Wildlife Training Field Courses

Booking Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR WILDLIFE FIELD COURSES

The following conditions, together with our Privacy Policy and where your training course is booked via our website, over the phone or in person with our sales team, together with any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking, form the basis of your contract with Operation Wallacea (Wildlife Education) Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”). Registered office at Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire PE23 4EX and company number 03951985 . References to “you” and “your”, where the attendee is under 18, include the parent or guardian, acting on behalf of the attendee who is travelling on the training course

1) MAKING A BOOKING

1.1 Booking on to the training course

1.1.1 By making a booking (by filling in the booking form) and paying the deposit you are confirming that you will be booked onto the training course and that you have read these Terms and Conditions and have the authority to and do agree to be bound by them.
You also consent to our use of personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and, where the attendee is under 18, are authorised on their behalf to disclose their personal details to us, including where applicable special categories
of data (such as information on health conditions or disabilities and dietary requirements).
By making a booking you confirm that you consent (or if the attendee is under 18, you consent for them) to participate in all activities of the training course, as described on the Operation Wallacea website and in the Operation Wallacea brochures, letters and other materials. You also consent for first aid and/or emergency medical treatment to be administered as necessary during the trip.

2) YOUR TRAINING COURSE PRICE AND PAYMENTS

2.1 Training course price

A booking is made with us on payment of the deposit on line with us and by agreeing to these terms and conditions. By making a booking you accept responsibility for the full remaining balance for the training course on behalf of the
attendee named on the booking. The price of your training course is described on your confirmation email. On receipt of the deposit you will be booked onto the training course and will be invoiced for a further payment of
the balance of the training course costs 3 months prior to the start date of the course. You will be responsible for organising your own travel to the site although for those groups congregating at a nearby airport then Opwall will organise buses or equivalents and will invoice the costs of these transfers as part of the final invoice issued 3 months prior to the start date of the course.

2.2 Accuracy

We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices on our website training course are accurate, however changes and errors do occur and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. Please check the current price and all other details relating to the training course that you wish to book before you make your booking.

2.4 Delayed payments

If payments are delayed beyond the due dates by more than 10 days, then Operation Wallacea reserve the right to cancel your training course and the cancellation charges outlined in clause 4.1 below will become applicable.

3) INSURANCE

You are responsible for your own travel insurance for medical, trip interruption or cancellation and other matters.

4) TRANSFER OR CANCELLATION OF BOOKINGS

4.1 Transfer by you

If you wish, you may transfer your place to the following year. In the event that you decide to transfer the following payments towards your course apply:

Period before departure	Cancellation Charge
Before 1st January in the year of your course	No further payments required beyond deposit
After and including 1st January in the year of your course	Further £150 towards course to be paid to secure transfer
After and including 1st of April in the year of your course	No transfers are allowed unless in extraordinary circumstances*

Only one transfer to a future year per application is allowed and once that transfer is made then the cancellation charge is the total amount that you have paid to date up to a maximum of 40% of the field course cost.

* If you require a transfer to the following year after 1 April in the year of the original booked expedition, you may do so in exceptional circumstances. If we turn the request to transfer down, our standard cancellation policies still apply as described under clause 4.2, though you can still opt to join the field course.

Requests due to circumstances other than the above will be considered, but we reserve the right to turn them down. If we turn the request to transfer down, our standard cancellation policies still apply as described under clause 4.2, though you can still opt to join the expedition.

4.2 Cancellation by you

If you wish to cancel the following charges will apply:

Period before departure	Cancellation Charge
Up to 2 months prior to the start of your course	Loss of deposit
Closer than 2 months to the start of your course	100% of training course costs and any transfer costs paid to help get to site

Please note that we require written confirmation by post or email of any cancellation and the cancellation will take effect from the day the written confirmation is received by Operation Wallacea. If a cancellation is made for medical reasons please check your travel insurance policy, as you may be able to reclaim some of the charges above.

4.3 Cancellation by you due to unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances

You have the right to cancel the training course on behalf of the dependant named on the booking before departure, and having all your funds except the deposit returned in the event of “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” occurring at the travel destination or its immediate vicinity and significantly affecting the performance of the training course or the transport arrangements to the destination. In these circumstances, we shall provide you with a full refund of the monies you have paid barring the deposit, but we will not be liable to pay you any additional compensation. For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” means warfare, acts of terrorism (or threat thereof), significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible for the course to be held safely.

Your right to cancel in these circumstances will only apply where the unavoidable and extraordinary circumstance has occurred, or is still occurring, within 20 days from the date of the start of the course. If your departure date is outside the 20 day period and you still wish to cancel your trip, our normal cancellation fees will apply and you will be liable to pay these.

5) IF OPERATION WALLACEA CANCELS OR CHANGES YOUR BOOKING

5.1 Training Course Itinerary

We reserve the right to amend certain aspects of your itinerary at any time in line with the overall objectives and context of the training course. In the unlikely event of Operation Wallacea deeming travel to your particular destination unsafe for any reason, more than 2 months before departure, we will provide an alternative destination.

5.2 Travel elements before and after the training course

You are responsible for getting to and from the site at the start and end of the course. Opwall can assist such transfers as required by organising group travel from nearby airport, train stations or bus terminals and will include any such assistance as an additional cost on the final invoice..

5.3 Minor changes

If we or any of our suppliers make a minor change to your confirmed booking or the travel elements surrounding the training course, we will make reasonable efforts to inform you as soon as reasonably possible if there is time to do so before your departure but we will have no liability to you. Examples of minor changes  might include changes in survey techniques being demonstrated, or the type of accommodation being used.

6) FORCE MAJEURE

Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Terms and Conditions, we will not be liable or pay you compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by “force majeure”. For the purposes of these Terms and Conditions, force majeure means any event beyond our or our supplier’s control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include warfare and acts of terrorism (and threat thereof), civil strife, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the destination or remain at the destination, the act of any government or other national or local authority including port or river authorities, industrial dispute, labour strikes, lock closure, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster, unavoidable technical problems with transport and all similar events outside our or our supplier’s control.

7) DISABILITIES AND MEDICAL PROBLEMS

We will do our best to cater for any special requirements you may have. If you have any medical problem or disability which may affect the booking, please provide us with full details before you make a booking so that we can advise you as to the suitability of the training course. We may require a doctor’s certificate certifying that the attendee is fit to participate. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm the booking and so no charges would apply. If you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel the booking and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of such details.

8) SPECIAL REQUESTS

Any special requests must be advised to us at the time of booking e.g. diet, a particular facility at a hotel etc. You should then confirm your requests in writing. Whilst every effort will be made by us to try and arrange your reasonable special requests, we cannot guarantee that they will be fulfilled. The fact that a special request has been noted on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation or that it has been passed on to the supplier is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed by us. We do not accept bookings that are conditional upon any special request being met.

9) COMPLAINTS

We make every effort to ensure that all arrangements run smoothly but if there is a problem during the training course, please inform the staff on site. If the complaint is not resolved locally, please contact info@opwall.com.

10) BEHAVIOUR

Everyone on our training courses are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and acceptable manner and not to disrupt the enjoyment of others. If in our opinion or in the opinion of person in authority, your behaviour is causing or is likely to cause distress, danger or annoyance to any other person or third party, or damage to property, or to cause a delay or diversion to transportation, we reserve the right to terminate their booking with us immediately. In the event of such termination our liability to you and/or the individual concerned will cease and you and/or they may be required to leave the accommodation or other arrangements immediately. We will work with you to ensure that safe arrangements can be made for your return travel, at your own expense. We will have no further obligations to you. No refunds for lost accommodation or any other arrangements will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of termination. You may also be required to pay for loss and/or damage caused by your actions and we will hold you liable for any damage or losses caused. Full payment for any such damage or losses must be paid directly to the relevant supplier prior to departure. If you fail to make payment, you will be responsible for meeting any claims (including legal costs) subsequently made against us as a result of your actions together with all costs we incur in pursuing any claim against you.

We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have no connection with your booking arrangements or with us.

11) DATA PROTECTION

We take data protection and security extremely seriously, and list all the information we require, why we need it, and how it is used in our Privacy Policy. This can be found at https://www.opwall.com/privacy-policy/

In order to process bookings and provide training course services, we must collect a certain amount of information from all our participants. This does include some special categories of information, including medical details, which we require in order to adequately minimize risks to those who join us. If an attendee is unwilling to disclose the information required then we will have to cancel their booking, and standard cancellation fees will apply. Some details will also have to be given to our partners in order to assist with the safe and efficient planning of the training course.

12) PASSPORT, VISA AND IMMIGRATION REQUIREMENTS AND HEALTH FORMALITIES FOR THOSE JOINING TRAINING COURSES OUTSIDE THEIR HOME COUNTRY

It is your responsibility to check and fulfil the passport, visa, health and immigration requirements applicable to your training course. We can only provide general information about this. You must check requirements for your own specific circumstances with the relevant embassies and/or consulates and your own doctor as applicable. Requirements do change and you must check the up to date position in good time before departure.

Most countries now require passports to be valid for at least 6 months after your return date. If your passport is in its final year, you should check with the Embassy of the country you are visiting.

Special conditions apply for travel to USA, and all passengers must have individual machine readable passports. Please check https://uk.usembassy.gov. For mainland European travel you should obtain a completed and issued form EHIC prior to departure.

Up to date travel advice can be obtained from your national travel advisory service. Please ask your Operation Wallacea representative for guidance on which service to use if you are unsure.

All travellers should obtain up to date advice on passport and visa requirements from the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate of the destination or country(ies) through which you are travelling.

We do not accept any responsibility if you cannot travel, or incur any other loss because you have not complied with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities. You agree to reimburse us in relation to any fines or other losses which we incur as a result of your failure to comply with any passport, visa, immigration requirements or health formalities.

13) JURISDICTION AND LEGAL ASPECTS

Please note that when you have read and accepted these Terms and Conditions, and when a confirmation invoice has

been issued by or on behalf of ourselves or the relevant supplier, you enter into a binding contract which will be governed in all aspects by English law. We both agree that any dispute, claim or other matter which arises between us out of or in connection with your contract or booking will be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales. You may however, choose the law and jurisdiction of Scotland or Northern Ireland if you live in those places and you wish to do so.

14) OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

14.1 We will accept responsibility for the arrangements we have agreed to provide or arrange for you.

14.2 We will not be responsible or pay you compensation for any injury, illness, death, loss, damage, expense, cost or other claim of any description if it results from:

• the acts and/or omissions of the person affected; or
• the acts and/or omissions of a third party unconnected with the provision of the services
• contracted for and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable; or
• force majeure (as defined in clause 6).

14.3 We limit the amount of compensation we may have to pay you if we are found liable under this clause:

• Loss of and/or damage to any luggage or personal possessions and money: the maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is the value of the excess on your insurance policy, up to a maximum value of $150
• Claims not falling under the above and which don’t involve injury, illness or death: the maximum amount we will have to pay you in respect of these claims is up to three times the price paid by or on behalf of the person(s) affected in total. This maximum amount will only be payable where everything has gone wrong and the person(s) named on the booking has not received any benefit from the booking.

14.4  It is a condition of our acceptance of liability under this clause that you notify any claim to us and our supplier(s) strictly in accordance with the complaints procedure set out in these Terms and Conditions.

14.5 Where any payment is made, you  must also assign to us or our insurers any rights you may have to pursue any third party and must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require.

14.6 Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss or expense or other sum(s) of any description:

• which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our
• accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract
• with you;
• relate to any business;
• indirect or consequential loss of any kind.

14.7 We will not accept responsibility for services or facilities which do not form part of our agreement or where they are not advertised in our brochure or website as part of the course. For example, any serviceor facility which one of our suppliers agrees to provide whilst you are on the course.

14.8 Where it is impossible for you to return to your departure point as per the agreed return date of the package due to “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances”, we shall provide you with any necessary accommodation (where possible, of a comparable standard) for a period not exceeding three nights per person. Please note that the three night cap does not apply if you have reduced mobility or need specific medical assistance, provided we have been notified of these needs at least 48 hours before the start of the training course. For the purposes of this clause, “unavoidable and extraordinary circumstances” mean warfare, acts of terrorism, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease at the travel destination or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely back to the departure point.

15) CONDITIONS OF SUPPLIERS

Many of the services which make up the training course are provided by independent suppliers. Those suppliers provide these services in accordance with their own terms and conditions which will form part of your contract with us. Some of these terms and conditions may limit or exclude the supplier’s liability, usually in accordance with applicable

International Conventions. Copies of the relevant parts of these terms and conditions are available on request from us or the supplier concerned.

16) PROMPT ASSISTANCE

If, whilst you are on the training course, you find yourself in difficulty for any reason, we will offer such

prompt assistance as is appropriate in the circumstances, In particular, we will provide appropriate information on health services, local authorities and consular assistance, and assistance with distance communications and finding alternative travel arrangements. Where the assistance is not owing to any failure by us, our employees or sub-contractors, we will not be liable for the costs of any alternative travel arrangements or other such assistance that may be required. Any supplier, airline or other transport supplier may however pay for or provide refreshments and/or appropriate accommodation and therefore the claim should be directly to them. Subject to the other terms in these Terms and Conditions, we will not be liable for any costs, fees or charges incurred in the above circumstances, if our authorisation is not obtained prior to making other travel arrangements. Furthermore, we reserve the right to charge a fee for our assistance in the event that the difficulty is caused intentionally by the Dependent or a member of their school group, or otherwise through their negligence.

17) WHAT DOES THE BOOKING WITH OPERATION WALLACEA INCLUDE?

The booking includes food and accommodation during your course and delivery of the course content.

18) WHAT DOES THE BOOKING WITH OPERATION WALLACEA NOT INCLUDE?

The booking excludes anything not stated above, specifically but not limited to:

• Any personal equipment recommended for the training course (e.g. walking boots, laptop
• computer, clothes, sunscreen)
• Insurance
• Costs of travel to and from the site at the start and end of the course
• Any food during transit to and from the training course,
• Vaccination or medication costs

19) TIME SPENT OUTSIDE THE JURISDICTION OF OPERATION WALLACEA – BEFORE AND AFTER THE TRAINING COURSES

The training course start and finish times are outlined on the Operation Wallacea website. Before and after your start and finish times, Operation Wallacea is not directly responsible for your safety and wellbeing. Operation Wallacea will provide remote support including contact numbers in the case of an emergency, safe transport from an agreed airport, train station or bus station and suitable risk assessed accommodation (if requested from Operation Wallacea) during this period. You are responsible for your own time before and after the training course, and Operation Wallacea cannot accept liability for activities that you choose to participate in during this time unless you are acting under the supervision of Operation Wallacea or one of our partners.

20) DELAYS, MISSED TRANSPORT ARRANGEMENTS AND OTHER TRAVEL INFORMATION

If you miss your flight, train or other transport arrangement, it is cancelled or you are subject to a delay of over 3 hours for any reason, you must contact the transport supplier concerned immediately. We cannot accept liability for any delay which is due to any of the reasons set out in clause 6 of these Terms and Conditions (which includes the behaviour of any passenger(s) on any flight who, for example, fails to check in or board on time).