VIET HERPING · POLICY DOCUMENT
Target Species Guarantee
Wild animals cannot be scheduled. Most operators stop there — and for most tours, so do we. But on a small number of tours, we know the ground, the season and the animals well enough to put a promise behind the search.
If we do not find your target species, you come back and we search again — free.
SECTION 01
How it works
What we guarantee depends on the tour. We set it, not the guest — it follows the field data we hold for each site.
There are three forms:
FORM 1
A snake
You see a live wild snake. Any species counts. Nothing to select.
FORM 2
A named species
The tour is built around one animal, and that animal is what we guarantee.
FORM 3
A species you select
On one tour, where our records run deep enough to back it, you choose one target species from that tour's list. The choice is made when you book, confirmed in writing — never after the tour has started.
Section 3 shows which form applies to your tour.
From there it is the same for everyone:
We run the tour. Your guide works the sites and conditions that give the best odds, informed by our field records for that area.
If it is not found, your next attempt is free. Same tour, same guarantee, at no charge. The guarantee applies again on the free attempt — we keep going until you see it.
SECTION 02
What counts as a sighting
A sighting counts when the guaranteed animal — a snake, or the target species, depending on your tour — is seen alive, in the wild, during the tour, by you or anyone in your group, and confirmed by your guide.
Photographs are not required, but your guide will always try to get you one.
DOES NOT COUNT — GUARANTEE STAYS LIVE
• An animal heard but not seen
• A sighting by the guide alone that guests could not get on before the animal moved off
• Shed skin, tracks, or other signs
If only your guide saw it, you have not seen it. The guarantee holds.
SECTION 03
Tours covered
| Tour | What is guaranteed | Form |
|---|---|---|
| Ho Chi Minh City Herping Tour | A live wild snake — any species | A snake |
| Hanoi Urban Herping Tour | A live wild snake — any species | A snake |
| Phu Quoc Herping Tour | A live wild snake — any species | A snake |
| Hoi An Herping Tour | White-lipped Pit Viper (Trimeresurus albolabris) | Named species |
| Hon Son Island Herping Tour | Hon Son Pit Viper (Trimeresurus honsonensis) — endemic to the island | Named species |
| Tam Dao Herping Expedition | Tam Dao Warty Newt (Paramesotriton deloustali) or Vietnamese Mossy Frog (Theloderma corticale) | Named species |
| Cuc Phuong Herping Tour | One target species, selected by you from the tour list | You select |
All other tours run without a species guarantee. Our guides work just as hard on them — the difference is data, not effort. A tour joins this list when our field records for that site are deep enough to stand behind a promise.
A NOTE ON DA NANG
The Son Tra day tour carries its own guarantee — a direct promise of a Red-shanked Douc Langur sighting, given in advance rather than as a free return offer. It works differently from the target species guarantee described here. See the Da Nang tour page for details.
SECTION 04
The free return attempt
6 months
Valid for 6 months from your original tour date.
No limit
No limit on attempts — the guarantee renews each time.
Included
Covers the guided session itself: guide, local transport and inclusions as per your original booking.
Not included
Does not cover accommodation or long-distance travel you need in order to return.
Availability
Subject to normal availability — we will offer you the nearest workable dates.
SECTION 05
What the guarantee needs from you
The guarantee holds when the search actually happens. It does not apply if:
SECTION 06
Weather
Rain does not suspend the guarantee — warm rain is often the best searching weather there is. If severe weather closes access entirely and the session cannot run, that is handled under our Cancellation & Refund policy as a rescheduling, and your guarantee carries over to the new date untouched.
SECTION 07
If you cannot return to Vietnam
The free attempt is the remedy, and we hold it for 6 months.
If returning is genuinely impossible for you, you may transfer your free attempt to another person — tell us who, and they travel under the same guarantee. There is no charge for the transfer.
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