Terms & Conditions

Acceptance of Booking Conditions

Your booking contract is with Sirima Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka. Any use of the planet-of-wildelephants.com website, or written communication with Sirima Lanka, for the purposes of travel arrangements, confirms that you are aged 18 or over and that you have read and fully accept these booking conditions. These booking conditions are devised for the protection of all parties. The phrase “Sirma Lanka” in these Booking Conditions refers Sirima Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.

Representation & Warranties

You represent & warrant that:

• You are of sufficient legal age to use this website in accordance with all terms & conditions herein and to create binding legal obligations for you and any person, group of persons or entity you represent, for any liability you may incur because of the use of this website.
• You are financially responsible for all uses of this website.
• All information supplied by you in using this website is true and accurate.
• You will not post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, indecent, inflammatory, pornographic or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
• You will not use this website to make any speculative, false or fraudulent reservation or any reservation in anticipation of demand.

Tour Membership

By paying in full & obtaining services for a transfer, excursion, or package tour, you the tour participant automatically become a ‘member’ enjoying the benefits of the particular product or service. Due to the somewhat strenuous nature of some active, adventure programs, it requires that you be reasonably fit, & thus some tours may be unsuitable for children & the elderly. Some trips like canoeing & rafting may require your ability to swim. These requirements will be indicated with each tour. We will make a reasonable effort to accommodate those who are physically infirm, however, we reserve the right to refuse service and/or terminate the participation of any tour participant whose health or mental condition or physical infirmity impedes the operation of the tour. The Tour Manager/ leader/ interpreter may, at his or her discretion, require you to withdraw from any tour or activity, if the Tour Manager/ leader/ interpreter deems your conduct offensive or a nuisance to other tour participants, behave in a manner disrespectful to the local culture & customs, causes destruction to local flora & fauna and/or engage in conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate the law of any country. Sirima Lanka shall have no liability to any tour participant required to withdraw from any tour. You may also be held responsible for willful damage.

Prices, Rates & Fares

Unless otherwise indicated, all price rates shown are in Euros. Rates are per person basis. Accommodation will be sharing twin or double basis, a supplement for single room is applicable. Prices for villa are for the rental of the entire villa unless otherwise indicated. Prices are based on current rates of exchange as of the date of your reservation. Sirima Lanka reserves the right to increase tour prices to cover increased costs of tariffs, taxes, parking fees and fluctuations in foreign exchange markets. Prices are in effect at the time of viewing the website and are subject to change at any time prior to departure. Sirima Lanka cannot be held accountable for any differences due to different exchange rates or transaction fees applied by different financial institutions and/ or different dates. Refunds for price fluctuations are not possible since our charge is based on the exchange rate applicable on the day of payment. All fees, interest or bank charges in arranging tele-transfer, wire transfer, bank draft or other money transfer method through a financial institution must be borne by you.

Reservations, Deposits & Final Payments

Early reservations are essential to ensure availability of space. Upon your acceptance of our itinerary and quote, we will make tentative reservations and confirm all hotels and services which will be generally valid for 48 hours during low season and 24 hours during peak season. Low season in Sri Lanka is generally considered the period between May to July, September & October. Peak season is generally considered the period between November to April, and August. We will apply peak season terms if in our opinion an event of significant importance takes place during the low season. In event you accept our tentative reservation and quote; a deposit of 30 per cent of the tour cost is required in advance on confirmation to secure the booking and re-confirm all arrangements. If a deposit is not received at our offices within 48 hours during low season or 24 hours during peak season, from the time of reservations; booking/s is/are subject to cancellation. In the event a supplier demands stricter payment terms, we will inform you of such terms as well as individual cancellation policy. After receipt of deposit by Sirima Lanka, any change/s made to the reservation/s will incur a processing fee of €30 per change (also refer our general cancellation policy). 100 per cent of the cost as final payment per person is required not less than six weeks before arrival at destination. If the reservation is made within the last six weeks of arrival at destination (and if space is still available), the entire tour price must be paid at the time of reservation. Sirima Lanka will accept credit or debit cards for deposits. Balance payments are requested to be paid by wire funds transfer.

Provision of Services

All products & services offered on this website are subject to availability and acceptance, at the discretion of the supplier of such product or service. In the event a product or service booked by you is not available, Sirima Lanka shall use its reasonable endeavors to suggest an alternative product or service of similar pricing and quality. In the event a hotel of similar pricing and quality mentioned in the quote is not available and only a lower category of hotel is available; this will be informed to you accordingly and the benefit (if any), will be passed on to you. In the event of hotel of similar pricing and quality mentioned in the quote is not available and only a higher category/ more expensive hotel is only available; you will be informed accordingly, and supplement (if any) will be charged to you. Where the product or service is either not available or our suggested alternative (where applicable) is not acceptable to you but is fully paid, we shall make a refund in accordance with our refund policy. If you fail to accept our suggested alternative product or service by the specified deadline, we reserve the right to cancel our tentative booking of the same. We will do our best to make your rooms available on check-in. However, the standard hotel occupancy times are; Check-in time 2.00 p.m. and check out time 12:00 noon. Early check-in and late check-out are subject to extra charge. Any unutilized accommodation or services will not be refunded. Any changes to hotels after confirmation of booking will be entirely at your own expense and payable direct to our local supplier.

ITINERARY CHANGES MADE BY US

Sirima Lanka is committed to the highest levels of integrity and professionalism in ensuring you have an enjoyable tour. However, there will be instances where adjustments to your itinerary need to be made due to exigent circumstances. This could be an event under exceptional circumstances (example: overbooking of hotel) which demand an immediate action from our end to ensure your tour continues with minimal disruption. Under such circumstances, we will refund you appropriately if the replacement hotel is cheaper and pay any additional transfer costs.

ITINERARY CHANGES MADE BY YOU

Sirima Lanka aims to offer tailor-made, flexible itineraries to your satisfaction. You acknowledge that once an itinerary is finalized, requests for changes to a group or individual itinerary will always be considered. You further acknowledge that any changes may incur cancellation charges, and you will be charged for any additional services provided to you.

CUSTOMER CARE AND COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Sirima Lanka is committed to providing a caring and professional service to you. You will be provided with appropriate contact details prior to travel and it’s your responsibility to keep the contact details safe. If you are unhappy with any aspect of our services, you must immediately bring it to the attention of the service provider (example: hotel) or our local representative to provide you with an immediate solution and rectify the problem whilst on tour. If the matter is not solved to your satisfaction, you must notify Sirima Lanka within 24 hours, by email so that we can rectify the matter amicably to the benefit and contentment of all parties. It is only if you do this that Sirima Lanka can put matters right, without any undue delay. Sirima Lanka reserves the right to refuse any liability or compensation if this arbitration process is not strictly adhered to. Notwithstanding the above, In the event if you take any irresponsible action by reporting any malicious or defamatory article which may cause harm or loss to Sirima Lanka in any website, travel blog or other forum without any justification or concrete evidence, you may be subject to legal action and possible claim for damages for misreporting or malicious defamation of person or property.

Disclaimer

Your use of this website, brochure or any other accompanying promotional documentation is at your sole risk. This website, brochure or any other accompanying promotional documentation (including, but not limited to, rates and itinerary) is provided ‘as is’ basis and you assume total risk and responsibility for your use of this website, brochure or any other accompanying promotional documentation. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Sirima Lanka specifically disclaims all warranties, express or implied, in respect of this website, brochure or any other accompanying promotional documentation; including, but not limited to, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement of intellectual property or other property rights or compatibility between this website and any software and hardware. Sirima Lanka neither warrants nor makes any representations regarding the accuracy or completeness of this website or of any of the data or information contained in this website or that of the use of this website will be uninterrupted or error free or that any information, data, content, software or other material accessible through this website will be free of bugs, viruses, worms, trojan horses or other harmful components. The information contained on this website, brochure or any other accompanying promotional documentation is subject to change without notice.

Responsibility

Sirima Lanka and all affiliates act only in the capacity as an agent for the hotels, airlines, bus companies, railroads, ship lines, and/or contractors providing accommodations, transportation or other services to the client. You are advised that Sirima Lanka purchases such transportation, hotel accommodations, restaurant and other services from various independent suppliers who are not affiliated with Sirima Lanka. Sirima Lanka makes every effort to select the best suppliers of the services. However, Sirima Lanka does not control the operations of these agents and as a result, Sirima Lanka, its subsidiaries, affiliated companies, servants or agents CANNOT BE HELD LIABLE IN CONTRACT OR TORT FOR ANY PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, LOSS, DELAY TO PERSON OR PROPERTY, ADDITIONAL EXPENSES, INCONVENIENCE CAUSED DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY BY ANY SERVICE PROVIDER OR OTHER CLAIM which may occur as the result of any and/or all of the following:

1. The wrongful, negligent or arbitrary acts or omissions on the part of the independent supplier, agent, its employees or others who are not under the direct control or supervision of Sirima Lanka.
2. Defects or failures of any vessel, aircraft, vehicle or other instrumentality which is under the control of an independent supplier; or
3. Loss, injury or damage to person, property or otherwise, resulting directly or indirectly from any Acts of God, dangers, incidents at sea, fire, breakdown in machinery or equipment, or wars (whether declared or not), hostilities, civil disturbances, strikes, riots, thefts, pilferage, medical epidemics, quarantines, or customs regulations, defaults, delays or cancellations or alterations in itinerary due to schedule changes, or from any causes beyond Sirima Lanka’s control.
4. Further, Sirima Lanka is not liable for any loss or damage resulting from insufficient or improperly issued passports, visas or other legal documents. All coupons, exchange orders, receipts, contracts and tickets issued by Sirima Lanka are issued subject to all tariffs, terms, and conditions under which any services are provided by such hotels, airlines, bus companies, railroads, ship lines or owners or contractors or by their person in employ.
5. Sirima Lanka shall not be liable for or responsible to any Tour Participant in the event of dissatisfaction with the standard of service or accommodation provided by any Service Provider or is liable or responsible for any disappointment, distress or lack of enjoyment arising from any act or omission whatsoever.
6. Under no circumstances is Sirima Lanka to be construed as a carrier under contract for safe carriage of you or your baggage and belongings.

Limitation of Liability

Sirima Lanka shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of or in any way connected with the use of or inability to use this website, or the information, products and services obtained through this website, the submission of any personal information, including, but not limited to, bank and credit card details, the performance or non-performance of Sirima Lanka or any unauthorized access or breach of security into this web site through the internet or otherwise arising, whether based on contract, strict liability, tort (including negligence), product liability or otherwise even if Sirima Lanka has been advised of the possibility of such damages. By making a reservation, you acknowledge that in all events, Sirima Lanka shall not be liable for any incidental or consequential damages and that the sole extent of Sirima Lanka’s liability, if any, shall never exceed the amount actually paid by you to Sirima Lanka.

Acknowledgement

The disclaimer, responsibility and limited liability of Sirima Lanka as set out in this agreement are fundamental elements of the basis of the bargaining between you and Sirima Lanka, and you agree that Sirima Lanka would not otherwise be able to offer the products and services on its present basis without such limitations. This clause shall survive any termination of this agreement.

Insurance

You agree that it is your responsibility to adopt a holiday insurance policy (these could be organized in the respective country, prior to commencement of travel). Sirima Lanka accepts no responsibility for costs which may arise as a result of you failing to secure adequate insurance coverage, which is highly recommended. Since penalties can be extremely high, we strongly recommend you purchase trip protection for the money you invest in such a trip.

Included in Tour Price

ACCOMMODATION

Accommodation is provided as described in each tour plan. Accommodation is usually in a shared twin-bedded room with a supplementary charge for single occupancy. We offer a wide selection of accommodation from luxury boutique hotels to camping in the wilderness. You should note that some of our nature & adventure trips include traveling to remote or undeveloped outstation destinations. Hotel accommodation of international tourist standard may not exist & facilities are rudimentary. Sleeping huts & tents are simple & often lack Western-style toilets or bathing facilities. In such places, tour participants will be provided with the best available facilities. As Sri Lanka is a tropical country, you should be aware that insects in the room are a common occurrence, especially during warm months. Booking through us is an implicit acceptance of these facts.

MEALS

The package price may include meals as specified in each tour program. All included meal arrangements will be simple set menu meals, buffet or packaged lunch. Meals for certain packages will be traditional Sri Lankan meals.

SIGHTSEEING & LAND TOUR SERVICES

You will be generally provided with private transportation in an air-conditioned saloon car or micro bus if your party is below 7 people (your guide will be your driver). Generally, the services of a separate Guide lecturer will be provided for groups of 8 people and above (usually there will be a guide, a driver and a baggage assistant). Transport within National Parks or Nature reserves will generally be in safari vehicles and will depend on the terrain. Following services are generally included in your tour price; transportation between the airports and hotels, baggage handling, sightseeing with English-speaking chauffeur-guides as mentioned in the itinerary and all entrance fees to attractions and activities as described in the itinerary. Transfers are not included when arriving or departing at the first destination gateway by means other than the scheduled flights but can be arranged upon request at additional cost. Please read your itinerary carefully, as your contracted itinerary may not include all services listed above.

Not Included in Tour Price

Airfare to and from Sri Lanka, Airport taxes, passport cost of visas or other documentation, inoculation and vaccination fees, insurances of all kinds, airport transfers (unless indicated in individual tour descriptions), laundry, liquor, beverage, meals not indicated in your itinerary, excess baggage charges, tips, personal or baggage insurance, telephone or communication charges, optional excursions, any changes to the itinerary while on tour or any item of a personal nature. The tour price also does not cover costs and expenses, including the return to your home, if you leave the tour at your own volition, or due to illness, or because of official action by the government of any country visited

Child Policy

Children between 2 and 6 years are given a discount of 80 percent of the per person, adult rate, while children between 7 to 12 years old are given 70% discount of the per person adult rate on transfers, excursions, and package tours provided they share room with two adults. A maximum of two children per party are granted such discounts. Children who require their own rooms are charged as adults.

Cancellation and Refunds

CANCELLATION BY YOU

All arrangements are inclusive. Cancellations must be in writing and sent by you or your representative who made the booking on your behalf. In the event a group booking is cancelled by the tour leader (representative); each individual will be equally held liable for cancellation costs. Cancellations are timed from when we contact the supplier on your behalf. A delay is normal outside normal working hours. No refund in full or in part will be given for un-utilized services in the package(s) once you commence using the product or service. In general, early check-out and no shows re not refunded. Our general refund policy is as follows;

Our published tours will be based on the general refund policy and may not exceed the maximum cancellation fee. However, our general refund policy is not applicable for tailor-made tours where services are obtained from suppliers with stricter deposit and / or refund policies. In such instances cancellation refunds are determined on a case-by-case basis and informed at the time of reservation. Due to the special nature of preparing overseas travel logistics and payment, suppliers impose rigid cancellation fees; please be aware that Sirima Lanka has no control over such fees and cannot make any exceptions to these charges. In the event of ‘No Show,’ you will be held responsible for payment computed at the equivalent for full length of stay. In general, early checkout or no-shows are not refunded.

CANCELLATION BY US

Sirima Lanka is committed to the highest ethical and professional standards to ensure your tour is a smooth and happy experience. But please be aware we might have to cancel your tour to avert certain risks and dangers that may arise due to the incident of Force Majeure beyond our control (see clause below). In such an event we will alternately offer a comparable booking for your consideration. We cannot be held liable for any incidental expenses that you may incur during arrangements for a booking that is subsequently cancelled by us.

FORCE MAJEURE

Due to the nature of some tours featured, changes may occur without notice to the stated content or schedule of itineraries. Certain risks and dangers may arise beyond our control including, but not limited to war, terrorism, civil disturbance, pilferage, delays, severe weather, Acts of God, Acts of Government, accidents to or failure of machinery, equipment, vehicles, industrial disputes or local operational limitations beyond our control. Sirima Lanka reserves the right to cancel the whole or any part of a tour at any time as a whole or any part of a tour at any time because of force majeure or for reasons outside Sirima Lanka’s control, including but not limited to the failure of any third-party to perform. Sirima Lanka shall not be liable for damages of any kind arising out of any failure or delay in performing any or all our obligations contained herein or in respect of any product or service if the failure or delay is due to circumstances or cause beyond our reasonable control. Sirima Lanka will not have liability regarding provision of medical care or the adequacy of any care that may be rendered. It is understood you will use adequate travel insurance to cover any travel or medical eventualities.

Link to Third Parties

This web site may contain hyperlinks to web sites operated by parties other than Sirima Lanka. The inclusion of hyperlinks to such web sites does not imply Sirima Lanka’s endorsement of such web sites nor any association with their operators. Sirima Lanka is not responsible for the contents of other web sites

Smoking

Smoking is strictly prohibited in vehicles & within Nature Reserves. However, regular comfort ss are made on traveling days during tour.

Shopping

Sirima Lanka does not endorse any shops nor do we have any association with their operators. Sirima Lanka do not accept any responsibility for quality, value, reliability or authenticity of any goods that you may purchase while on tour, nor is Sirima Lanka liable in any way whatsoever for any arrangement you may make to post, courier, and freight or ship such purchases.

Photography, Photographs and Maps

Sirima Lanka reserves the right to take photographs during the operation of any program and to use resulting photographs for promotional purposes. If you or anyone in your group prefers that your images, not be used, please notify your tour guide at the beginning of the program. Photographs show places in geographic and historically significant areas but are not necessarily included in the tour. Maps shown on the tour pages are for general information and may not accurately reflect actual routing.

Indemnity

You shall indemnify and keep Sirima Lanka indemnified against all claims, demands, actions, proceedings made or brought against Sirima Lanka arising from the use of this web site and/ or any breach of any term or condition by you.

Relationship Between the Parties

No joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between you and Sirima Lanka because of this agreement or your use of this web site, brochure or any other accompanying promotional documentation.

Variations

No person, other than a Partner, or an officer of Sirima Lanka authorized in writing, may vary, add or waive any term or condition in this document set forth in the preceding provisions. Sirima Lanka reserves the right to vary these terms of use.

Software and Copyright

All contents of this web site are copyright of ©Sirima Lanka. Sirima Lanka retains all rights including, but not limiting to trademark rights, copyright and patent rights with respect to all software and underlying information or material available through this web site. You are not to download, copy or otherwise export or re-export any software or underlying information or material available through this web site, except to the extent that such downloading or copying occurs in the course of using this web site in accordance with our written instructions or otherwise as expressly permitted in this agreement.

Serverability

If any term, provision, or condition of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, the rest of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired, or invalidated.

Dispute Resolution

This contract, regardless of where it is performed, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. All disputes and contradictions appeared as a result or due to the present Contract shall be settled by negotiations between Sirima Lanka Vacations (Pvt) Ltd and yourself. In case of impossibility to settle contradictions, you submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the Commercial High Court of Western Province in Sri Lanka or any other Court in Sri Lanka that will have jurisdiction to hear and determine matters where the cause of action arises out of a commercial transaction in the judicial district of Colombo without any restriction. The decision arrived at in such a court shall be final and binding on all parties.