Profile photo for Carla Pando
3739 messages

Carla Pando

My name is Carla - I am a travel agent and part of the Quechua Treks team. We love to travel and consider ourselves nature lovers but more than that we enjoy bringing the real Peru to you, we will provide amazing travel experiences. Our goal is that our passengers take with them the best experience they could ever have.
By the way, I´m a visual artist!

What places and activities do you specialize in?

"I specialize in custom tours in Peru and Bolivia, creating custom-made tours for families, groups, honeymooners and independent travelers. I love putting together packages with traditional tours and mixing them with adventure, artistic, non-traditional tours and local experiences.”"

How did you get involved in travel?

"I moved to Cusco 10 years ago, since I've been living here I've been working in tourism. I have worked at the front desk of Loki Hostel, Managed the Yamanyá Backpacker Hostel, and started working with local tour operators 6 years ago. "

Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.

"I will never forget the first time I visited Paucartambo for the festivity of Virgen del Carmen, I was amazed to be part of a celebration that takes place every year to pay tribute to the virgin. It is an Andean festivity full of color, dance and lots of beer! It is incredible the religious devotion that can be appreciated mixed with the dance companies that pay tribute, and after dancing all night long a perfect way to finish the day is going to Tres Cruces to see the sunrise. "

Carla is part of the following groups: Peru Travel Agents
Top itineraries and travel advice

Recent trip reviews for Carla

Excellent
Peru | Jan 6 - Jan 13, 2020

O
Omar N.
the United Arab Emirates | Reviewed on Jan 14, 2020

Our guides Arturo, Wilson and Ronald were very good. We enjoyed all parts of the trip. The food tour in Lima was great and a lot of fun. The hotel in Sacred valley was amazing, and we found the tours of the different Inca sites and Macchu Picchu to be interesting and informative. The only negative was the hotel in Cusco - Hotel Palacio Manco Capac. We felt the rooms were too small, the wifi was weak inside of the room and the service was very slow in that particular hotel.

Local specialist: Carla Pando
Carla
Carla Pando
Local specialist in Cusco, Perú | Replied on Feb 20, 2020

Thank you for you comments Omar!

We are really happy to know that you enjoyed your trip in Perú and thank you for the feedback regarding your hotel in Cusco, we will take your comments to the manager.

All the best,
Carla

We just completed a fantastic trip to Peru wh...
Peru | Oct 12 - Oct 22, 2019

J
John S.
Hawthorne, CA | Reviewed on Nov 06, 2019
We just completed a fantastic trip to Peru where Carla planned three tours in one. It was quite complicated, but it went off without a hitch. Everything was taken care of from the moment Arturo picked us up at the airport in Lima until Ronald dropped us off at the airport in Cusco. Arturo is a great tour guide and loved showing us around Lima including a really great restaurant for lunch. Then it was off to Cusco, where Ronald greeted us with hot coca tea at the airport and Zac met us at... Read more

We just completed a fantastic trip to Peru where Carla planned three tours in one. It was quite complicated, but it went off without a hitch. Everything was taken care of from the moment Arturo picked us up at the airport in Lima until Ronald dropped us off at the airport in Cusco. Arturo is a great tour guide and loved showing us around Lima including a really great restaurant for lunch. Then it was off to Cusco, where Ronald greeted us with hot coca tea at the airport and Zac met us at the hotel and briefed us on our activities in Cusco. Zac did a wonderful job showing us around Cusco including doing a little hiking to prepare us for our coming adventure. The next day my son and I were off on our "Classic Inca Trail" adventure, a four day hike into Machu Picchu and my wife and daughter were off on an active tour of the Sacred Valley.

The "Classic Inca Trail" trek was even better than I expected. There were eight porters and a guide for just the two of us. Every detail was taken care of and Zac our guide did a great job organizing and keeping us away from the other hikers. We felt like we were the only ones hiking the trail. The hike, food and archeological sights along the trail were incredible.

While my son and I were having a great time on the Inca Trail, Wilson (guide) and Ronald (driver) took my wife and daughter on several active excursions including visiting a llama farm which my daughter had to see, a mountain bike ride in the Sacred Valley and hiking from Kilometer 104 over the Sun Gate into Machu Picchu. The two of them had nothing but great things to say about their adventure including a private lunch set up in a yurt for just the two of them. Wilson was so knowledgeable about the history of the region and shared that knowledge with them.

The four of us met in Machu Picchu where Zac made us feel like we were the only ones there despite the crowds.

Everything about our Peru adventure was fantastic. KimKim organized a private tour tailored to us that was way better than a large tour company. It was an adventure of a lifetime. We would not hesitate to use KimKim again.

Local specialist: Carla Pando
Carla
Carla Pando
Local specialist in Cusco, Perú | Replied on Feb 20, 2020

Hello John,

Sorry for the delay responding your amazing review! and we are really happy to know that you and your family had a great time!

Zac, Arturo, Wilson and Ronald are the best in what they do and they enjoy doing it!

The tour planning was complicated but you got to visit amazing sites and had great adventures and it was really my pleasure to help you plan it.

All the best,
Carla

My guide and driver were great. The only iss...
Peru | Oct 20 - Oct 26, 2019

G
Greg S.
OH | Reviewed on Nov 03, 2019

My guide and driver were great.
The only issues would be the hotels in Machu Picchu and urabamba.
In Machu Picchu I was right next to the train which made its way every 2 hours not allowing for any sleep nor peace.
The setting in Urubamba was beautiful but the entry door was completely sealed making it loud for people walking bye and bugs were ever present.
Thanks

Local specialist: Carla Pando

Peru
Peru | Aug 14 - Aug 22, 2019

A
Anna C.
Estes Park, CO | Reviewed on Aug 26, 2019
This trip was planned to perfection by Carla at the KimKim Team. She found a great company, Quechua Treks. Our guide, Johann, was above and beyond amazing! We did the Choquerquiro hike and ran into other hikers who did not have a great experience. Ours was perfect. We had 4 people doing this hike. One person, (me!) had trouble on the last day because of the heat. Johann was very attentive without being obnoxious, to make sure I was safe. The KimKim team was also flexible when our... Read more

This trip was planned to perfection by Carla at the KimKim Team. She found a great company, Quechua Treks. Our guide, Johann, was above and beyond amazing! We did the Choquerquiro hike and ran into other hikers who did not have a great experience. Ours was perfect. We had 4 people doing this hike. One person, (me!) had trouble on the last day because of the heat. Johann was very attentive without being obnoxious, to make sure I was safe.

The KimKim team was also flexible when our group decided to make a last minute change to our plans.

Our group is not prone to using travel agencies as we usually just wing it. However, we were glad we coordinated with the KimKim team for Peru. It made our trip perfect. Thank you, Carla!

Local specialist: Carla Pando
Carla
Carla Pando
Local specialist in Cusco, Perú | Replied on Feb 20, 2020

Hello Anna,

We are really happy to know that you had a great time during your trek!

The Choquequirao trek is a hard hike and we are glad to know that you didn´t have any problems at the end; Johan is a great guide and so considerate, you were in good hands.

It was my pleasure to help you plan your trip!

All the best,
Carla

Trip to Peru
Peru | Jul 29 - Aug 9, 2019

J
Jean Y.
Beverly Hills, CA | Reviewed on Aug 12, 2019

The local agent Quechua Treks did a great job, we love all the details they arrange, like the snakes on the bus food restaurant our guide Zacarias pick was all amazing. Zac makes the trip even more enjoyable he is great tour guides full knowledge of the sites and plannings the trip in perfect timing. And our drive also did a great job.
Zip lining was very adventurous but not for everyone our group enjoyed.
Scared dreams lodge is beautiful hotel to stay, we loved it a lot.

Local specialist: Carla Pando

Peru
Peru | May 19 - May 21, 2019

A
Anne O.
San Francisco, CA | Reviewed on May 24, 2019
While Carla was great planning the trip, our guide, Rolfi, left much to be desired. Rolfi was rude, uninformed, unpleasant, unhelpful and unprofessional. He was late picking us up by almost 20 minutes. When he finally arrived, he muttered something like the flight was early (by 10 minutes), it's only 10 minutes you had to wait. No apologies. Nothing. At lunch, Rolfi insisted that we order the baked Guinea Pig (which was very expensive) and reminded us that our drinks were on our own but... Read more

While Carla was great planning the trip, our guide, Rolfi, left much to be desired. Rolfi was rude, uninformed, unpleasant, unhelpful and unprofessional.

He was late picking us up by almost 20 minutes. When he finally arrived, he muttered something like the flight was early (by 10 minutes), it's only 10 minutes you had to wait. No apologies. Nothing. At lunch, Rolfi insisted that we order the baked Guinea Pig (which was very expensive) and reminded us that our drinks were on our own but failed to mention that his drink was on us too. We also had to pay for a side order of corn, which he put it on his bill and asked me to add it to my payment (which I corrected). Rolfi is also inaccurate in his account of local history, i.e., that the Inca towns and Machu Picchu were built several thousand years before Christ. When asked how far is Peru from the equator, he replied 6000 miles. Rofi also took us into a village shop, gave a short talk on everyday life and then told us to either buy something or leave a tip. Rolfi also asked a young boy to sing for us and then told us to give him money, which I find totally inappropriate and offensive. Rolfi gets irritated if he had to repeat something and like to test us to see if we remembered his lectures.

We wanted to get into Machu Picchu as early as possible and Rolfi agreed that earlier time is better, so we made arrangement to meet at 5 a.m. to catch the 5:30 bus in order to enter the park when it opens at 6 a.m. Rolfi failed to inform us that our tickets for entering Machu Picchu is for 8 a.m. After failing to persuade the park officials to make an exception for us, he then blamed the problem on us because we wanted to be at the park early. We had to wait over 90 minutes before we were allowed to enter. Again, no apologies, nothing. We incurred $21.49 for coffee and tea while we waited.

Rolfi told us that we are limited to 3 hours in Machu Picchu and we felt rushed through the park. And to fill the 3 hours, we came to the end and sat around and waited to fill the time. We then had to wait an hour before a terrible buffet lunch was ready, and another 90 minutes before going to the train station for the 2:30 train. The entire day was very poorly planned even if the park admission time fiasco had not occurred.

Local specialist: Carla Pando
Carla
Carla Pando
Local specialist in Cusco, Perú | Replied on May 28, 2019
Dear Anne, We are trully sorry that Rolfi did not accomplished your spectations as a tour guide, we have never had a bad feedback from him, totally the oposite we always had great reviews about him, you can read them in our reviews. We will talk to him about the meals so he can be more carefull about what we want to cover in the meals included in our trips. We apologize for that inconvenience . About Machu Picchu, is still difficult to deal with the new regulations they are changing their... Read more

Dear Anne,

We are trully sorry that Rolfi did not accomplished your spectations as a tour guide, we have never had a bad feedback from him, totally the oposite we always had great reviews about him, you can read them in our reviews. We will talk to him about the meals so he can be more carefull about what we want to cover in the meals included in our trips. We apologize for that inconvenience . About Machu Picchu, is still difficult to deal with the new regulations they are changing their rules very often. We can´t believe they didn´t let you go in. Just frustrating. Your buffet lunch normally is high quality not sure what happened there. In general we apologize if your trip was not delivered the way we like to run it, and we really hope that after all you had a good taste of Peru if is possible to put a side the bad moments.