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ABOUT OUR
TOURS
TRAVEL ADVICE Warning! Adventure travel can be habit forming. But before you take the plunge, please consider this advice.Travel to farflung corners of the earth involves lifestyles and conditions that are often very different from our own.You must come prepared to cope with unusual situations, local inadequacies and unpredictable events as and when they occur. Even with meticulous planning things can go wrong so having a sense of humour is a bonus. Adventure holidays are definitely not suitable for people who expect to be pampered or demand everything to go exactly as planned. For your own holiday enjoyment and in the interest of your fellow travellers, you must understand this. If this is not acceptable, please do not book with us. You should also be aware that some countries around the world have serious security problems. Thieves, muggers and drug pedlars are likely to be active in big cities and street markets and certain areas may be considered `out-of-bounds' for tourists. Most crime is opportunistic. Using your common sense will certainly lessen many of the risks. In recent years, anti-government, nationalist and guerrilla movements have also tended to multiply, so that nowadays insurrections and random acts of terrorism make shocking and distressing headline news. We constantly monitor the political situation in the regions we visit and would have no hesitation in rerouting or cancelling a trip if we felt there was the need. If you are concerned about a destination or your safety call the Foreign Office or the appropriate Embassy and ask their advice. See p16.
GROUP SIZE All tours featured in this brochure are group tours with fixed departure dates. The maximum group size varies from tour to tour and can be anything from 15 to 24, depending on the type of tour and the transport and accommodation used and activities included. The actual number on any given departure date depends on the popularity of the tour, but rarely drops below 6 or 7. Most average 12 to 14 plus the Tour Leader. WHO TRAVELS ON OUR TOURS? Your travel companions could be from anywhere in the world, and could be from any background or walk of life. As we only offer English-speaking tours, a majority of them are likely to be from the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the US. One thing is certain you will be travelling with some well-travelled, interesting and like-minded people who are bound to share your love for travel and desire to explore a different part of the world. AGE LIMITS The minimum age on all tours featured in this brochure is 14 years.The maximum age is usually 79, at the time of travel, unless travelling with a companion under the maximum age. However most of our travellers are aged between 25 & 55. ARE FLIGHTS INCLUDED? You can book most Explore tours on either a 'Flight Inclusive' or 'Land Only' basis. If you would like us to organise a flight for you, there are several options. Either we can try to get you on the group flight on which our prices are based, which generally departs from London, or we may be able to source a flight from your local airport in the UK if this is more convenient. We can also book regional flights from around the UK to link with flights from London, and arrange flight upgrades should you be interested. Whilst guide prices are shown for the 'Flight Inclusive' tours, they can vary for a number of reasons, and are subject to flight supplements, fuel surcharges and other taxes. For more details on flights/prices, see p17-19. Booking on a 'Land-Only' basis allows you to make your own way to the tour joining point abroad. It may be that you have access to good one-off flight deals or have loyalty points with a certain airline that you wish to use. It is also a good way to book if you want to combine two or more tours or link with other independent travel. If you are booking 'Land Only' we strongly recommend that you do not purchase non-flexible connecting flights as they usually incur penalty charges in the event of a change to your itinerary.
ITINERARIES Explore itineraries offer a wide variety of experiences and activities, which allow those who travel on them to really get to know the area in which they are travelling, and to get beyond the normal tourist facade. Whilst we tend to include the better known sights, a number of excursions and activities are usually left optional. This gives everyone enough flexibility to do their own thing. We also build free time for personal exploration into all our itineraries this is an important part of any Explore tour. ACCOMMODATION Because a vast majority of our tours are journeys, most include a number of different night-stops and thus different accommodation. Wherever possible we try to include accommodation which best reflects the local area in which we are travelling. Where we use hotels, we tend to aim for mid-range properties, with the key ingredients being cleanliness, safety, comfort and location. The type of room provided and the level of facilities may well vary from place to place. Providing luxury hotels or accommodation with five star facilities is not what Explore is about. All our accommodation is given a rating in the individual tour dossiers. Whether for a hotel or local-style accommodation the rating will indicate the type of facilities that can be expected for each night-stop. Small hotels are not always geared up to `western' standards, and at times facilities can be less than salubrious; a lack of hot water, a shower that does not work, an erratic power supply. But there are compensations a closer sense of reality, a better feeling of locale. We have no desire to stay at large-scale tourist complexes nor experience the cosseted fantasies of `deluxe' class hotels. In general rooms are available from around midday and should be vacated between 10am and noon. ROOMING & SINGLE ROOM OPTION Most tours are based on customers sharing twinbedded rooms. If you book as an individual, you will be roomed with someone of the same sex. However on many tours we offer the opportunity to pay a supplement to pre-book a single room. On some tours a single room will be provided every night. On many a single room will be provided at a majority of the nightstops but for logistical reasons not every night. Individual trip dossiers clarify this. If, for whatever reason, we are unable to provide a single room as outlined in the dossier, we will refund a proportion of the monies paid to us for the Single Room Option.
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