Terms + Conditions

Regardless of the program chosen, reservation fees are required to make a reservation and are non-refundable.  We highly recommend purchasing trip interruption or trip cancellation insurance to cover any financial loss in case you are unable to honor your commitment due to sickness, injury or a government mandated travel restriction. If you have a remaining balance for meal plans or other activities, your remaining balance will be due in full upon arrival at Wild Sun Rescue Center.

In the case of full-term volunteers and biology and conservation interns, the following conditions apply:

• A fee is required to secure reservations for full-term volunteer programs, wildlife biology and conservation education internships

  • Part of the fee covers the housing option that you have elected

  • Wildlife Biology and Conservation Education Internships incur an additional $1,200+tax program fee

  • $400 of the overall fee is a conditionally refundable deposit, refunded at the end of your successful stay of the required full term minus any 3rd party transaction fees.

    • Forfeited under the following conditions:

      • Fully forfeited in the event of:

        • cancelled reservations

        • leaving the program early for any reason

        • 3 unexcused absences

      • Partially forfeited in case of:

        • Damaged property of WSRC or WS Jungle Resort (cost of damage)

        • Unexcused absence ($50 per day)

        • Unforeseen circumstances at the discretion of WSRC

Veterinary Externship and Pre-Vet Internship reservation fees cover room, board and the program fee and are non-refundable. The following fees apply:

• A $50 application fee is required to process your application

  • This fee is separate from and in addition to any program fees for the pre-vet internship and vet student externship

• Once accepted, a 25% deposit of the program fee is required to make a reservation

• The remaining balance is due 30 days prior to the start date

In the case of other types of internships or volunteer programs in which housing and other fees are not required, including but not limited to programs such as volunteer vets, vet interns, social media and marketing interns and junior managers, the following conditions apply:

• A conditionally refundable deposit is required, refunded at the end of your successful stay of the required full term minus any 3rd party transaction fees.

  • Forfeited under the following conditions:

    • Fully forfeited in the event of:

      • cancelled reservations

      • leaving the program early for any reason

    • Partially forfeited in case of:

      • Damaged property of WSRC or WS Jungle Resort (cost of damage)

      • Unexcused absence ($50 per day)

      • Unforeseen circumstances at the discretion of WSRC

Deposits will be refunded via paypal on a payment processing day of either the 15th or last day of the month following departure. If the 15th or last day of month falls on a weekend, the payment day will be the Friday prior. If your departure falls on the weekend in that case, you will be refunded on the next payment processing day.

Deposits sent by paypal will be refunded to the same email address from which it came. Those who paid via 3rd party recruitment agencies may give the email address they would prefer their refund be sent to via paypal.

In the event that you cannot join us on the agreed upon date, you will be given the option to use your reservation as a credit, equal to the dollar amount paid, transferable to another person and/or to another time to complete either a pre-vet internship or a vet student externship, granted you give us at least 30 days notice, the new date is within 2 years of the original start date, any person you transfer to has not yet signed up for the program and we have availability in the desired session. If you cancel a second time, half of your deposit will be forfeited but your remaining credit will still hold. You will be asked to pay the remaining half of your deposit once again to reserve after your 2nd cancellation. If you cancel 3 times, all credits and deposits will be forfeited.

If cancellation occurs within 30 days of planned arrival, there are no refunds for housing, meal plans or program fees of any kind. Wild Sun strongly recommends that you purchase travel insurance and/or trip cancellation insurance in case of cancelled or shortened trips. 

Participants may make changes to the length of their reservation under the following conditions:

If a participant decides to extend his stay, a further housing fee will be required based on time commitment and the $400 deposit will hold under the same conditions as the original agreement until the new agreed upon end date. If leaving the program earlier than agreed upon, the deposit will not be refunded.

Classes/programs/volunteer service will only be permitted for those who have completed their payment in full. Participants who fail to pay by the first Tuesday night of their program session may be asked to leave campus. As is the case with ski resorts, cruise ships and other school and vacation packages such as ours, once programs have begun, refunds will not be given for any reason. We strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance for trip cancellations or interruptions to cover any financial loss.

Short term volunteer and special program participants (including pre-vet internships, externships, primatology field courses, etc.) are required to pay a non-refundable deposit equal to the greater of $750 or 25% of their program fee.

Short term volunteers may make changes to the length of their reservation under the following conditions:

• Reservations may be lengthened (i.e. 3 weeks to 4 weeks) at any point in time, subject to availability as well as to our discretion.

• Reservations may be shortened before your program begins (so long as they fulfill their minimum time commitment) with more than 30 days notice at no extra charge.

  • Within 30 days of the program start date, shortened reservations will be subject to a $100 processing fee (i.e. a 5 week program shortened to a 4 week program within 30 days of arrival will henceforth carry the 4 week program fee plus $100). Once we reach the program start date, shortened programs will not receive a refund.

If Wild Sun Rescue Center unilaterally decides to cancel a program in its entirety, all payments for such programs will be returned in full.  Wild Sun Rescue Center is not responsible for expenses related to the preparation for any canceled trips, including airline tickets.

Any costs incurred due to travel delays, flight cancellations, illness, injury or for other unforeseen reasons will be the responsibility of the participant to whom such incidents occur, and will not be subject to refund or discounted program fees from Wild Sun Rescue Center. This includes reservation fees, housing fees, program fees, meal plan costs, and other program associated costs, all of which are non-refundable once programs have begun.

Again, Wild Sun Rescue Center strongly recommends participants purchase travel insurance to cover financial loss in the event of such unforeseen circumstances. Some available resources can be found by visiting:

• Worldnomads.com

• Travelinsure.com

• Insuremytrip.com

• Travelguard.com

• Many more by web search for “travel insurance” or “trip cancellation and interruption insurance”

Meal Plan Rules

The purpose of our meal plan is to offer great food for volunteers while reducing the burden of cooking at the lowest cost possible. Part of keeping costs low is keeping it simple. Here are the rules:

• 3 meals a day Sunday - Friday plus breakfast only on Saturdays

• Meals are a mix of chicken, seafood, fish, vegetarian and vegan dishes

• If not included with your program, you may add the meal plan for 1 week as a trial

  • Additional weeks may be added with a 1 month minimum or the rest of your stay if it is shorter than one month

  • There are no refunds once reserved, so be sure of your commitment before you make it.

• You may request any of the following:

  • No chicken, No seafood, No fish, No gluten, No dairy

  • No to specific ingredients you may be allergic to (i.e. no nuts)

• If you are hungry at the end of a meal, you may ask for more food

• If you will miss a meal, we ask you to alert the chef so that food is not wasted

• If you will be late because of a rescue center programmed excursion, we will set aside your food for when you arrive

• There is no:

  • Giving away meals to others 

  • Saving of food for later if you choose to not be on time to a meal

  • Mid-week changes of preferences unless necessary

FAQ 

Why can’t we save food for later if we already paid for the meal plan?  

• Saving plates takes up much needed space in the fridge

• Leaving it out attracts insects and animals

• Saved food often goes to waste

• Dishes are often left unwashed

• Compost is not disposed of properly

• Even when cleaned, dishes end up misplaced and must be collected

Why can’t someone else eat my food if I will miss a meal?

• We’ve tried this before and it lead to confusion

  • We’ve had more than one person claim the food of a meal-planner not on site

  • We’ve had meal-planners change their mind and arrive for food after its been served to someone else

• It’s a challenge for our kitchen staff to keep it all straight when they are trying to feed the people they are familiar with

In the case of both of the above questions, the following is an overarching consideration:

• The cost of the meal plan is based on actual experience, including people missing meals on their own volition. If we saved a plate for every person that missed a meal, or if meals were given away when missed, more ingredients would be used weekly and the cost of the meal plan would have to be higher for everyone

Room Upgrade Rules

Considering the long term nature of our volunteer program as well as our gratitude for your efforts to help manage our wildlife, room upgrades are offered to you at a significant discount.  In order to make this feasible, certain guidelines must be followed.  They are:

• Minimum of 1 week from Sunday to Sunday

  • If upgrading mid-week, we will prorate the cost by day for the first week but the reservation will also include the following Sunday-Sunday at a minimum.  For instance, if entering on a Wednesday, the room must be booked from Wednesday until Sunday and then until the following Sunday

  • During peak season (Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Easter Week), rooms must be booked for a minimum of 4 weeks to obtain the discount.  

  • There are no refunds once reserved, so be sure of your commitment before you make it

• Upgraded reservations must end on a Sunday

• No smoking in rooms

• No overnight visitors unless booking a private room

  • Visitors from off campus must book their own hotel room at regular hotel rates

• Any damage or missing items within the room will be charged to you at repair and/or replacement rates at the end of your stay