Terms and Conditions Page

GENERAL CONDITIONS

These General Terms and Conditions are subject to the provisions of the Consolidated Text of the General Law for the Defence of Consumers and Users and other complementary laws (Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of 16 November; B.O.E. 30-11-2007.), the Law 7/1998 of 13 April 1998 on General Terms and Conditions of Contracts (14-4-98) and other provisions in force.

These General terms and conditions shall be incorporated, signed by the contracting parties, into all package travel contracts whose object is the programmes contained in the programme/ fact sheet and are binding on the parties, with the particular conditions agreed in the contract or contained in the travel documentation provided at the same time as the contract is concluded.

DESERTANDO CLUB DE AVENTURAS, S.L. (hereinafter DESERTANDO) is a travel agency legally incorporated in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Headquartered at C/ Arturo Soria, 333, 28033 Madrid, Spain. CICMA Code: 3627. The web domain www.desertando.comis the property of DESERTANDO.

For the purposes of these General terms and conditionsthe travel programme/ fact sheet is the information document into which these are incorporated.
The travel information contained in the programme/ fact sheet is binding on the organiser, unless one of the following circumstances applies:

1. Changes to this information have been clearly communicated in writing to the consumer before the conclusion of the contract and this possibility has been expressly mentioned in the programme.
2. Subsequent amendments may be made by written agreement between the contracting parties.

ROYAL LEGISLATIVE DECREE

The applicable legislation is set out in the General Law for the defence of consumers and users R.D.L. 1/2007especially in its title 2; 159/160 and R.D.L. 34/2007

You can also consult the E-Commerce Act in Law 34/2002

SPECIAL CONDITIONS

DESERTANDO defines its particular conditions of sale according to the specificity of its trips. Any purchase implies acceptance of these conditions.

Our website provides all the information you need to choose the trip that is right for you. However, if you need help or additional information, you should contact us. Reading our fact sheet is indispensable for any booking, as you will find there the necessary information: estimated prices, dates, minimum group of passengers and description of the trip. Once the decision has been made, we will provide you with the travel sales contract, which must be returned to us in its original form, completed and signed. All bookings imply acceptance of the general and particular conditions of sale indicated in the contract.

In order to consider the reservation as completed, the part specified in the contract itself must be paid, and by the means also specified in the contract itself.
The contract specifies all the particular conditions of the contract, final price (PVP) per person and for the contracted group, payment conditions.

Price changes

• The price of the trip has been calculated on the basis of transport fares, fuel costs, national parks, accommodation and services at destination, applicable on the date of preparation of the 2019/2020 programme. Some trips are priced on the basis of the Euro/dollar exchange rate €1 = 1.14 US$.
• Any variation of more than 10% on the basis of exchange rates on the price of the aforementioned items may result in the final price of the trip being revised upwards or downwards, in the strict amounts of the aforementioned price variations.
• Such changes shall be notified to the consumer, in writing or by any other means that provides a record of the communication made, who may, where the change made is significant, withdraw from the trip, without penalty, or accept the change to the contract.
• In no case shall it be revised upwards in the fifteen days prior to the date of departure of the trip.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

Travel insurance

It is compulsory for all travellers to be covered by personal travel insurance. This should cover medical assistance and repatriation in case of impossibility to continue the trip.

Travel insurance is not optional.

Cancellation insurance

The cancellation insurance fee depends on the amount of money to be refunded. Depending on the insurance company, you have 1, 2 or 3 days from the time you book the trip to the time you take out the cancellation insurance in order for it to become effective.

If you wish to incorporate cancellation insurance, you must specify this before purchasing the airline ticket(s).

CANCELLATION OF THE TRIP

Conditions of cancellation by the customer

It is highly recommended to be covered by cancellation insurance. This insurance must be taken out at the time of registration or a few days later, depending on the insurance company. In case of cancellation on your part, the invoice for the trip must be paid in full before the reimbursement claim file is sent to the insurance company. We always do our utmost to ensure that insurance claims are dealt with quickly, but we are not responsible for the decisions and deadlines of the insurance company's response. If the client is obliged to cancel his/her trip, he/she must inform DESERTANDO by email to info@desertando.com or by any other means that leaves a record, as soon as possible. In fact, the date of the email will be taken into account as the date of cancellation for the invoicing of the cancellation fees. Please note that the insurance company will assess, on the basis of the documents directly communicated to you, the date of the triggering event that led to the decision to cancel the trip in order to accept to reimburse the cancellation fees.

Charges in the event of cancellation by the customer

Any cancellation or modification by the customer is subject to the costs specified in the contract.

In case of cancellation, for any reason whatsoever, expenses incurred outside of the trip and provided by DESERTANDO and committed by the client, such as transport costs to the departure point and return home, costs for obtaining documents or visas, travel documents, vaccination costs, cannot be reimbursed.

These cancellation costs will be reimbursed after examination of your file if your cancellation case is provided for in the clauses of the insurance contract and if the invoice is settled.

In the event that any of the services contracted and cancelled were subject to special economic conditions of contracting, such as hotel reservations, vehicles, National Park reservations, special prices for organised travel groups, etc., the cancellation costs for cancellation will be established, solely and exclusively, by the organising agency as it deems appropriate at any given time.

Cancellation by DESERTANDO

If DESERTANDO has to cancel a departure for any reason, participants will be fully reimbursed without being able to claim any compensation. Participants will be informed at least 15 days before the departure date.

A trip with less than 15 days will only be cancelled for reasons of force majeure.

CHANGES

Changes by the customer

If at any time prior to departure, the consumer wishes to request changes regarding the destinations, means of transport, duration, timetable, itinerary of the contracted trip or any other aspect of the services and the agency is able to make them, the agency may demand payment of the justified additional costs caused by the modification.

Changes by DESERTANDO before departure

Only changes that are necessary for the successful completion of the trip and that are not significant, except in cases of force majeure, may be made. Necessary changes are considered to be significant if they prevent the realisation of the purpose of the trip according to its general or special characteristics.

In the event that DESERTANDO is obliged to make significant changes, it will immediately inform the client. The client can choose between accepting the modification of the contract, specifying the changes made and their impact on the price, or terminating the contract. The client must notify DESERTANDO of the decision within two days of notification of the modification. If the consumer does not communicate his/her decision by email within the indicated period, it will be understood that he/she chooses to terminate the contract.

Changes by DESERTANDO during the trip

The DESERTANDO team reserves the right to modify a route or itinerary on the fly if there is a potential risk to the safety of the group.

The DESERTANDO team bases its decisions and travel itineraries on different sources. These sources provide up-to-date travel recommendations and commentary on a country-by-country basis.

RESPONSIBILITY

Sharing of responsibility Authorised Organising Agency or Retail Agency

In the event that the package is sold through an organising agency or retail agency authorised by DESERTANDO, they shall be liable to the client for the correct fulfilment of the package travel contract in accordance with the obligations that correspond to them in their respective areas of management of the package.

The organising agency or the retail agency authorised by DESERTANDO shall be liable to the consumer, whether they themselves carry out the services included in the package, or whether they are carried out by their assistants or other service providers.

The organising agency or authorised retail agency, as the one that plans the package, is liable for the damages caused to the client due to the non-execution or deficient execution of the services included in the package, as well as for the damages resulting from the breach of any other obligation that corresponds to its scope of management in accordance with the applicable legislation.

The organising agency or authorised retail agency, as the one that sells or offers for sale the proposed trip, is liable for the damages caused to the client for the errors it has made in informing him/her about the trip, for having omitted the information it should have provided, for not having delivered the necessary documentation for the correct execution of the trip and, in general, for having failed to comply with any other obligation that corresponds to its area of management in accordance with the applicable legislation.

Customer's duty to mitigate damages

In any case, the customer is obliged to take appropriate and reasonable measures to try to reduce the damage that may result from the non-execution or deficient execution of the contract or to prevent the aggravation of such damage. Damage resulting from the failure to take such measures shall be borne by the customer.

Duty of care of the authorised agency

The organising agency or the authorised retail agency, despite being exempted from liability, shall continue to be obliged to provide the necessary assistance to the customer who is in difficulty.

The duty of care provided for in the preceding paragraph shall not exist when defects occurring during the performance of the contract are exclusively attributable to intentional or negligent conduct on the part of the customer.

Grounds for exemption from liability

The organising agency and the authorised retail agency shall not be liable for the non-execution or deficient execution of the contract, when any of the following circumstances apply:

• That the defects observed in the execution of the contract are attributable to the customer.
• These defects are attributable to a third party external to the supply of the services foreseen in the contract and are of an unforeseeable or insurmountable nature.
• That the defects referred to are due to force majeure, understood as circumstances beyond the control of the party claiming them, abnormal or unforeseeable, the consequences of which could not have been avoided, despite having acted with due diligence.
• That the defects are due to an event which the Organiser, despite all due diligence, could not foresee and could not overcome.

Liability for services not included in the package

• The contractual liability rules for package travel do not apply to services such as excursions, attendance at sporting or cultural events, visits to exhibitions or museums, or other similar services, which are not included in the overall price of the trip and which the consumer contracts on an optional basis on the occasion of the trip or during the course of the trip.
• In such cases, the agency shall indicate to the consumer the optional nature of the service and that it is not part of the trip.
• If the agency intervenes in the contracting of these services, it shall be liable in accordance with the specific rules of the contract it enters into.

PASSPORT, VISA AND VACCINATION INFORMATION

• The agency has a duty to report on the necessary health formalities for travel and stay, as well as on the conditions applicable to European Union citizens in respect of passports and visas and shall be responsible for the correctness of the information provided.
• The consumer must obtain the documents required for the journey, including passports and visas and those relating to health formalities. Any damage resulting from the lack of such documentation shall be for the consumer's account, in particular the costs incurred by the interruption of the journey and possible repatriation.
• If the agency accepts the consumer's order to processing visas necessary for any of the destinations foreseen in the itinerary, may demand payment of the cost of the visa as well as the administration costs for the formalities to be carried out before the corresponding diplomatic or consular representation. In this case, the agency shall be liable for the damages that are attributable to it in accordance with the diligence normally required for delays in obtaining the necessary documentation or for the lack or insufficiency of the same.

COMPLAINTS

If during the trip you are not satisfied and you find that the service you have contracted is deficient, please complain as soon as possible to the organiser at your destination or to our local agent. We will do our best to resolve the complaint on the trip itself.

The customer is obliged to report any breach or deficiency in the performance of the contract as soon as possible, in writing or in any other recordable form, to the organiser or to the agency or authorised retailer with whom he has contracted and, where appropriate, to the provider of the service in question.

In the event that the solutions arbitrated by the Agency, Organiser or Authorised Retailer are not satisfactory for the client, the client will have a period of 1 month, from the date of completion of the trip, to make a complaint to the Retailer Agency or Authorised Organiser, always through the Agency or Authorised Organiser. The retailer agency or the authorised organiser will have 2 months to respond to the complaint made by the client, a period that will start to run from the day after the complaint is presented to the retailer agency or the authorised organiser.

RISK ACCEPTANCE

Some activities in which you may choose to participate during your trip may involve a degree of personal risk. The natural environment can sometimes be dangerous and some activities, such as water sports, are activities with a risk of bodily harm or death. If you choose to participate in such activities, you accept these risks and are responsible for your own actions. Although we, or our authorised suppliers, may provide you with instructions as part of the booking, any safety information/warnings should be considered as they will minimise these risks. Your booking is accepted by us on the basis that you understand and accept the complicated risks of such activities. If at any time you feel uncomfortable or unsure about participating in an activity, you should notify an instructor immediately. You are under no obligation to participate in or complete the booked activities that form part of your trip if you do not wish to do so for any reason.

OBLIGATIONS OF THE CLIENT

• Each traveller is responsible for his or her belongings during the trip and is solely responsible for any loss, damage or accident caused.
• Each traveller must abide by the laws and customs of the countries visited and behave in a respectful and considerate manner towards the local population.
  Clients are responsible for their actions and the effects they may have on others. If the DESERTANDO team or another authorised person believes that the actions carried out by a client may affect, annoy or disturb other suppliers or our staff, or put them in danger or could cause damage, or if they are unfit to travel, DESERTANDO may terminate their trip and their contract. In this case the client and his companions will be deprived of the use of the booked accommodation, transport and other travel arrangements that form part of his booking and will not be liable for any refunds, compensation or other costs that he has to pay. Alternatively, you may be permitted to continue the trip but must comply with any special conditions that may be imposed.
  Each client is responsible for arranging transfers from the airport of departure and from the airport of arrival upon return from the trip.
• DESERTANDO will not accept responsibility for the behaviour of other persons staying in the same accommodation, for accidents or injuries, loss or damage caused as a result of inappropriate or irresponsible behaviour or behaviour under the influence of alcohol or other substances.