RISK ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ADVENTURE STATUS

WILDERNESS EXPEDITIONS TREKS WITH DONKEYS

As a participant about to join one of our pack donkey treks it is requested that you reflect on some aspects of the spirit of adventure and the inherent risks that this entails.

Definition: “Adventure” according to The Concise Oxford Dictionary = noun, Risk, danger; daring enterprise--------hazardous activity.”

Whilst our treks are planned and designed to minimise the risks and exposure to possible threat or injury, our enterprises are conducted in a” wilderness setting” over which the operators and/ or accompanying guides have little control or influence, as again, by definition“Wilderness” is a place that is uncultivated and uninhabited”. Our treks venture into remote places to find solitude and isolation for your experience.

Trekking in remote areas brings, together with the experience of freedom and living in the “wild”, the inability to react comprehensively to significant medical emergencies. Despite appropriate first aid training and extensive field experience of our staff, such incidents create dependence on external agencies that will require reaction time and facilities such as landing grounds and roads from which to extract patients if required. Radio communications and or /satellite telephone reception can be difficult due to atmospheric interference or signal attenuation due to vegetation or topographical features. Mobile telephone reception is virtually non-existent on most of our trips. If this were not the case, you the participant, would not gain the wilderness experience you are seeking by embarking on one of our treks.

Inevitably wild animals will be encountered; these may include feral (wild) cattle and pigs, brumbies, snakes, spiders and other insects. We may also travel into places inhabited by estuarine crocodiles that will require particular precautions in and around bodies of water. Whilst it is unlikely any encounter will result in injury, there are always unpredictable factors when working around wild animals. Our guides will generally be able to counter any risk based on their experience and bushmanship and prevent any threat to our clients. Once overcome, any such unpleasant experience may well become the talking point of the trip.

Our donkeys are well trained and loveable. But they are independent thinking animals that may be startled by such occurrences as a rush of a goanna or pursuit by biting or stinging insects. In rare circumstances they may take offence to some action of a human or other donkey that may result in kicking or biting. Again the risk of injury is small, but this minimal risk is an inherent part of working with large draught animals.

We recommend that participants purchase suitable personal travel insurance to cover themselves for any mishaps that may occur during a trek, and in particular for remote area medical evacuation costs. This type of insurance is generally available from reputable travel agents.