolated incidents outside the affected areas, the incidences are regularly people who have had direct contact with an ebola sufferer. Tragically doctors, nurses and medical carers, and family members are typically those who have contracted the disease. 

There are NO current reported incidences in the East or Southern African countries where we are traveling and these countries are taking extensive measures to prevent the disease, as are Western countries. The medical facilities in East and Southern African countries do have control procedures in place to cope with any concerns, and airlines are also taking preventative measures including bans on travelers arriving in from affected countries, as well as health checks at major airports

Our travellers’ health and safety are always top priority and we will remain very attentive to this issue. Please feel free to call or email if you have any other queries about this or any other aspect of your tour.

Cancellation Policies
We would like to address this concern by amending our cancellation policy in respect of any Ebola outbreak:

Cancellation fees pertaining to any of our tours will be waived if any booking is cancelled as a result of an Ebola outbreak confirmed by the World Health organization (WHO) within any of the countries we operate in. The following conditions will apply:

• Confirmed outbreak of Ebola by WHO for a specific country included in the itinerary.
• Travellers secure comprehensive travel insurance and in the event of cancellation, that they claim first from their insurer. Upon confirmed proof of insurance conclusion, we will credit the balance between what was paid to us for the specific itinerary and what the insurance has paid to the traveller;
• Those travelers wishing to cancel who did not take out relevant/adequate travel insurance will receive a credit for the amount already paid to us, valid for redemption on future travel in terms of a new itinerary booked in the future that will be subject to availability, pricing and standard terms and conditions that are being applied by African Travels at that time.

This change in our policy will remain in place until further notice. We trust that this will put travelers at ease with any concerns they might have with travelling to Southern and East Africa and any financial loss that they might incur should an outbreak occur.  

Please contact us if you have any questions!