Cancellation and Refund Policy
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Plans change. This page tells you exactly what happens if yours do — what we charge, when we charge it, and why. We have written it in plain English and given the reason behind every figure, because a cancellation policy you cannot understand is not much use to anyone.
It applies to all Wild Springs Adventures treks, safaris, day trips and courses booked directly with us.
1. Deposit and balance
A deposit confirms your place. The amount is set out on your written quotation, and the balance is due 14 days before departure.
Your deposit is not an extra charge. It comes off your total.
If the balance has not reached us by the due date we will contact you first — by email and by phone. We do not cancel a booking for a late payment without speaking to you.
2. If you cancel
Tell us as early as you can. The earlier you tell us, the less it costs you, because the further out you are the less we have already committed on your behalf.
| When you tell us | What we charge | Why |
|---|---|---|
| More than 45 days before departure | Only the bank or card charge we actually paid to receive your money, up to a maximum of USD 40. Everything else comes back to you. | Nothing has been booked or bought yet. The only money genuinely gone is the fee our payment processor kept. |
| 22 to 45 days before | Your deposit. | Your dates are held, your crew are allocated to you, and hut and lodge deadlines have started to pass. |
| 8 to 21 days before | 50% of the trip price. | Crew, vehicle and accommodation are committed. Your balance falls due inside this window. |
| 3 to 7 days before | 85% of the trip price. | Your park permits have been bought and Kenya Wildlife Service does not refund them. Food is being purchased and your crew have turned down other work. |
| Less than 72 hours before, or you do not arrive | 100%. | Everything has been paid out. |
Four things that go with that table.
We will never charge you more than you have already paid us. If you cancel at day 20 having paid only a deposit, we keep the deposit. We will not invoice you for the difference.
You can almost always move your dates instead. It costs you far less than cancelling. See section 3.
If we manage to fill your place, we will refund what we recover, less the costs we cannot get back. We would rather resell the place than keep your money.
We built this scale from what a trek actually costs us and when we have to pay it. In setting it we have taken account of the costs we save when you cancel and any money we make from reselling your place.
3. Moving your dates instead of cancelling
This is nearly always the better option, and we have made it deliberately easy.
| When you tell us | What it costs |
|---|---|
| More than 14 days before departure | Free. One move per booking, to any date in the next 24 months, subject to availability. |
| 8 to 14 days before | USD 50, plus any third-party cost we cannot recover. We will show you what those are. |
| 7 days or fewer | Treated as a cancellation under section 2 — but we will offer you 50% of what you paid as credit toward a future trek. |
| Medical emergency, any time, with documentation | Free. Including inside 7 days. |
If the new dates cost more than the old ones, you pay the difference. If they cost less, we refund it.
4. Sending someone else in your place
You can transfer your booking to another person if you tell us at least 7 days before departure and they meet the same fitness and insurance requirements.
There is no fee from us. There is one real cost we have to pass on: Kenya Wildlife Service park permits are issued in the traveller's name and cannot be transferred. If we have already bought your permit, we have to buy a new one, and that cost goes to you.
5. If we cancel
We do not cancel departures for low numbers. If one person books a published date, that person climbs. This is a term of your contract with us, not a marketing line.
If we cancel for any reason within our control, you get:
- All of your money back — in the currency you paid, within 10 working days, with every transfer charge paid by us; and
- your choice of an alternative date at the price you originally paid, held open for 24 months; and
- reimbursement of documented third-party costs you cannot recover from your airline or your insurer, up to USD 250 per person.
We will never offer you a credit note instead of a refund. You may choose credit if you prefer it. We will not substitute it.
6. Weather, park closures and things nobody controls
We do not cancel treks because of rain
Mount Kenya has two wet seasons and we run treks through both of them. Rain, cold, mud and snow are trekking conditions, not cancellation grounds, and no refund arises from them. Your kit list exists for exactly this reason.
Your guide may change the route
Your guide can change the route, the campsite or the summit timing for safety. That is not a cancellation and does not create a refund. If the change saves us money on park or hut fees, we pass the saving back to you.
If Kenya Wildlife Service closes your gate or route
We move you to another route at no extra cost. This is the normal outcome, and it is why we hold permits on more than one route wherever we can.
If the park closes entirely, or something outside anyone's control stops the trek
You choose between any other date within 24 months at no charge, or a refund of everything except money already paid to Kenya Wildlife Service or other suppliers who will not return it to us. We will show you exactly what those amounts are.
If you are booking from the United Kingdom or the European Union, you may have a legal right to a full refund with no charge in these circumstances. Nothing in this policy takes that away.
7. If you have to turn back on the mountain
Point Lenana is 4,985 metres. Some people get altitude sickness, and the only treatment is to go down. If your guide tells you to descend, you descend. That decision is final and it is never negotiable.
Going down costs you nothing extra. A guide or porter will come down with you and we do not charge you for that. We will never put you in a position where you are weighing money against your health. If you are unsure, tell your guide — the answer is always to go down.
We cannot refund the days you do not use. Your crew are still paid, your park fees are already spent, and your food is already on the mountain. This is standard across the industry, and it is one of the reasons we require you to hold insurance: curtailment cover exists to pay for exactly this. If you have to descend early we will give you a written statement of the days lost so you can claim.
8. Insurance
Travel and medical insurance is mandatory on every trek we run. Two separate requirements apply.
Kenyan law. Since 2026, visitors to Kenya staying under 12 months must hold travel health insurance with a minimum total benefit of USD 50,000, covering medical treatment, emergency medical transport, medicines, mental health and repatriation. This is verified through the eTA system before you travel and can be checked at the port of entry. An existing policy from your own country counts if it meets the limits.
Our requirement, on top of that. Your policy must cover trekking to 5,000 metres and emergency evacuation. Many standard travel policies exclude altitude above 3,000 or 4,000 metres. That exclusion is the one that matters on Point Lenana. Check it before you buy.
We ask for proof of insurance when your balance is paid, 14 days before departure — not at the trailhead. If you arrive without valid cover we cannot take you onto the mountain, and it is treated as a no-show. We will help you obtain compliant cover first; we would much rather solve the problem than keep your money.
Buy your insurance when you book, not when you travel. Cancellation cover only pays out if the policy was already in force when the reason to cancel arose. This is the single most useful sentence on this page.
9. Not arriving, and arriving late
No-show — you do not arrive and have not contacted us before the stated start time. 100% charge.
Late arrival — you contact us before the start time. We will get you onto the mountain to join your group wherever it is safe to do so. You pay the extra transport. Days you miss are not refunded.
A customer who phones is not the same as a customer who vanishes, and we do not treat them the same.
10. How refunds actually work
- We refund in the currency you paid, to the account or card you paid from. If you paid in US dollars you get dollars back; if you paid in shillings you get shillings. We do not convert your refund into another currency, because that would move the exchange-rate risk onto you.
- Card refunds — we refund the full amount due. Your bank may take 5 to 10 working days to show it. If your card is in a different currency, your bank's exchange rate on the refund date may differ from the rate on the payment date. That difference belongs to your bank and we cannot control it.
- Bank transfers — we pay our own bank's outward charge. Correspondent and receiving banks sometimes deduct their own fees from money in transit. Those are outside our control and we cannot guarantee the exact amount that lands.
- Timescale — within 10 working days of us confirming your cancellation, and always within 14 days for customers in the UK and the EU.
11. What your insurance should cover, and what we cover
| If this happens | Our policy | Your insurance should |
|---|---|---|
| You fall ill, are injured, or a close relative dies before you travel | Section 2 applies | Trip cancellation cover |
| Your flight is cancelled and you miss the start | Section 2 applies | Travel disruption / missed departure cover |
| You descend early with altitude sickness | No refund for unused days; we give you written confirmation of days lost | Curtailment cover |
| You need evacuation off the mountain | We arrange it; you or your insurer pay for it | Emergency evacuation valid to 5,000 m |
| You need hospital treatment in Kenya | Not covered by us | The USD 50,000 cover Kenya requires |
| Your kit is lost or damaged | Not covered by us | Baggage cover |
12. Air evacuation cover
AMREF Flying Doctors evacuation cover is not included in your trek price. We can arrange it on request, at additional cost — tell us when you book.
Every climb carries mountain rescue coordination, a first-aid kit and pulse-oximeter monitoring at each camp as standard.
13. If something goes wrong
Tell us first, and tell us early. Email [email protected] or call +254 729 257 317. We aim to acknowledge within 2 working days and resolve within 14.
This policy is governed by Kenyan law. If you live in the United Kingdom or the European Union, this does not take away rights you have under your own country's consumer law, and you can bring a claim in your own local courts.
14. How we take payment
We accept bank transfer, card and M-Pesa. Once we confirm your place we send you a written invoice from our office, and that invoice carries the only account details you should ever use.
We never request payment through social media, personal phone numbers, or any account or link not confirmed in writing by our office. If in doubt, call us before paying anyone.
Questions about this policy?
Email [email protected] or call +254 729 257 317.
Wild Springs Adventures Limited · Valley View Office Park, Tower A, First Floor, City Park Drive, Parklands, Nairobi
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