Tanzania Safari

Our intention is to adhere to the day to day itinerary as printed here. However, the order of events and sightseeing may vary according to local conditions or for operational purposes. Your local guide will inform you of any schedule changes as they are made aware of them and keep you updated as much as possible. Some road construction and/or weather conditions may lengthen the driving times.

If booking more than 12 weeks before departure a deposit of €324.50pp will need to be paid at the time of booking with the full amount payable at 12 weeks prior to departure. The deposit applies to adults and children. If you are within 12 weeks of travel then the full balance of the holiday will be payable.

To enter Tanzania, your passport must have an ‘expiry date’ at least 6 months after the date you arrive and at least one blank page. You will require a tourist visa to enter Tanzania, apply for an “e-visa” online before you travel. The cost of the visa is approximately £80 per person. The visa takes approximately 15 working days to issue, and it is only valid for a 90 day single entry stay from the date of arrival. Upon arrival, you will also be asked to fill in a declaration form before going through customs. We work closely with The Travel Visa Company who will be able to arrange your visa on your behalf. Please call them on 01270 250 590 and quote 'Mercury Holidays'. When calling the Travel Visa Company, they will advise you of any changes to the fees or the procedure, they will also advise you of all information they will require in order to apply for the visa. We recommend you check with your destinations' Tourist Board or Embassy prior to departure for the most up to date guidelines regarding these.

Please note that final flight details will be confirmed on your e-ticket and final documentation which will be sent to you approximately 21 days before departure. Weight restrictions will be finalized on your final documentation. Should you wish to take additional luggage you will need to pay extra at check-in. Check-in should be at least 3 hours before departure. If you wish to arrange Airport car parking or accommodation at preferential rates, we recommend you book this in advance with Holiday Extras on 0871 360 2000, quoting HX313.

IMPORTANT: A printed E-ticket is no longer required at check-in, all you need to do is present your passport to the staff at the desk and your boarding pass will be given to you. Please note that you should carry your invoice with flight details on it as you will need to show this at the airport.

We strongly recommend that you and all members of your party are suitably insured as soon as you book your holiday. It is a condition of booking that you must have suitable travel insurance. It is important that you purchase travel insurance that suitably covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking. To assist you with this, we have arranged travel insurance in partnership with Holiday Extras. To arrange your travel insurance with Holiday Extras, please call 0800 781 4237 and quote 'WK830' for preferential rates. Please ensure you provide us with the name of your insurer, policy number and their 24-hour emergency contact number as soon as possible. Mercury Holidays will not be liable for any costs incurred by you due to your failure to take out suitable travel insurance from the date of booking.

It is your responsibility to check any health and vaccination requirements applicable to your booked arrangements. We can only provide general information about this. Health and hygiene facilities and disease risks vary from country to country. You should take health advice about your own needs as early as possible and in good time before your departure. Sources of information include; www.fco.gov.uk, http://travelhealthpro.org.uk/, www.hpa.org.uk, your General Practitioner or a specialist clinic.

This tour is accessible to most people with an average level of fitness and normal mobility. It involves full days of sightseeing, often on foot and includes some hiking, climbing of stairs and getting on and off 4X4 vehicles. Many of the roads in Tanzania are unpaved and so journeys can sometimes be long and bumpy. Please note that this tour is not suitable for anyone with walking difficulties.

The currency in Tanzania is the Tanzanian Shilling (Tsh) but USD ($) is also widely accepted. Credit cards are not widely accepted and some establishments only accept Tanzanian Shillings, so it is advisable to have cash in both currencies. You can exchange money before you leave the UK and there will be access to ATMs in most major cities (not available in the reserves) where you will be able to withdraw money in the local currency.

As normal practice you may be asked for your credit card details on check-in at the hotel in order to cover any extras incurred during your stay. If you do not have a credit card, you may be asked for a cash deposit. MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted in hotels as well as American Express.

You will need to take money with you to cover any personal purchases such as souvenirs, laundry, any meals not included in the itinerary as well as drinks and any additional snacks. We recommend you take a minimum of GBP £200 per person. It is a good idea to try and maintain a supply of small notes and change in either the local currency or US Dollars for tipping or small purchases.

Tipping It is at your discretion to tip your driver/guide, waiters, porters, and housekeepers. We recommend tipping approximately $2 per person per day for waiters, porters, and housekeepers and $7 per person per day for your driver/guide. This is a total of $56 per person to budget for tips on your trip for the driver/guide plus extra for the other staff. Tips are accepted US dollars ($).

The minimum number of travellers in your group will be 6, and the maximum will be 20. If in the unlikely event there are less than 6 people booked on your tour date, we will endeavour to reduce any disruption to your holiday and try to operate your tour with lower passenger numbers. If we are not able to operate your departure date then you may be asked to change to a different date and a full refund will be made available to you should this alternative not be suitable.

In Tanzania, guests will be met by drivers who are fully trained as driver guides with a wide knowledge of each destination.

Private Tour: If you have booked a private tour then you will be accompanied by a Driver Guide or a Driver and Local Guides. These will be available to you during all scheduled sightseeing. Private Tours can depart on any day of the week depending on flight and train schedules and the opening days of the attractions. They will follow the itinerary as described in the brochure unless you have been advised otherwise and you will still have all of the same meals, sightseeing and local excursions included.

Throughout your tour, you will travel in a 7 seater vehicle that is adapted for both open road driving as well as safaris.

Your accommodation is selected for convenience, location, comfort or character, and can range from business hotels to camps. Hotel accommodation is generally rated as local three to four-star standard, but please note there is no international classification system for hotels, and differences in facilities and quality do exist between the UK and Tanzania. All group tour hotels have private bathroom facilities, other facilities differ depending on the accommodation. The safari lodges may also have restrictions on electricity accessibility at certain times of the day. Rest assured that all accommodation used by Mercury Holidays is regularly inspected by our staff and partners to ensure that standards meet your needs.

Western and international food will be served however some establishments will serve traditional meals giving you a chance to experience local flavours. Vegetarian and Vegan options available, please request prior to departure. Please contact Customer Experience for questions about other dietary requirements or allergy information. Please note that on some days, lunch will be a packed lunch to enjoy whilst on safari.

It is not recommended to drink the tap water, even in developed countries water may contain unfamiliar elements that can cause upset stomachs. In less developed countries water is not filtered in the same way. Bottled water will be available at shops and hotels/lodges.

The Government of Tanzania wish to advise the following: All plastic carrier bags, regardless of their thickness will be prohibited from being imported, exported, manufactured, sold, stored, supplied and used in Mainland Tanzania. However, plastic or plastic packaging for medical services, industrial services, industrial products, construction industry, agricultural sector, foodstuff, sanitary and waste management are not prohibited. Visitors to Tanzania are advised to avoid carrying plastic carrier bags or packing plastic carrier bags in their suitcase or hand luggage before embarking on visit to Tanzania. Special desk will be designated at all entry points for surrender of plastic carrier bags that visitors may be bringing into Tanzania. Plastics carrier items known as “Ziploc” bags that are specifically used to carry toiletries will be permitted as they are expected to remain in the permanent possession of visitors and are not expected to be disposed of in the country. The government does not intend for visitors to Tanzania to find their stay unpleasant as they enforce the ban. However, the Government expects that, in appreciation of the imperative to protect the environment and keep the country clean and beautiful, our visitors will accept minor inconveniences resulting from the plastic bag ban. For further details please contact: ps@vpo.go.tz, 00255 685 333 444, 00255 743 715 62. Issued by Government Communication Unit.

On your arrival at Kilimanjaro airport youll be met by a representative from our local agent in Tanzania holding a sign displaying ‘Mercury Holidays’. The representative will transfer you to your hotel on arrival where you will spend your first night. There will be a guide with you throughout the tour and will be able to answer any queries you may have.

If you need to contact your representative during your stay the details are:

African Eagle: P.O box 7268 Uhuru Rd, Arusha – Tanzania Telephone Number 00255-679-737 609 E-mail: operations@ae.co.tz

Emergency contact information: Please find below the emergency contact details 24 hour: +254 733 603 500