Booking, payment & cancellation terms

Last updated 11 September 2026

1. These terms

These terms apply to safaris, tours and transfers arranged by SLM Safaris for travellers booking directly with us. Where you have booked through a travel agent or tour operator, that company’s booking conditions govern your contract and these terms apply to the ground arrangements only.

The contracting entity is S.L.M SAFARIS CC (trading as SLM Safaris), a close corporation registered in Namibia under registration number CC/2013/09884 on 5 September 2013, and registered with the Namibia Tourism Board as a Tour Facilitator under registration number TFA01009. Our full registered particulars appear on every quotation and invoice we issue, and registration documents are available to trade partners on request.

2. Enquiries, quotations and what creates a booking

Submitting an enquiry through this website, by email, by telephone or by WhatsApp does not create a booking and does not reserve anything. A quotation is an offer to travel on the terms described in it and remains valid for the period stated on the quotation itself.

A booking is created only when both of the following have happened: you have confirmed the written itinerary and quotation in writing, and we have received the deposit in cleared funds. Until then, all accommodation, flights and activities remain subject to availability.

3. Prices and what they include

Prices are quoted in the currency shown on your quotation and are based on the accommodation, vehicle, guiding and services listed in that quotation. Anything not expressly listed as included is excluded.

Quotations are based on supplier rates, park fees, conservation levies, taxes and exchange rates current at the date of quotation. Where any of these change before your travel date, we may need to adjust the price. We will tell you as soon as we know, and we will pass on only the actual increase, with evidence if you ask for it.

Once we have received payment in full, the price of your journey is fixed and we will not increase it, even if our own costs rise afterwards.

If a price increase notified before full payment exceeds 10% of your total tour price, you may cancel within 7 days of our notice and receive a full refund of everything you have paid us, without any cancellation charge.

4. Deposit and balance

A deposit of 30% of the total tour price confirms your booking. The balance is due 30 days before the first day of travel. Bookings made within 30 days of travel are payable in full at the time of booking.

If the balance is not received by the due date we will contact you before taking any action. If it remains unpaid we may treat the booking as cancelled by you, and the cancellation charges in clause 7 will apply.

Some Namibian properties and all air charter operators require non-refundable payments at the time of booking. Where your itinerary includes any of these, we will tell you in writing on your quotation, before you pay anything.

Payment instructions are issued by us on an invoice only. We will never send you banking details in an unsolicited message. Please telephone us on +264 81 813 0400 to verify account details before making any payment, even if the request appears to come from us.

5. Payment methods

We accept payment by bank transfer (EFT) in the currency shown on your invoice.

Any bank charges, correspondent or intermediary bank fees, and currency conversion costs are for the payer’s account, so please instruct your bank accordingly — the amount we receive must equal the amount invoiced. Where a shortfall arises from bank charges, we will invoice the difference.

We do not currently accept card payments.

6. Changes by you

Tell us as early as you can and we will do what we can. All changes are subject to availability at the time we make them, and to any charges the affected suppliers impose on us, which are passed on at cost.

We do not charge a standard amendment fee. Where a change is material, or where a booking is changed repeatedly, we may apply a reasonable administration charge for the work involved. Any such charge will be quoted to you and agreed before we process the change — never afterwards.

A change that reduces the value of your booking — fewer travellers, fewer nights, a lower category of accommodation — made within the cancellation periods in clause 7 may be treated as a partial cancellation, and the charges in that clause may apply to the reduction.

7. Cancellation by you

Cancellations must be made in writing to info@slmsafaris.com and take effect on the day we receive them. The following charges apply, expressed as a percentage of the total tour price:

Because the balance falls due 30 days before travel, a cancellation charge may exceed the amount you have already paid us — most often in the 31–60 day band, where the charge is 50% but only the 30% deposit has been paid. Where that happens, the difference remains payable and we will invoice you for it.

A small number of bookings carry supplier charges that are higher than the scale above. Where a supplier’s own non-refundable charges for your booking exceed the amount produced by the scale, those actual costs apply in place of the scale. This applies only to charges that were already disclosed to you in writing on your quotation under clause 4, is limited to the amounts the supplier actually charges us for your booking, and will be evidenced to you in writing. It is not an open-ended right to charge more: where the scale produces the higher figure, the scale applies.

If you cancel, claim promptly on your travel insurance. Many policies cover cancellation for specified reasons, and we will provide whatever documentation your insurer needs.

8. Changes or cancellation by us

We plan carefully, but Namibia is a country of long distances, remote roads and wild animals. We may need to change accommodation, routing or the order of an itinerary because of road or weather conditions, park closures, vehicle failure, supplier overbooking, or matters outside our control. Where we do, we will provide services of an equivalent standard and will consult you wherever it is practical to do so.

If we cancel your journey for any reason other than your non-payment or a matter within your control, you may choose between an alternative journey of comparable standard, or a full refund of everything you have paid us.

Wildlife sightings cannot be guaranteed by any operator. No refund is due where a particular animal, landscape or activity is not seen or is unavailable for reasons outside our control.

9. Travel insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is mandatory for every traveller on every SLM Safaris journey. Your policy must cover medical expenses, emergency evacuation and repatriation, and we strongly recommend that it also covers cancellation, curtailment, baggage and personal liability. You are responsible for arranging it and for checking that it covers the activities on your itinerary. We may ask for your policy details before travel.

10. Passports, visas and health

You are responsible for holding a valid passport with sufficient validity and blank pages, for obtaining any visa required for your nationality, and for meeting any health or vaccination requirements. We are happy to advise, but we cannot be responsible for the consequences of a traveller being refused entry or denied boarding.

11. Fitness, age and special requirements

We do not set a blanket minimum age. Individual lodges, activities and air charter operators set their own age limits, weight limits and fitness requirements, and these vary considerably — some properties do not accept young children, some activities have a minimum age, and light aircraft have strict weight and seat rules. Any limits that apply to your itinerary are stated on your quotation.

Please tell us at enquiry stage about the ages of everyone travelling, and about any mobility, medical or dietary requirements. We would far rather design the journey around them than discover them on arrival.

12. Liability

Where we provide services directly — our own planning, ground transport and guiding — we are responsible for providing them with reasonable skill and care, and we are liable for loss or injury caused by our own negligence.

Much of your journey is delivered by independent suppliers: lodges and camps, air charter and scheduled airlines, activity and excursion providers, and independent guides and transport operators. When we arrange these, we act as a booking agent between you and that supplier. They provide their services on their own terms and conditions, which apply to you directly. We select suppliers with reasonable care, but we are not liable for their acts, omissions or defaults, nor for any loss, injury, delay or damage arising from them.

We are not liable for loss or damage caused by events outside our reasonable control, including weather, road and river conditions, wildlife behaviour, industrial action, airline or supplier failure, illness, civil unrest, or government or park authority decisions.

Except where a greater liability cannot lawfully be excluded, our total liability to you for any claim arising out of your booking is limited to the total amount you have paid us for that booking.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited under Namibian law. Your statutory rights are not affected.

Because much of your journey is delivered by independent suppliers, comprehensive travel insurance is the protection that actually responds when something goes wrong. That is why clause 9 makes it mandatory.

13. Complaints

If something is wrong during your journey, please tell your guide or telephone us immediately on +264 81 813 0400. Most problems can be fixed on the spot, and almost none can be fixed after you have flown home. Giving us the chance to put it right while you are still in Namibia is a condition of any subsequent claim.

If a matter cannot be resolved at the time, please write to info@slmsafaris.com within 14 days of the end of your journey, setting out what happened. We will acknowledge your complaint promptly and respond in full as quickly as we reasonably can.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Namibia, and the Namibian courts have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.

Contact

SLM Safaris · Windhoek, Namibia
info@slmsafaris.com · +264 81 813 0400