Cancellation & Refund Policy

Booking through this website charges a deposit of USD 100, not the full trip price. The deposit holds your dates while we confirm hotels, guides and vehicles.

The balance is agreed and settled directly with your trip designer once your itinerary is confirmed. Where the total value of a booking is less than USD 100 — a short vehicle hire, for example — you simply pay it in full at the time of booking.

If you change your mind within 48 hours of paying your deposit, and your travel date is more than 30 days away, we will refund the deposit in full. Just email us — no reason needed.

After the cooling-off period, cancellation charges are based on how long before your first travel day we receive written notice:

• More than 30 days: deposit refunded in full, less any non-recoverable third-party costs already committed on your behalf (for example, reserved train seats or park permits). We will always show you these costs.
• 15–30 days: deposit is retained. No further charge.
• 8–14 days: deposit is retained, plus 25% of any balance already paid.
• 7 days or fewer, or no-show: deposit is retained, plus 50% of any balance already paid.

We charge only what we cannot recover. If a supplier releases a booking without penalty, that money comes back to you.

Moving dates or adjusting an itinerary is usually free if you tell us more than 15 days ahead — we would far rather move your trip than cancel it. Inside 15 days we will pass on any supplier charges, and any difference in price is payable or refundable.

If we cancel your trip for any reason within our control, you receive a full refund of everything you have paid us, including the deposit. If circumstances outside anyone’s control make the trip impossible or unsafe — severe weather, civil disruption, border closures, or similar — we will offer you alternative dates, an equivalent itinerary, or a refund of all recoverable supplier costs together with our deposit.

We cannot refund services you choose not to use once your trip has started — an unused hotel night, a skipped safari, or an early departure.

All cancellations and refund requests must be sent by email to info@nictic.com. This is the only channel we accept them on — it gives both of us a written record and a clear date.

Please include:

• Your booking reference — it starts with NIC- and appears on your confirmation page
• The lead traveller’s name and the email used to book
• Your travel dates and what you would like to cancel

You are welcome to message us on WhatsApp to discuss options first, but a cancellation only takes effect once you have emailed us — and it takes effect on the date we receive that email. Send it as early as you can: a day either side can change which band above applies.

There is no automated or self-service cancellation on this website. Nothing you do in the booking pages will cancel a trip or trigger a refund by itself.

Every refund is reviewed by a person against the bands in section 3, including any supplier costs already committed for your trip. We will confirm the amount to you in writing before anything is paid back. Refunds are not issued automatically and are never triggered by the website.

We aim to confirm a decision within 5 working days of your email. Once you have agreed the amount, we return it manually through PayHere to the original card or account used for payment — we cannot pay a refund to a different card, account or person. Your bank may then take a further 5–10 working days to show the funds.

Refunds are made in the currency you paid in. We are not responsible for movements in exchange rates between payment and refund, or for fees your own bank charges.

If something goes wrong, tell us during your trip so we can fix it there and then — that is almost always faster than resolving it afterwards. If a problem is unresolved, email info@nictic.com within 28 days of returning home and we will respond within 14 days. See also our Terms & Conditions.