Booking Terms & Conditions

1Who we are

Curves in the Road is a trading name of Abena Collective, based in Cape Town, South Africa, founded and hosted by Shafeeqah Isaacs. You can reach us at hello@curvesintheroad.com and schedule a call.

2What we are, and are not

We are a hosted travel experience. We are not a travel agency, a tour operator selling packaged itineraries, a flight booking service, an insurer, a medical provider or a security service.

What that means in practice: we arrange group accommodation, ground transport, certain meals, some guided experiences and the presence of a host for the duration of the trip. Everything else, including flights, visas, insurance and optional activities, is arranged and paid for by you directly with independent third parties. We will happily help you think any of it through and make recommendations. We simply do not book it on your behalf.

3How booking works

• You complete a short application form. No money changes hands at this stage.
• If your application is accepted, we send you a written offer of a place, the full booking agreement, and a deposit invoice.
• You return the signed agreement together with your deposit, usually within 5 working days. Your place is confirmed only once both the signed agreement and cleared payment are received.
• The balance is payable by the date on your invoice, ordinarily no later than 45 days before departure, or according to an agreed instalment schedule.

We select guests by application because group size is small and the group matters. Being declined is not a judgement of you; it usually means the trip is full or is not the right fit for what you have told us you want.

4Prices, payments and instalments

All prices are quoted in South African Rand and are per person, sharing, unless otherwise stated. We will happily share the price in another currency. Single-room supplements, where offered, are priced separately and stated clearly on the trip page.

Payment is by electronic transfer to the account stated on your invoice. Guest payments are held in a dedicated business account and applied only to the costs of your trip. You receive a written invoice for every payment.

Paying in instalments

Most trips can be paid off over 3 to 12 months, interest free, on an agreed schedule. This works like a lay-by: the trip is paid up in full before departure, so you travel debt-free. If an instalment is missed, we will contact you. If a payment remains outstanding for more than 7 days after its due date and we have not agreed an alternative arrangement in writing, we may release your place and the transfer terms in section 8 will apply.

Should you wish to use credit, we have alternative payment methods.

5What's included and excluded

Exactly what is included is listed on the page for each trip and repeated in your welcome pack. If something is not expressly listed as included, it is not included.

Never included: flights, visa fees, travel insurance, meals other than those listed, optional activities, personal spending, and anything of a personal nature.

6Minimum numbers and flights

We will give you a realistic flight budget, suggested routes and a sensible booking window, and we are on the other end of a message while you work it out.

7If we change or cancel

If the minimum group size is not reached, or we cancel for any reason other than your breach of the agreement, you receive a full refund of everything you have paid us, within 14 days.

If we have to make a material change before departure, for example a change of city or a change of more than two days to the dates, you may choose between accepting the change, transferring your payment to a future trip, or a full refund of amounts paid to us. Our liability in these cases is limited to the amounts you have paid to us. We cannot refund flights, visas or insurance premiums bought from third parties, but these will likely be covered by your travel insurance.

8If you cancel or transfer

We commit real money to accommodation, transport and suppliers on the strength of your booking, and our groups are small enough that one empty seat changes the economics of the whole trip. So cancellation charges apply, calculated from the date we receive your written notice. This scale is applied in line with section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act.

The cancellation scale

The deposit is non-refundable at any stage. It is what secures your accommodation and holds your seat.

Transfers, which we would always rather do

• Moving to a future trip: free of charge more than 90 days before departure, and every guest gets one free date change, no questions asked. Inside 90 days the scale above applies to the amount carried forward, because by then the money has left the account.
• If we manage to resell your place after a late cancellation, we refund whatever we actually recover, less a 5% administration fee. We show you the numbers.
• Credits carry for 12 months from the date of the trip you were booked on.

This is also exactly why travel insurance with cancellation cover is compulsory. If you have to cancel late for a reason your policy covers, your insurer refunds what we cannot.

9Travel insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is compulsory on every trip. At minimum it must cover emergency medical treatment and hospitalisation abroad, emergency evacuation and repatriation, and trip cancellation or curtailment. Proof of cover needs to reach us 30 days before departure. It's the one thing we can't be flexible about, because it's what protects you when something goes properly wrong. Without it we can't take you, and the cancellation terms in section 8 would apply. We are a host, not an insurer.

10Passports, visas and entry

You are responsible for holding a passport valid for at least six months beyond your return date, with at least two blank pages, and for obtaining the correct visa for your nationality. We tell you what we know and verify requirements before every departure, but requirements change and only you can confirm what applies to your own passport. We are not liable for denied boarding or denied entry arising from your travel documents.

11Health and disclosure

You confirm that you are medically fit to travel and to take part in the trip as described. You must disclose any medical condition, allergy, dietary requirement, disability, mobility consideration or mental health consideration that could affect your safety or require support. This is used solely to look after you properly and is treated as special personal information under POPIA. See our Privacy Notice.

12The nature of our trips

Our trips are deliberately unstructured. Outside the included group moments, you choose how to spend your days, alone or with others. That freedom is the product, and it carries inherent risk.

International travel involves risks including illness, injury, accident, theft, transport delays and failures, unfamiliar environments, water-based and desert activities, and standards of health, safety and infrastructure that differ from South Africa. By booking, you acknowledge these risks and voluntarily accept them. The host is an organiser and a support presence, and does not supervise or accompany you outside the included group activities.

We only run trips to places we have personally travelled. If a trip is ever an exception to that, we say so clearly on the trip page before you book.

13Independent suppliers

Accommodation, transport, guides, restaurants and optional activities are provided by independent third parties. We select them with care, we use licensed local guides, and we ask suppliers to confirm their licensing and safety arrangements in writing. We do not, however, control them, and we are not liable for their acts or omissions. Optional activities are contracted and paid for by you directly and undertaken at your own risk.

14Conduct and the group

These trips depend on mutual respect inside a small group. We reserve the right to remove a guest, without refund, whose conduct endangers themselves or others, is abusive or discriminatory, or seriously disrupts the group. Costs arising from removal are for that guest's account. This clause exists to protect everyone, including you.

15Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by South African law, including the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, we are not liable for death, injury, illness, loss or damage suffered on or in connection with a trip, except to the extent caused by our gross negligence or wilful misconduct. Our total liability is in all cases limited to the trip fee you have paid to us. Nothing here excludes liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, and nothing here limits your rights under the Consumer Protection Act.

16Events beyond control

Neither party is liable for a failure to perform caused by events beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, epidemics, government travel restrictions, civil unrest, strikes, and airport or border closures. Where such an event prevents a trip proceeding, we will offer a transfer to a future trip or a refund of amounts paid to us less unrecoverable costs already committed on your behalf, which we will document and show you.

17Complaints and law

Please raise anything with us directly first. We commit to responding within 7 days and to fixing what we can. Nothing prevents you from approaching the National Consumer Commission or any other competent forum. These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.

This page is a summary for the website. The signed booking agreement, your application and your invoice together form the whole agreement between us.