Mexico’s Mayan World: A Birding and Photography Adventure
EXTRA LOGISTICAL SERVICES: Should you wish NatureScape Tours to put arrangements in place for an early arrival prior to the tour’s start or extend your stay after the tour’s conclusion, please contact our office prior to your tour’s scheduled departure date as far in advance as possible. Such arrangements could range from nights at our first hotel of the tour to an extended stay of a week or more. Our staff can easily make seamless arrangements for you that could include transfers, hotel rooms, transportation and excursions. We can often provide these services at our contracted group rates — as long as we receive your request far enough in advance.
All amounts are quoted in United States dollars and are based upon double occupancy.
TOUR COST: Tour: $3,595.00 Single Supplement $545.00
The cost of this tour, based on a minimum group size of four participants, is $3,595. If the final group is smaller than four, a small group supplement may be charged.
REGISTRATION: THIS TOUR IS STRICTLY LIMITED TO A MAXIMUM OF SIX PARTICIPANTS! A deposit of $595.00 and completed registration form are required to confirm space. Without these, no one is considered registered. Registrations are taken on a first-come first-served basis with priority based on the date received.
COST INCLUDES: Accommodations based on two persons sharing a two-bedded room. We select good quality hotels convenient to our birding or tour destinations. For those wishing single rooms, a single supplement is available for $545.00. We try to supply roommates when possible, but we can’t always find one. If we cannot find you a roommate, you will be charged the added cost of single accommodations. All transportation, this may be by private or chartered car, stations wagon, van or bus. Expert guide service throughout your visit to the Yucatan Peninsula. All group admissions, park entry fees along with taxes and local government fees or taxes are included.
TIPS: All expected gratuities encountered during your tour (luggage porters, bus drivers and local guides) is included in the cost of your tour. However, if you feel your NatureScape Tours leader, local guide or lodge personnel have given you exceptional service, it is perfectly suitable for you to bestow any gratuity you elect. We strongly stress that such tips are completely optional and solely at your discretion.
COST DOES NOT INCLUDE: Not included are meals, departure taxes not included as part of your airfare, laundry, personal tips, alcoholic drinks, soft drinks, juices, mineral waters and other beverages, room service charges, souvenirs, insurance of any kind, telephone calls and use of TV which is not included in the room rate and overweight baggage fees.
MEAL COSTS ARE NOT included in the cost of this tour. For our Birding the Land of the Maya tour we eat many meals ‘in the field’ like picnics. Others are at convenient ‘typico’ restaurants while our final meal of the day is usually a sit-down dinner. As a person can eat very well for as little as $20 or $25 per day—or they can choose to spend three or four times that amount—for a single day, depending upon your choices. Accordingly, we do not include meals during this tour. NatureScape Tours has a policy of NOT overcharging one person to cover another’s meal choices—which we would have to do if meals were budgeted expenses.
UNANTICIPATED COSTS: Rarely we have had unexpected costs incurred by a tour group. Cancellation of flights has required staying in a hotel an extra night, hiring vehicles for extra birding excursions and other services. A few times when all of the birds expected at an area were found more quickly than anticipated, the tour leader proposed shortening the visit to that location, adding flights to new destinations, etc. If such changes are proposed and accepted by participants, it is with the understanding that they accept the obligation to pay any extra unanticipated costs.
On all of our tours, participants are responsible for any extra expenses incurred from deviations to our scheduled tour itinerary which result from events out of our control (additional hotel nights, transfers and transportation by air, water or ground). In Mexico this typically refers to WEATHER related delays (i.e. road closures, flash floods or landslides) but could be a result of flight cancellations, labor strikes, acts of God or the like.
DATE OF COST QUOTATION: May 8, 2017
We can only quote current costs. Tour planning begins more than a year in advance of the tour’s start. While we try to arrive at our best estimates, we can’t predict fluctuation of currency exchange rates, increases in hotel or vehicle rates outside of our negotiated contracts, etc. Therefore, we reserve the right to increase the tour cost when there are justifiable reasons. However, we make a sincere effort to arrive at the closest possible estimate and have even absorbed small increases at times to avoid raising tour costs to participants. Many of our suppliers have gone to surcharges in their contracts with NatureScape Tours as a means to offset the unpredictabilities inherent in such long distance planning. The two most prevalent are:
FUEL: In today’s volatile oil market, it’s difficult, nay, impossible, to accurately project fuel costs into the distant future. Prices for our tours are based upon fuel rates reasonably expected at the time of your tour’s start. While NatureScape Tours does everything possible to maintain the quoted price of your tour, with a dramatic shift in fuel prices, it may be necessary to charge a fuel surcharge. If such a surcharge is levied, every effort will be made to minimize the cost passed along to you. In almost all cases, these are additional charges being assessed NatureScape Tours by our service suppliers and vendors who have exercised their right, under their contracts with NatureScape Tours, to increase prices caused by substantial changes in the cost of fuel.
EXCHANGE RATES: As with oil, it’s impossible, to accurately project foreign currency exchange rates into the distant future. Prices for our tours are based upon the rate of exchange occurred at the time of your tour’s planning. While NatureScape Tours does everything possible to maintain the quoted price of your tour, with a dramatic shift in exchange rates, it may be necessary to charge a surcharge. If such a surcharge is levied, every effort will be made to minimize the cost passed along to you. In almost all cases, these are additional charges being assessed NatureScape Tours by our service suppliers and vendors who have exercised their right, under their contracts with NatureScape Tours, to increase prices caused by substantial changes in foreign currency exchange rates.
PLEASE NOTE: In more than 25 years of running tours, we’ve NEVER had to assess an additional charge or surcharge to a client. We feel strongly that our staff’s careful planning and negotiation will continue our unblemished record.
CANCELLATIONS received in writing more that 121 days prior to departure will receive a full refund less $200.00 deducted from all deposits to cover the work and expense of handling registrations and canceling them. Fees deducted for later cancellations are: 120 to 101 days before departure date your deposit plus any unrecoverable expenses; due to contractual obligations with our hotels, bus and van rentals, boat charters and other costs where we have contracted payment dates there can be no refunds for cancellations within 100 days prior to our departure. Some participants have lost substantial sums when illness or other circumstances prevented them from taking a tour. Therefore, we advise you to buy trip cancellation insurance which may reimburse the entire unrecovered amount if it is necessary for you to cancel.
UNUSED PORTIONS OF A TOUR: We can’t offer refunds for unused portions of a tour unless agreed to before the tour. If you fail to show up or meet the tour regardless of the reason, we are under no obligation to provide any refund. Trip cancellation insurance may reimburse losses if you must leave a tour early for illness or other valid reason.
COMPLETION OF PAYMENT: Foreign travel agents, hotels, boat operators etc. require advance payment. Your cooperation helps avoid problems with your arrangements. For this tour we require final payment by January 15, 2018.
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