COVID 19

Covid-19 related special rules, requirements and conditions

The primary health care system in Botswana is very good.  There are government clinics and health posts in nearly every village. Rapid antigen tests, advice and medications are widely available and you will be well looked after. But in the event that you do contract a severe case of Covid-19, advanced medical care may not be available where you are and aerial evacuation may or may not be possible.  Some accommodation providers also require guests to provide proof of vaccination at check-in.  This applies especially to camps and lodges in remote locations. We strongly advise all of our clients to ensure that they are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before they arrive in the country.  

Government Rules

Botswana is currently operating under a set of measures imposed under the Public Health Act. 

At present, the rules in the Public Health Orders relevant to foreign tourists are as follows:

1. You must arrive in Botswana with a negative PCR based Covid-19 test result.
2. You may have your temperature taken and may be given a rapid PCR test on arrival.  In the event that you test positive for Covid-19 you will be required to self isolate in the accommodation arranged for their first night’s stay in the country.  Self isolation costs are borne by the traveler;
3. The same procedure of self isolation will be followed if you test positive for Covid-19 during your travels in Botswana;
4. The wearing of masks is mandatory in public places, including outdoors.

What DIY will do…..

5. After booking and during your travel we will keep you updated with any changes to the government rules that might affect your travel by email or phone.
   
6. In the unlikely event that you fall ill with Covi-19 during your travel in Botswana with us we will:
    

1. rearrange or extend your itinerary.  make our best efforts to recover and refund any advance payments made for accommodations and activities you cannot use; and 
2. provide you with any advice you may need.  We are a local company; we are here to help; and we are only a phone call away.  You can call us at any time.

Covid-19 events

During the pandemic our standard terms and conditions (as shown on our terms and conditions page) relating to refunds, charges for changing the dates of travel, and changes to the number of people in your party will not apply in the following circumstances, which are defined by us as ‘Covid-19 events’.

• You have tested positive for Covid-19 within 21 days of your departure date; or
• You have been required to self-isolate by government-mandated quarantine for Covid-19 within 10 days of your departure due to an official order due to contact with a person who has, or may have, Covid-19; or
• Your international flights are cancelled with no reasonable alternative routing available for you to use in order to start your DIY itinerary; or

• After booking travel with us, the government of your country of residence either bans you from travelling abroad, or issues a warning affecting your trip which advises against ‘all but essential travel’ either worldwide or covering one or more destinations on your itinerary due to Covid-19 concerns;
• One or more of the destinations on your itinerary closes its borders to travellers; or
• One or more of the destinations on your itinerary has closed its borders to you because of your country of residence or your recent travel history; or
• One or more of the destinations on your itinerary mandates quarantine on your arrival which substantially alters your itinerary
  

If a Covid-19 event should affect your travel with us the following conditions will apply.

7. You are responsible for notifying the company of the circumstance that applies in writing as soon as possible.  An email to info@selfdrivetoursbotswana.com acknowledged by us is sufficient.
8. If you need to change the starting or ending date of your travel, change the number of people in your party or change the itinerary for any of the reasons listed above then we will use our best endeavours to recover and refund any money paid to third parties for pre-booked accommodation and activities that you can no longer use.  We will invoice you for the costs of any alternative accommodation, activities etc that you ask us to book on your behalf. 
9. If you need to cancel your booking in its entirety due to a Covid-19 event listed above, then :

1. If your cancellation is received more than  14 days before the start of our arrangements you can choose either to
   (i) defer your trip to a later date of your choice; or
   (ii) receive a full refund of all payments made to DIY for the cost of the trip excepting the non-refundable deposit.
   
2.  If your cancellation is received fewer than 14 days before the start of your itinerary with us, then you can either:
   (i) defer the start date of your trip to a mutually agreed date in the future (typically this will be 6-24 months later than the original departure date); or
   (ii) request a partial refund. A partial refund will consist of any bond charged for items that were to be loaned by our company; any monies for accommodation and activities that we have not yet passed on to third party providers; and any monies that we, using our best endeavours, are able to recover from third party providers of accommodation and activities that we have already paid.  Most of these providers will have their own cancellation policies for which we cannot be held responsible.

10. If you choose to  defer your trip to a later date, DIY will pass on to you any price changes due to change of season, or change of year, but we will endeavour to keep such additional costs to a minimum.

Exceptions

11. Note that there may be a handful of lodges, camps and other services for which we cannot offer all of the terms above. If this is the case for any element of your itinerary, then we will draw this to your attention in writing and check that you’re happy to accept any exception to the terms above before we accept your booking.
    
    

Changes to these Special Conditions

1. These special conditions will cease to apply once the World Health Organisation declares the Covid-19 pandemic to be over.