Greetings from Uganda,
At Adventure Consults, we have noticed increased concerns among travelers as a result of propaganda, wrong reporting and subsequently negative perception towards Uganda in relation to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In order to contain the spread of the virus, the Ugandan government has closed off all Congo-Uganda entry points/borders, heightened surveillance, intensified public health communication, and strengthened community engagement efforts. There is screening at all entry points including Entebbe International Airport. Any public events that may attract crowds and are difficult to control have been suspended.
Safaris to Uganda & Rwanda are ongoing normally. Adventure Consults has always maintained strict hygiene standards by providing hand sanitizer to all clients & encouraging regular handwashing. Additionally, we have in the meantime dropped any community activities that may expose our clients to uncontrollable crowds.
While the situation in Uganda doesn’t justify any trip cancellations/reschedules, travel restrictions/guidelines by different countries on people who have been to Uganda are forcing travelers to make unpleasant decisions of either cancelling or rescheduling 2026 travel plans.
Such travel reschedules and cancellations have had an impact on the entire value chain, and as a company, we have come up with a plan on how to deal with the situation.
Cancellations:
If anyone opts to cancel the trip, the existing Adventure Consults booking/cancellation terms and conditions shall apply. These can be accessed here – Booking and cancellation terms and conditions.
Reschedule/Postponement:
If you must change travel plans, we highly recommend postponing confirmed trips to a future period. This option will save clients, partners and ourselves from facing cancellation charges. Rescheduling the trip/s is subject to the following conditions/guidelines.
- The reschedule of the travel dates is a one-off offer meant to reduce the burden of incurring cancellation charges as a result of Ebola-related travel restrictions.
- Reschedule of trips must be communicated in writing within a minimum period of 14 working days prior to the trip start date. This may however change from time to time.
- The reschedule option is applicable to safaris that are booked to arrive in Uganda/Rwanda within a period of 60 days or less. The time period shall be determined by any country’s travel restrictions. So long as such restrictions are still in place, any safari meant to happen within 60 days or less can be rescheduled.
- In line with Uganda Wildlife Authority’s one-off offer of moving any Gorilla permits to new dates due to the Ebola outbreak, only one reschedule opportunity is permitted. Once Gorilla and Chimpanzee permits have been moved to the new dates, there shall not be a second opportunity to reschedule them.
- The one-off reschedule of Gorilla and Chimpanzee permit opportunity requires advance notice, made in writing within a minimum of 10 working days prior to the tracking date.
- The reschedule offer is dependent on respective partner and service provider terms and conditions, which are subject to change at any time/short notice.
- The new travel dates must be within 12 months of the original/confirmed/planned dates.
- The new travel dates shall depend on availability of accommodation, permits, flights and all other safari elements as per the itinerary.
- While the Adventure Consults team will do their best to maintain the safari cost as initially quoted, any unexpected and unavoidable third-party tariff changes shall be timely communicated and borne by the client/s accordingly. Such changes would be due to new government taxes, fuel surcharges etc and can sometimes be at short notice.
- Once a decision on new dates is made, a credit note shall be prepared reflecting the amount on account and strictly to be allocated to the same trip (clients, trip duration though can add more days, but not reduce, and must stay at the same accommodations/properties).
All options above are based on service providers’ temporary and relaxed policies meant to ensure minimal loss of monies by confirmed clients as a result of the Ebola outbreak in Eastern Congo.
As a company, we have incurred reasonable and irrecoverable expenses while making arrangements for trips. We will however not charge any such costs to our clients/partners, hence the option of rescheduling trips will be at no cost.
We hope you find the above helpful as we go through this uncertain period.
Please talk to our team for more guidance.
