Our company is founded on customer service and safety – for our clients, staff, and partners. During this time of COVID-19, our founding principles take even greater priority.

We always strive to provide memorable adventures with safety as our primary concern.  In this climate of COVID-19, we continue to make the best decisions for our clients, employees, and partners around the world in accordance with the CDC recommendations and regional governments where our trips are operated.

Currently, as things evolve the team at Bio Bio Expeditions are operating under a policy of flexibility and agility to address changing circumstances for you and for our staff. As our trips are comprised of mostly small groups, adventure based in the outdoors, we are determining when and where we are allowing trips to continue entirely dependent on the cancellation policies and protocols for the country, as well as CDC recommendations.

When it comes to existing reservations, we want to work with you. As you evaluate your travel plans moving forward, we want to reassure you that we are offering to postpone upcoming trips with full transfer of funds. We are currently accepting new reservations, but fulfilling those travels is entirely dependent upon the regional government policies allowing for travel.

When it comes to refunds, we offer full reimbursement if a trip is unable to proceed and we’re not able to postpone the trip.

For the Futaleufu, during this period of COVID-19, we are offering a full refund for all monies paid up to 2 weeks before departure for cancellation for any reason.

Health and safety – number one!

Bio Bio Expeditions is in compliance with the CDC recommendations, as well as any regional recommendations from the government where the trips are being operated.

Per our enhanced screening protocols, we may (at our discretion) decline service to a guest and/or remove a staff member from the schedule under the following circumstances:

• If a guest or staff member develops symptoms, including a fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, muscle aches, or loss of taste or smell that can’t be attributed to another health condition during the 14 days prior to a scheduled trip

• If a guest or staff member has been in close contact with someone (within approximately six feet for any sustained period of time) who has been ill with flu-like symptoms, respiratory complaints or fever, or is known to have COVID-19 within the 14 days prior to a scheduled trip

Most of these measures require self-identification, so we’ll be asking all guests and staff to sign a declaration of health form until further notice. We will continue to update our protocols as the situation evolves and as more information becomes available.

The decision to allow a previously sick guide or guest on a trip may be made based on:

• at least three days (72) hours since fever has gone (without the use of fever-reducing medications) AND improvement in respiratory symptoms AND at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared.
• Additionally, if a guide or guest develops symptoms during a BBX trip, per CDC guidelines, we will physically distance the individual(s) from the rest of the group and any community items, disinfect any suspected items or areas of contamination, require them to wear a mask (to help prevent the spread of their illness), and consult local agencies about the possibility of an evacuation. If the individual requires caretaking, one designated person (family member or guide) will tend to the individual with appropriate personal protective equipment. That person will also be physically distanced from the rest of the group for the remainder of the trip.

Our team is in touch with federal, state, and local agencies and monitoring the following resources to help inform our decision making at this time:

• Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories
• Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation
• Johns Hopkins University dashboard