Limosa - Birdwatching and Wildlife Hoildays Worldwide

About Limosa

Essential Information

Passports

For all overseas tours (and for cruises within the UK), all participants must be in possession of a valid passport. As a general rule, ensure that your passport has a minimum of 6 months left to run (after your intended date of return home) before the passport expires.

Certain countries require that passports must contain at least one blank page (and sometimes two or more). Participants travelling on tours to, or transiting via, the USA should be aware of visa and immigration requirements. Please note that the onus is on you to check that you comply fully at least one month prior to travel.

For the latest information contact the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (0870 606 0290), or the appropriate foreign embassy. Or check the Travel Advice section on the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, details of which you’ll find posted on our Links page.

Visas

Some destinations we visit require visas (see our Tour Information Pack). Further details will be provided on booking or at a time appropriate to tour departure. We regret that we are unable to obtain your visa/s for you. Should a visa/s be required, for British passport holders we will provide the necessary application forms together with instructions how to complete them - typically about 8-12 weeks prior to departure, but sometimes earlier than this in the case of certain destinations.

Non-British nationals must be responsible for their own visa and other entry requirements.

Health & Vaccinations

We regret that, as tour operators, we cannot give health advice. The information given here and within our predeparture information is for guidance only (and is only for certain diseases), and you must consult your doctor in good time prior to travel as to what immunisations are needed for your chosen holiday.

Have a medical and dental check-up before you go.

Many of the destinations we travel to require no compulsory vaccinations in order to enter from the UK. For travel everywhere, however (even within the UK), we recommend that you check you are up-to-date with protection against tetanus, polio and hepatitis A.

For some tours protection against typhoid, TB, tick-borne encaphalitis and diphtheria is also advised, and you may need to take anti-malarial tablets. Our Tour Information Packs and Travel Information sheets (sent to everyone who books) outline health requirements specific to that particular tour. You must consult your doctor in good time prior to travel as to what immunisations are.

For much fuller health information, we strongly recommend that you consult the UK Government Health Advice for Travellers website prior to booking. Excellent up-to-date independent advice is also available in the UK from MASTA (Medical Advisory Service for Travellers Abroad), and from the USA’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). All three organisations have their own websites, details of which you’ll find posted on our Links page.

Many, but not all, of our holidays may not be suitable for people with certain disabilities and medical conditions. If you have a health problem or other physical limitation, we ask that you provide us with full written details before the balance is due. Our holidays are not recommended for wheelchair-users or for those with serious walking difficulties. See also item 12 of our Booking Conditions.

Flight Tickets
Most airlines now issue ‘e-tickets’, in electronic form, rather than the more familiar paper tickets. The advantage of these is that they should be impossible to lose! We will provide you with a copy of the e-ticket receipt, as well as full instructions about e-tickets, if this is the case.

Your Safety & Travel Advice
Risks to your safety and security are an unavoidable aspect of all travel. The best current advice on such risks is provided for you by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice unit. It is standard Limosa policy for us to send a copy of the relevant FCO Travel Advice to all participants along with our Final Tour Letter (which we generally mail out 2-4 weeks prior to departure).

In order to assess and protect against any risks in your chosen destination it is strongly recommended that you refer to the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk/travel or telephone them on 0870 6060290 prior to booking, and regularly before you travel.

Travel Insurance

Good travel insurance is absolutely essential before departing on any overseas trip, and is to be much recommended for UK holidays as well. In common with most responsible operators now, we insist that participants are fully insured before travelling overseas with us. Insurance can also provide cover in the event of cancellation prior to departure due to accident or illness and we therefore urge everyone to arrange adequate insurance at the time of booking. See also item 13 of our Booking Conditions.

Premiums can vary widely according to your age, needs, health and other factors, while many people nowadays have their own Annual Travel cover. For these reasons, we leave you free to shop around and pick your own policy, one that’s best suited to your own individual needs. Upon request, however, we can provide details of a suitable Travel Insurance along with your Booking Confirmation.

Birdwatchers please note! Travel Insurance does not provide sufficient cover for valuable optical equipment. This is often best protected under your own household insurance policy. If in doubt be sure to ask your insurers for advice prior to travel.

Special Diets & Other Requests

We pass on all such requests to the airlines, hotels and other suppliers, and do our best to ensure (but of course cannot guarantee) that your needs will be met. Please be sure to tell us about these (in as much detail as possible) at the time of booking, to allow good time to make the necessary arrangements.

Baggage and Packing

Checked (or Hold) Baggage
Most tours have some restriction on baggage, usually a weight limit for checked (or hold) baggage of 20kgs imposed by the airlines. On some tours, due to limited space in the vehicle or small aircraft used on domestic flights, there are more restrictions. Our Travel Information sheets contain further details, but if you would like to know about these before booking, please contact us.

** Please note that, contrary to previous advice from the UK Department of Transport, the decision has been taken to delay the implementation of checked and excess baggage policy which was due to have taken effect from 11 October 2006. **

Hand luggage
With our Final Tour Letter, we will supply an Information Bulletin summarising the recently revised hand baggage guidelines for UK departing flights. To keep abreast of any changes we recommend you visit the BA website (www.ba.com) prior to travel.

Binoculars, telescopes & tripods
We’re frequently asked for advice about the best way to pack binoculars, telescopes and tripods on tour. Unless airline security demands otherwise, we recommend that you always pack optics in your hand luggage (some people prefer to wear their binoculars around their neck). If you are bringing a tripod, note that this has to go in with the hold luggage. If it won’t fit within your case or main bag (where it can be protected from damage by wrapping within clothing), rugged tripod cases can now be bought from specialist suppliers and are another way of solving the problem.

Our Travel Information also includes advice on what clothing and equipment to bring with you on tour. We are often asked whether tea- and coffee-making facilities are available at the hotels (usually yes in the UK, North America, Australia and New Zealand; usually no anywhere else), and the presence or absence of hairdryers (usually yes in city and resort-based hotels, usually no elsewhere). Generally, we suggest bringing your own if you need these!