Travelling with Kudu Travel
Answers to frequently asked questions
We are determined to ensure that you experience the luxury of genuinely
memorable travel. On each and every trip our aim is to create a ‘charmed space’ within which you can relax, absorb fresh insights, be stimulated and charmed by
new encounters - and have fun!
Why kudu?
Our company name comes from the most elegant of antelopes, the Greater Kudu of
Southern Africa. Kudu are non-territorial, accommodating visitors to their area
and ranging widely themselves. Adventurous browsers, they consume many types of
foliage and alter their tastes to suit the locale. Kudu also blend well with
their environment – their soft stripes making them disappear in dappling of light through the trees
– and are able to live both in wilderness and partially settled areas. They
prefer to travel in groups of up to 12 members, not in huge herds!
Information before you travel
Detailed itineraries, including advice on health, passport and visa requirements
and minimum and maximum numbers of guests on tours, bird lists, orchid lists
etc are available for each trip - please ask for the ones that catch your
attention and contact us if you have any queries.
Once you confirm your booking on a tour you will be sent further practical
information - packing tips, advice on acquiring local currency, responsible
travel suggestions for each destination - and a selected reading list so that
you can prepare for your holiday.
Camaraderie
Whether travelling alone or with friends, Kudu guests often mention how
particularly agreeable they find their travelling companions. Eschewing the
pullman coach model of tourism, our groups are deliberately small, comprised of
6 to 16 guests.
On a typical trip they are predominantly from Britain and Ireland, with the
invariably stimulating addition of other Europeans, North Americans, South
Africans, New Zealanders and Australians. One key to their enjoyment of Kudu
trips is that such carefully researched and focussed trips attract people who
naturally get on well with each other through shared interests.
Repeat guests
The numbers speak for themselves - almost 70% of our guests book Kudu tours on a
regular basis, many of them for two trips annually. Over 70% of new guests come
on trips as a direct result of ‘word of mouth’ referral from previous guests. Our ‘frequent traveller’ reward programme, Kudu Carats, has resulted in 2 free trips for many of our
guests already and several are already eyeing their third!
Walking
Walking is the most natural way to travel, undoubtedly enhancing your
understanding of the country you are visiting. The trick is to strike the right
balance - sufficient exercise to feel pleasantly stretched and relaxed, while
reserving the energy to explore castles, museums, local markets - or an
inviting bar on the piazza - on reaching the day's goal.
In each trip itinerary, we endeavour to describe the walking component of trips
as accurately as possible, specifying hours of walking and type of terrain for
each journey. We also recognise that unseasonably hot or chilly weather makes
additional physical demands – rest assured you may always opt for a ride in our vehicle.
Most importantly, we intend the walking to add a purely pleasurable dimension to
your holiday. If you are in good health and take some sort of exercise fairly
regularly, we are sure you will enjoy the walking on a Kudu tour and return
home with that extra buzz from being a little fitter.
Accommodation
We want you to experience the cultural or natural surroundings in style and
comfort. Hotels are researched personally, with the emphasis on character,
location and good service. You may find yourself in gracious country house
hotels, Hemingway style tents deep in the African bush, a former Ottoman
mansion, a 17C chateau, aristocratic estancias in South America, welcoming
family-run farmhouses, or a beautiful 18C villa set in a private park.
Food and wine
Memorable meals are one of the hallmarks of an excellent holiday. We ensure that
you sample the best of regional cuisines in very good restaurants, from the
Michelin starred to the village trattoria with unpretentious food fit for a
king. Our tour managers are all ‘foodies’, with a real enthusiasm for expanding your culinary horizons. In addition to
greeting us with delicious picnics of fresh seasonal produce at lunchtime, they
liase with chefs over dinner menus and organise tastings of local wines in
atmospheric settings - mediaeval cellars in Hungary and the Czech Republic,
Cape Dutch Manor houses in South Africa, charming
enoteche in Italy. As Kudu guests often remark, we enjoy the conviviality of a ‘dinner party’ ambience in the evening.
Meticulous research
There is no substitute for this, and we just don’t believe in cutting corners. All the hotels, restaurants, walks and picnic
places have been selected, and double checked, with care and critical
discrimination. Our guests notice and appreciate the difference!
So much is included
On Kudu trips you will only need money for postcards, presents to take home, the
odd G&T or an irresistible ice cream. Festival and opera tickets, entrances, wine with
lunch and dinner, access to specialist books carried by the guides, gratuities
for porters and hotel and restaurant staff, boat rides, wine tastings etc are
all included in the cost of your holiday. We are confident that, like previous
very satisfied guests, you will discover that our tours give you very good
value for money.
Privacy policy
We adhere to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and do not share,
sell or distribute your Personal Data with any third parties.
We may send you regular updates by email or by post that we think will interest
you.
Please contact us at any time if you wish to be removed from our database.
Highly skilled guides who know how to impart enthusiasm and fascinating
information in equal proportions are a vital component in your holiday
enjoyment. You will be introduced to little-known features as well as the ‘must see’ highlights of each destination, but also given time and a few useful pointers
to make your own discoveries. We endeavour to design trips in a civilised way,
allowing space for individual ‘standing and staring’. We very much hope that you will enjoy their company.
We hold ATOL licence T7281 and would be happy to book you on the flights
recommended for your trip. Please call us for a fare quote and remember that
the cheapest seats fill very quickly - to secure the best fares, book your
tickets as early as possible.
If you are looking for connections from regional airports or more complex flight
itineraries, please contact Travellers World, a travel agency in Salisbury
(holder of ATOL licence 3764), on (01722 411600) - ask for Jenny or Louise and
mention Kudu Travel.
In addition to membership of the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO), we are also members of the Travel Trust Association, subject to ongoing
stringent reviews of our financial arrangements and business practice. This
professional organisation requires its members to adhere to a strict Code of
Conduct and continually monitors all financial dealings to ensure 100%
financial security for Kudu Travel guests.
Financial protection for the consumer purchasing travel packages has become an
issue of real concern over the last few years, and media attention has focused
on the collapse of major high street travel agencies, tour operators and
airlines, leaving unprotected passengers stranded abroad or out of pocket.
Travellers are legitimately worried that their holiday arrangements and monies
are secure and we are therefore especially pleased to be able to offer the
highest level of protection afforded under the UK & European Package Holiday Regulations.
All monies received by us as cheques from you when booking and paying the
balance of your holiday are placed directly into an independently administered
Trust Account (held by the Travel Trust Trustees Ltd. at the National
Westminster’s Jermyn Street branch in London), and these monies can only be released to Kudu
Travel Ltd. once you have completed your holiday and returned home.
For those guests who prefer to pay for their holiday by Credit or Debit card,
the Travel Trust Association ensures that all electronic payments are
automatically deposited only in Kudu Travel’s designated Trust Account, and such funds only released to Kudu Travel by the
Trustees once you have completed your holiday and returned home.
Furthermore, as an additional safeguard, Kudu Travel, via the Travel Trust
Association, automatically issues you on booking with a Stand Alone Safe Seat
Plan insurance - an extra level of travel insurance which guarantees that your
booked holiday will continue as planned. This ‘belt and braces’ standard of protection is unique to the Travel Trust Association.
The flights sold by Kudu Travel are ATOL protected by the Civil Aviation
Authority. Our ATOL licence number is T7281.
Kudu carats
We appreciate your decision to trust us with your travel plans on a regular
basis - and wish to say thank you.
You will receive 1 Carat for every £10 spent on a Kudu holiday. Once you have accumulated sufficient points for your
chosen holiday, you can redeem them against a trip. Several of our guests have
already claimed several free holidays!
Please note that we can only provide one free place on each trip - we advise you
to book early to avoid disappointment.
In conjuction with NHBS, a leading natural history specialist, Kudu can now offer all guests the possibility to purchase a range of travel accessories, field equipment and natural history books. Kudu guests qualify for free shipping by quoting Kudu Travel when booking, both online and with phone orders (phone: 01803 865 913).
