The small print, in plain words

01Who we are

Gaia Creative Expeditions is run by Ricardo Braz and Leo Cavazzana through Gaia Expeditions Ltda, a company registered in São Paulo, Brazil, CNPJ 52.577.556/0001-49, at Alameda Ministro Rocha Azevedo 38, apt 2103, Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP, 01410-000. You can reach us at gaiaphotoexpeditions@gmail.com.

When these terms say "we" or "Gaia", they mean that company. "You" means everyone named on the booking.

02Your booking

Your booking is confirmed, and this agreement starts, when we receive your deposit and send you a confirmation email. Places are limited and go in the order deposits arrive.

• The person who books accepts these terms for everyone on the booking, and confirms they're allowed to.
• Everyone travelling must be 18 or older. Younger travellers can join only with a parent or legal guardian on the same trip, who is responsible for them throughout.
• Please make sure names match your passports. You're responsible for the details you give us.
• Booking creates your Gaia crew account, where you'll find the itinerary, documents and payments.

03Prices, currencies and what's included

Each trip is priced in the currency we pay our partners in, usually US dollars or euros. What's included and not included is listed on each trip page. Flights to the start of the trip are never included unless the trip page says so.

If you pay in Brazilian reais, each payment is converted at that day's exchange rate plus a small margin to cover conversion costs and currency changes. You'll always see the exact amount in reais before you pay.

Once you've booked, we won't raise the price of your trip.

Welcome back. If you've travelled with Gaia before, you get 5% off every expedition you book. Tick the box when you book and we'll check it against our records; if we can't find your earlier trip, we'll get in touch, and the 5% is added back to your balance. It doesn't combine with an early bird code: the bigger discount applies.

04Paying

• Deposit. The amount is shown on each trip page and secures your place.
• The balance is due 2 months (60 days) before departure. You can pay it in monthly installments or all at once.
• Installments by card. If you choose this, you agree that we charge your saved card on each date shown in your plan. We email you 3 days before every charge. You can pay early or update your card at any time from your crew page.
• Booking close to departure. If you book less than 60 days before departure, the full price is due at once.
• Bank transfer or Pix. We hold your place for 5 days for a bank transfer and 24 hours for Pix while the payment arrives.

If a payment fails, we'll let you know and give you 14 days to sort it out. If it's still unpaid after that, we may cancel your booking, and the cancellation terms in section 05 apply.

05If you cancel

Please tell us by email. The date we receive your email is the date of cancellation. What happens depends on how close to departure you cancel:

• Give your place to someone. Up to 30 days before departure you can pass your place to a friend at no charge, as long as they accept these terms. Any extra costs from partners, like a name change on an internal flight, are paid by you.
• Leaving early or skipping parts of the trip doesn't give a refund for the unused days or activities.
• Refunds go back to the card or account you paid from, in the currency you paid in, within 14 days. Card and transfer providers don't return their fees when a payment is refunded, so those fees are taken off refunds when you cancel after the first 7 days. When we cancel, we cover them.

This is exactly why travel insurance with cancellation cover is required: if illness or an emergency stops you from travelling, your insurer, not your savings, should cover it.

06Trip credit

Trip credit is saved on your Gaia profile and used automatically when you book again. It can be used on any Gaia expedition within 24 months of the date it was issued, and it can't be exchanged for cash.

Bring a friend. Every traveller gets a personal link in their crew area. If someone books with it and travels with us, you each get 100 of trip credit in the trip's currency (USD 100 or EUR 100), added after their trip.

07If we change or cancel the trip

• Not enough people. Each trip needs a minimum group to run, shown on its trip page. If we don't reach it, we'll tell you at least 90 days before departure, and you choose a full refund or a trip credit.
• Small changes before the trip, like a different hotel of a similar standard or a new order of days, are part of travelling in wild places. We'll tell you as soon as we know.
• Big changes, like new dates or a different main destination, are yours to accept. If you'd rather not, you can choose a trip credit or a full refund.
• Things outside anyone's control. If a trip can't go ahead because of a natural disaster, war, epidemic, government restriction, strike or similar event, we'll first try to move it to new dates. If that isn't possible, we refund everything you've paid minus the costs we've already paid to partners and can't get back. We'll show you those costs, and we'll push our partners hard for refunds or credits: anything we recover goes back to you.
• During the trip, weather, light, road conditions and safety come first. Your hosts and local guides may change the plan on the day, and that doesn't give a refund.

We're not responsible for flights, hotels or anything else you book yourself. Please wait until we confirm the trip will run before buying flights, or choose flexible fares.

08Insurance

Travel insurance is a condition of joining. Your policy must cover:

• cancellation and cutting the trip short
• medical treatment, emergency evacuation and repatriation
• the activities on your trip, such as hiking, high altitude, river crossings or boat trips

Send us your policy details before departure. We strongly recommend insuring your camera gear too: we can't be responsible for loss or damage to your equipment.

09Health, fitness and risk

Please tell us about any medical condition, allergy or diet that might affect your trip, and check the fitness level on the trip page. If you're unsure about altitude or long hikes, talk to your doctor before booking.

Our expeditions go to remote places, sometimes far from hospitals, with changing weather, rough ground, wildlife, cold, heat and altitude. That's part of what makes them special, but it carries real risks. You take part by choice and accept those risks.

To keep everyone safe, you agree to follow the instructions of your hosts and local guides. We may ask someone to leave the trip, without a refund, if their behaviour puts themselves or the group at risk, breaks local law or seriously disrupts the experience for others. Any costs of leaving early are theirs.

10Our responsibility

We plan every trip carefully and work with local partners we know and trust. We're responsible for the services we organise, as far as the law requires.

We're not responsible for:

• events outside our control, as described in section 07
• services you book directly with someone else, such as flights
• loss of or damage to your belongings or equipment
• indirect losses, such as missed work or onward bookings

Our total responsibility to you is limited to the price you paid for the trip. This limit doesn't apply where the law doesn't allow it, for example to death or injury caused by our negligence.

11Photos, films and drones

What you create is yours. If we'd like to share one of your photos or films, we'll ask first and always credit you.

We photograph and film throughout each expedition, and the group, including you, may appear in what we share on our website, social media and future trip pages. If you'd rather not appear, tell us before the trip and we'll respect that.

If you bring a drone, you're responsible for following local laws and any permits it needs, and for following your guides when they ask you not to fly.

12Passports, visas and vaccinations

You're responsible for a valid passport, any visas, and the vaccinations and health documents your destination asks for. We share what we know and help with supporting letters. If you're refused travel or entry because of missing documents, the cancellation terms in section 05 apply.

13Your data

We use your details to run your booking and your trip. We share them only with partners who need them, like hotels, local guides and, in an emergency, doctors or insurers. Card payments are handled by Stripe, and we never see or store your full card number. We never sell your data.

Your passport copy is stored privately and seen only by Ricardo and Leo, and by hotels, airlines or permit offices when they need it to book your place. We delete it 30 days after the trip.

We follow Brazil's data protection law (LGPD). You can ask to see, correct or delete your data at any time by writing to us. Your crew profile is visible only to other Gaia members, and you choose what's on it.

14Complaints

If something isn't right during the trip, please tell your hosts straight away so we can fix it there and then. If you're still unhappy afterwards, write to us within 30 days of returning and we'll reply within 14 days.

15The law

These terms are governed by Brazilian law, and the courts of São Paulo handle any dispute. This doesn't take away any rights you have under the consumer laws where you live.

We may update these terms for future bookings. The version you accepted when you booked is the one that applies to your trip, and a copy is saved in your crew area.

Version 1 · October 2026 · [TODO lawyer review]