A Taste of Kenya with Mombasa Beach Stay - Southern Palms Beach Resort

If booking more than 12 weeks before departure a deposit of £295.00pp will need to be paid at the time of booking with the full amount payable at 12 weeks prior to departure. The deposit applies to adults and children. If you are within 12 weeks of travel then the full balance of the holiday will be payable.

To enter Kenya, your passport must have an ‘expiry date’ at least 6 months after the date you arrive and at least two blank pages. You will require a tourist visa to enter Kenya, apply for an “eTA” online before you travel. The only legitimate website to apply for the eTA is www.etakenya.go.ke/en. The cost for the eTA is approximately £40 per person. The visa takes approximately 5 working days to issue and it is only valid for a 90 day single entry stay from the date of arrival. We work closely with The Travel Visa Company who will be able to arrange your visa on your behalf. Please call them on 01270 250 590 and quote 'Mercury Holidays'. When calling the Travel Visa Company they will advise you of any changes to the fees or the procedure, they will also advise you of all information they will require in order to apply for the visa. We recommend you check with your destinations' Tourist Board or Embassy prior to departure for the most up to date guidelines regarding these.

We strongly recommend that you and all members of your party are suitably insured as soon as you book your holiday. It is a condition of booking that you must have suitable travel insurance. It is important that you purchase travel insurance that suitably covers your participation in whatever activities you may undertake at the time that you make your booking. To assist you with this, we have arranged travel insurance in partnership with Holiday Extras. To arrange your travel insurance with Holiday Extras, please call 0800 781 4237 and quote 'WK830' for preferential rates. Please ensure you provide us with the name of your insurer, policy number and their 24-hour emergency contact number as soon as possible. Mercury Holidays will not be liable for any costs incurred by you due to your failure to take out suitable travel insurance from the date of booking.

It is your responsibility to check any health and vaccination requirements applicable to your booked arrangements. We can only provide general information about this. Health and hygiene facilities and disease risks vary from country to country. You should take health advice about your own needs as early as possible and in good time before your departure. Sources of information include; www.fco.gov.uk, www.travelhealthpro.org.uk, www.hpa.org.uk, your General Practitioner or a specialist clinic.

This tour is accessible to most people with a good level of fitness and normal mobility. It involves climbing of steep stairs and getting on and off coaches, boats and 4x4 vehicles. This tour is not suitable for anyone with walking difficulties.

The local currency in Kenya is the Kenyan Shilling but USD ($) is also widely accepted. You can exchange money before you leave the UK and there will be access to ATMs in most major cities (not available in the reserves) where you will be able to withdraw money in the local currency. It is a good idea to try and maintain a supply of small notes and change in the local currency for tipping or small purchases.

As normal practice you may be asked for your credit card details on check-in at the hotel in order to cover any extras incurred during your stay. If you do not have a credit card, you may be asked for a cash deposit. MasterCard and Visa are widely accepted in hotels as well as American Express.

You will need to take money with you to cover any personal purchases such as tips, souvenirs, laundry, any meals not included in the itinerary as well as drinks and any additional snacks. We recommend you bring along a minimum of GBP £200 - £300 per person for these extras.

Tipping

It is at your discretion to tip your driver/guide, waiters, porters, and housekeepers. We recommend to tip approximately $2 per person per day for waiters, porters and housekeepers and $6 per person per day for your driver/guide. This is a total of $56 per person to budget for tips on your trip for the driver/guide plus extra for the other staff. Tips are accepted U.S dollars ($).

There is no minimum number of passengers required to run this trip, as the safari portion is shared with other travellers, not exclusive to Mercury Holidays customers. If we are not able to operate your departure date for any other reason, then you may be asked to change to a different date and a full refund will be made available to you should this alternative not be suitable.

For your safari portion, guests will be met by drivers who are fully trained as driver guides with a wide knowledge of each destination.

For the beach portion of your holiday, you will not be escorted by a tour guide. Your time here will be free to do as you wish. Details of your departure transfer will be confirmed by your guide at the end of your safari or by a representative in the hotel.

Your accommodation is selected for convenience, location, comfort or character, and can range from business hotels to leisure hotels. Hotel accommodation is generally rated as local three to four-star standard, but please note there is no international classification system for hotels, and differences in facilities and quality do exist compared to what you might expect in the UK. All group tours hotels have private bathroom facilities and air-conditioning, where needed. Rest assured that all accommodation used by Mercury Holidays is regularly inspected by our staff and partners to ensure that standards meet your needs.

Breakfast is always western style and served in the hotel each morning. Lunch and dinner during your tour will be taken in local Kenyan restaurants or at the lodge/ hotel. A variety of restaurants are visited giving you the chance to experience a range of dishes and flavours.

Vegetarian and vegan meals can be catered for. Please contact Customer Experience for questions about other dietary requirements or allergy information.

It is not recommended to drink the tap water, even in developed countries water may contain unfamiliar elements that can cause upset stomachs. In less developed countries water is not filtered in the same way. Bottled water will be available at shops and hotels/lodges.

On arrival in Kenya, after collecting any hold luggage and passing through Customs, please make your way to the arrivals hall where you will be met by one of our local representatives from Pollman's Tours, holding a Mercury Holidays sign.

Kenya: If there is a long wait at immigration or baggage collection, or if you are unable to find our local agent, please call our airport rep on 00254 753999009 they will advise accordingly.

For any assistance, general enquiries or emergencies during your stay, please contact 00254 753999009.