Kimkim Trip Reviews for Argentina

My husband I are traveled to Argentina for our honeymoon and Emi helped us plan the perfect itinerary. Emi had great suggestions for our getaway, and accommodated all of our requests. Unfortunately the end of your trip was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we had to return home sooner than anticipated, but we were able to enjoy the time that we had. We thoroughly enjoyed our private tour of Buenos Aires with Federico, our private tour of the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. Mendoza was... read more

My husband I are traveled to Argentina for our honeymoon and Emi helped us plan the perfect itinerary. Emi had great suggestions for our getaway, and accommodated all of our requests. Unfortunately the end of your trip was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and we had to return home sooner than anticipated, but we were able to enjoy the time that we had. We thoroughly enjoyed our private tour of Buenos Aires with Federico, our private tour of the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. Mendoza was the highlight of our trip. We loved all of the hotels that Emi booked/suggested for us. We were only able to spend one night in El Calafate, and unable to do any of our planned excursions in Calafate/Chalten, but we will be back! Emi stayed in constant contact with us after COVID-19 travel restrictions started being implemented, and even gave us her personal phone number. We highly recommend Emi if you are planning a trip to Argentina!

Erin was wonderful to work with for this trip! She was extremely helpful with planning everything and making a trip that included what I was looking for and in the budget I was working with. She was very patient with me and answered all questions that I had along the way.
The times in Torres de Paine was amazing, with great weather and beautiful views. Perito Moreno glacier was also amazing!
I was thrilled with my trip. Thank you again to Erin for all your work in helping to make it happen!!

Macarena was professional, flexible and responsive. Quick follow up is very important to me when planning a trip.
Her suggestions made my trip special: cooking class, wine tour and Termed hot springs I would not have found.

We had an enjoyable time in Buenos Aires and the Iquazu Falls. Emilce had done a wonderful job for all the transfers between places and the pick ups were on time. Also thank Federico who was so wonderful in guiding us thru the city of Buenos Aires. We learnt a lot about the political background, history and cultures of Argentina. We really appreciate his service. The hotel which Emilce arranged in BA was really good. However we were not very happy about EcoIguazu's tour on the Argintina side.... read more

We had an enjoyable time in Buenos Aires and the Iquazu Falls. Emilce had done a wonderful job for all the transfers between places and the pick ups were on time. Also thank Federico who was so wonderful in guiding us thru the city of Buenos Aires. We learnt a lot about the political background, history and cultures of Argentina. We really appreciate his service. The hotel which Emilce arranged in BA was really good. However we were not very happy about EcoIguazu's tour on the Argintina side. I was not sure about it was the S American Trip's role or the EcoIguazu's role. The guide for the Iguazu Falls on the Argentina side was not good. His didn't understand our questions very well and was not organized at all. Wasting time in making decision what we should do next. I felt so sorry for the tour members who had paid for the boat ride but no seats for them after all. I still wonder how it can happen if they have arranged the boat ride few months ago and still no room for them on the day. Other than that, I enjoyed my trip in Argentina very much. Oh, I forgot to mention about the tango show and the Argentine Experience. Both events were excellent. We enjoyed them very much. Thank you Emilce again for the arrangement. Will recomment KimKim to my friends.

Overall we had a really positive experience using KimKim. As two people who don't speak much Spanish, we found their services to arrange tours and transportation to be a huge benefit in making our travel throughout Argentina easier. We were thankful for Virginia's responsiveness and recommendations.
We especially loved El Chalten and Los Glaciares National Park. We only had one small tour/transportation hiccup but Virginia responded right away and came up with a solution quickly.

This is my first time using the services. I had Virginia as my agent and I was very happy with her. Things were planned last minute and somehow everything worked out. My highlight was the stay at the Mercure Hotel in Iguazu. I did not do any research at all and I was blown away. Thanks Virginia and KimKim for making dreams come true!!!

Emilce was very responsive and gave us great service. The trip itself was very enjoyable. the only wrinkle was that we had expressed an interest in hiking anddespite the fact the south of Argentina has lots of great hiking, the "hiking experiences" were mostly bus rides to scenic places.

Both Axel (who handled planning before we left) and Jesus (who helped with logistics and last minute changes once we arrived) from On The Go were fantastic - always super responsive, flexible and keen to make our trip absolutely perfect for us. Despite our regular flip-flopping in terms of requests!

Our trip to Argentina was absolutely fantastic - hotels, day-trips and logistics were all wonderful. Using Kimkim and On The Tour made everything very straightforward and we benefitted from... read more

Both Axel (who handled planning before we left) and Jesus (who helped with logistics and last minute changes once we arrived) from On The Go were fantastic - always super responsive, flexible and keen to make our trip absolutely perfect for us. Despite our regular flip-flopping in terms of requests!

Our trip to Argentina was absolutely fantastic - hotels, day-trips and logistics were all wonderful. Using Kimkim and On The Tour made everything very straightforward and we benefitted from excellent local knowledge. The overall price was also very reasonable.

I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending to others.

I loved the visit to Iguazu falls from both Brazil and Argentina sides and the Tango night show which introduced me to Argentinian culture. The tour guides Gustavo and Maria on the Iguazu trip were phenomenal. Muchas Gracias

Macarena did a wonderful job of working with us to get our trip to Buenos Aires and Ushuaia just perfect for our family. While we enjoy taking tours, we like to have free time to wander. Macarena was able to give us the perfect amount of both.

Each day we had some free time to wander, or relax from our tours. We thoroughly enjoyed Laura on our BA and Tigre tours. She was informative, helpful, and delightful to spend time with. Highly recommend her.

While we would have never booked the... read more

Macarena did a wonderful job of working with us to get our trip to Buenos Aires and Ushuaia just perfect for our family. While we enjoy taking tours, we like to have free time to wander. Macarena was able to give us the perfect amount of both.

Each day we had some free time to wander, or relax from our tours. We thoroughly enjoyed Laura on our BA and Tigre tours. She was informative, helpful, and delightful to spend time with. Highly recommend her.

While we would have never booked the Argentine Cooking experience or the Tango lesson and dinner, we were so happy Macarena put those in for us. It was great dining with travelers from around the globe, learning about the culture, food, mate, tango, etc. So happy they were included in our itinerary.

And while it was fun exploring BA, we thoroughly enjoyed being in Ushuaia. What a fabulous place. The highlight of our trip was the penguin boating adventure. The weather was absolutely perfect and it was wonderful seeing the landscape of Argentina and Chile.

The tour of Tiera del fuego park was great fun. And we were glad to have a personal guide. She was great! So informative, accommodating and professional. Felt like we really clicked with her.

We loved the Arakur Spa and Resort. Sitting and looking out the windows at the bay and town below was wonderful. Each afternoon we would go to the pool area and hang out. It was great fun being outdoors with the wind blowing, but warm in the pool.

There were some issues with Arakur, though. We were in Ushaia while it was very warm, and the AC did not seem to work in any of our rooms. We kept asking about it, but they told us "it is very slow." I would have preferred them to tell us "we really don't have AC, so it is best to open the windows," which we did open the windows.

Also, we ate at the lobby bar each day for lunch and service was extremely slow. I understand relaxing and not being rushed, but the service was terribly slow. Food at the lobby bar, restaurant and New Year's Eve gala was fabulous!!!

The new year's eve party was loads of fun. A great way to start the new year and decade.

Additionally, Macarena was on vacation during our trip, so Ludi stepped in and made sure we had everything we needed once we arrived in Argentina. The change from one agent to the next was seamless.

Highly recommend both!
Great time!

Wonderful! Plain and simple, our trip to Argentina met and exceeded my expectations. The planning and the execution was nearly perfect. The guides could not have been more informative and accommodating. Gabie, in Bariloche was simply amazing! Her background and knowledge was very impressive. In summary........Viva Argentina!

We just returned home from a 10 day trip to Argentina, visiting Buenos Aires, Bariloche, and Mendoza. From the beginning to end, starting with the planning, guides, accommodations, and even to our drivers who could not speak English but smiled trying, it was a memorable experience.
Thank you.

The trip to Argentina was incredible! Such convenience of having all of our transport coordinated for us. We loved the tango dinner show experience and our tour of Buenos Aires was fantastic. They accommodated the needs of my kids by scheduling us an earlier dinner tango show and a van service for our city tour which made sightseeing much easier for our family. Everything coordinated for us in Iguazu was excellent as well. I really liked Say Heque which was the tour company in Argentina that... read more

The trip to Argentina was incredible! Such convenience of having all of our transport coordinated for us. We loved the tango dinner show experience and our tour of Buenos Aires was fantastic. They accommodated the needs of my kids by scheduling us an earlier dinner tango show and a van service for our city tour which made sightseeing much easier for our family. Everything coordinated for us in Iguazu was excellent as well. I really liked Say Heque which was the tour company in Argentina that they used. Our tour guide Laura was friendly, warm, knowledgeable, and her English was perfect. I really liked the games and kid facts she incorporated into the tour. My only suggestion for improvement for Kim Kim and for Mery would be that they should recommend “kid friendly” itineraries and time schedules from the beginning...I really had to specifically ask for this rather than our agent suggesting things from the start. My experience using in Kim Kim for my trip in Ecuador was different in the sense that right from the start they made sure we had everything booked that was kid appropriate. No big deal this time around, as Mery was happy to help and was very flexible, and overall everything was excellent!!! Thank you!

Considering how packed our schedule was for this trip, things ran smoothly. Service by Marcela in Buenos Aires was amazing. Thank goodness for her because we didn't know about the weight limits in our carry on to fly to El Calafate. Tour around Buenos Aires with Nicolas was fun. It was nice that we were the first to get picked up so we could talk about other things that interested us about Argentina
There was a small hiccup when we got to El Calafate and nobody was there to pick us up. It... read more

Considering how packed our schedule was for this trip, things ran smoothly. Service by Marcela in Buenos Aires was amazing. Thank goodness for her because we didn't know about the weight limits in our carry on to fly to El Calafate. Tour around Buenos Aires with Nicolas was fun. It was nice that we were the first to get picked up so we could talk about other things that interested us about Argentina
There was a small hiccup when we got to El Calafate and nobody was there to pick us up. It seems like someone missed our reservation entirely since our hotel was also closed for business when we got there. Luckily, another hotel owned by the same company was available for us.
Tours and service after that was great. Noelia was with us during our tour to Perito Moreno. We loved she had lots of information about the area for us.
Private Service from Puerto Natales was a bit scary sometimes. A three hour long trip was done in two hours and 15 minutes. We were going FAST!
When we got to Santiago, the driver was not waiting where we were told. He didn't know he had to wait for us there. All got sorted after I called.
Hotel in Santiago was super convenient. Perfect way to finish; close to parks and restaurants.
We liked that we had a combination of full service hotels to smaller boutique ones. We liked that for the most part things were confirmed for us by Say Hueque before we had to do so.
Thank you Mery for helping us plan this amazing trip!

The entire kimkim team was fantastic! We had several flight delays and changes and could not have been more impressed by the support provided by Mery, our drivers and our tour guides to quickly and seamlessly resolve any issues with the airlines. Knowing we had a team behind us we could depend on was an added bonus.

Our guide, Manuel, in Iguazu was terrific!

I cannot recommend kimkim enough and will reach out to the group first as we begin planning or next journey.

Martin at KimKim, for the last year, has been dealing with your July Eclipse trip to Argentina 2019. He was always helpful with his replies and bookings we needed to change, I even got to call him once which was great to hear someone's voice, not just typing, sometimes you just need to chat to make sure we understand each other.
This was our first time using KimKim and not the last! Argentina was a wonderful experience and we'll be back!

Thank you again for making this one of the most memorable trips!

regards

Marie & Doug from Canada

Dear Martin,
Thanks again for this wonderful trip! Back home, we wish w're back there.

We had issues, but you were there, to get everything right.

Day by day we will review the trip.

Day 1: we had to call you for the car. The changed flight schedule was not known by the car rental company.
For one night it's better to stay in a different hotel or hosteria, because we had the feeling that this was a one-person room.

Day 2: beautiful stay

Day 3: we visited La Garganta del Diablo and the... read more

Dear Martin,
Thanks again for this wonderful trip! Back home, we wish w're back there.

We had issues, but you were there, to get everything right.

Day by day we will review the trip.

Day 1: we had to call you for the car. The changed flight schedule was not known by the car rental company.
For one night it's better to stay in a different hotel or hosteria, because we had the feeling that this was a one-person room.

Day 2: beautiful stay

Day 3: we visited La Garganta del Diablo and the Humahauaca (14-colors mountain).

Day 4: beautiful stay. To buy the extra fuel is not necessary. In Antofagasta is a new fuel station.

Day 5: please mention to others that de Puna de Atacama (Dieserto du diable - seita curvas) is really spectucalar.

In Tolar Grande, maybe you have heard, we were in a beautiful hosteria (Casa Andina), the same name as you mentioned in the detailed information. Because we didn't have any addresses and this is mentioned on Internet we thought we were in the correct place to stay. This hosteria is in line with the previous hotels.
Unfortunately we had to go to a basic stay. Maria was very friendly.

In Tolar Grande there are two places for dinner. You have to step in on the time the miners go for dinner and you have to eat the daily menu.

Day 6: please skip this extra day in Tolar Grande and add this to Antofagaste.
Laguna Santa Maria is far away and the road was washed away on several places. To dangerous because of the rental car. We turned.

Day 7: we drive an awesome route (via Antofalla)

Great stay in Antofagasta (wonderful). To get fuel is easy, because there is a new fuel station.

You can add 2 more nights to stay here because there are a lot of attractions.

Day 8: Campo de Piedra Pómez is awesome.
You arrive after sunset in Tafi del Valle. It's a long trip.

Dag 9 - 11: -

Dag 12: After visiting quebrada de las conchas (amphitheater at last), make the return to Cachi. It was better to stay in Cachi for the night because the drive from Salta via Cafayate to Quebrada de las Flechas was far too long (tarde tarde).

Day 13: Yungas trekking was awesome, very friendly guide, great lunch. We prefer to stay in this village, Villa San Lorenzo instead of Salta.

Day 14: This trip was far too long. We had only a quick stop in Cafayate and in Cachi. Visiting Puente del Diablo was not possible because this point is after sunset. We arrived in San Antonio de los Cobres at 9.30pm. Driving after sunset in the mountains is heavy (don't thin at thime that something could happen).

Day 15: short drive to Salta. In the afternoon we've visited the Teléfirico.

Day 16: unfortunately the guide wasn't there. No hike for that day.

Day 17: plan this trip with a stay in Cachi.

Day 18: -

Day 19: Eclipse Day!

Day 20: as complimentary we got an extra stay in San Juan (you offer it for free on January, 24th) . This hotel was oké, but we don't recommend it to others. We had to pay for the night.

Day 21: We would advise, depending on the flight schedule, to book a hotel closer to the airport.
We had to leave at 5.30am. No breakfast at that time.

Flight Mendoza - Buenos Aires - Rio de Janeiro - Amsterdam (day +1)

Day 21: Delev

KimKim was the easiest travel experience I have ever had! All I had to do was give a rough idea and BOOM! out came a perfectly planned vacation. Not only was all the heavy lifting done by KimKim and Erin, but it was our most affordable option with all the companies we looked at. They were so accommodating to changes and provided excellent documentation prior to traveling.

Patagonia was my first experience with KimKim, but I can assure you it will not be my last. Highly recommend and thank you to the KimKim team for a great experience!

We loved every minute of it. If we had had more time, we would have like to get to know Buenos Aires a little better, but the time we had there was amazing. The Tango Show was excellent! Florencia was our tour for the city tour in BA and she was sooooooo knowledgeable. I believe she is a history teacher and she is an excellent teacher. Our favorite part may have been Mendoza, in part because Jael, our guide, and Carlos, our driver, became like friends and we enjoyed being with them... read more

We loved every minute of it. If we had had more time, we would have like to get to know Buenos Aires a little better, but the time we had there was amazing. The Tango Show was excellent! Florencia was our tour for the city tour in BA and she was sooooooo knowledgeable. I believe she is a history teacher and she is an excellent teacher. Our favorite part may have been Mendoza, in part because Jael, our guide, and Carlos, our driver, became like friends and we enjoyed being with them immensely. Jael knew so much and helped us both with our Spanish. The lodging there was particularly memorable.....a winery with spa accommodations. Santiago was excellent as well.....our city and Valparaíso guide, Manual, was good, but my niece “adopted” our driver, Ramon. It was a truly memorable experience from start to finish and we can’t thank Axel enough for putting it together for us!

Positive experiences:
Good price, very good destinations, good internal flight arrangements, except one bad experience good airport pickups and transfers. Excellent arrangements and quality of lunches and dinners. Responses from Carla were very prompt, and Martin’s were generally good.

Negative:
Failure of my transport at Rio was very disturbing and that was a bad start.
While the hotels were all four star rated, Dione of them were below our expectations and well below what we had... read more

Positive experiences:
Good price, very good destinations, good internal flight arrangements, except one bad experience good airport pickups and transfers. Excellent arrangements and quality of lunches and dinners. Responses from Carla were very prompt, and Martin’s were generally good.

Negative:
Failure of my transport at Rio was very disturbing and that was a bad start.
While the hotels were all four star rated, Dione of them were below our expectations and well below what we had experienced with other tour operators.
Some of the tour guides were not knowledgeable and did not provide any real information. Our first guide to Petropolice was a disaster and wasted our time at the unscheduled half day stop at a beer factory.
Some of the visits were not good, such as the Conchita winery I n Santiago. We just saw the cellar and the house and no wine making process. There is a scope to improve.

The first stop in Brazil was not good as the hotel was below par. It was very disappointing to see the hotel lobby.

It was a very planned trip and the transfers were seamless. The kayaking guides Carlos and Polina were outstanding, affable and provided great service and kept us safe. Well done team!

The trip was very well planned and all the complicated connections came off as smooth as a babies butt. Hosteleria Cuernos tent situation was the only bummer of the whole trip. They put us in a tent immediately adjacent to the large tent housing the staff for this site. The staff stayed up until one in the morning laughing loudly singing talking and keeping the exhausted travelers up. Someone needs to let them know that we are supporting their livelihood and their behavior is extremely rude and uncaring for their guests.

Hassle-free setup and really responsive support from Emily and Erin. If we were to replay the experience, I would have built in more downtime to the itinerary, as well as taking time for stuff in between the iconic sights and stops that Patagonia offers (which are, to be fair, spectacular). The guides that we had for all the trips and excursions were really great: personable, enthusiastic, knowledgeable.

Overall great experience. Very organized. Good communication along the way.
Only guide was Sandra. Great several hours touring Buenos Aires.
Small tweaks. Highlight cost of national parks and that it is cash only.
Acknowledge that AM tours may be late because of multiple pickups. Important to be ready however less stress if you know that last pickup may be 30 minutes after set time.
Note actual length of bus rides.
I would combine the two itineraries provided.
Overall well put together trip.

Your team did a great job with the overall organization of the trip. We were met at EZE by Ceci, who provided a bottle of wine. All connections were spot on. We took two trips out to Perito Moreno glacier. If I had realized how long it takes to get out there, I might have made a change in our daily itinerary...still, not a big deal. I thought the cave on the way to Torres Del Paine Park was interesting, but not sure it was worth the time. Everything else was spectacular. We were well... read more

Your team did a great job with the overall organization of the trip. We were met at EZE by Ceci, who provided a bottle of wine. All connections were spot on. We took two trips out to Perito Moreno glacier. If I had realized how long it takes to get out there, I might have made a change in our daily itinerary...still, not a big deal. I thought the cave on the way to Torres Del Paine Park was interesting, but not sure it was worth the time. Everything else was spectacular. We were well prepared for the weather, and the changes. I had no idea of the wind conditions. Not a complaint, but wow, Puerto Natales was windy!! The hotel in El Calafate was well located, but they had some issues with the heat (too much). I think El Chaltén is a special place. The hiking was unbelievable, even though I came up about 600 Meters short of the lake on the Fitzroy trail. My sons made it. Was surprised how cheap food was in Argentina, but also how expensive it was in Chile (relatively speaking). Another thing I found interesting. The size of the area and how long it takes to get around. El Calafate to Puerto Natales...especially going down was a long haul. Again, not complaint, just an observation. Thank you for all you did!!

Overall great trip. Would have eliminated Punta Arenas. Loved El Calafare and would have liked to stay there two nights. although the location was great, the hotel in El Calafate was awful. Not clean. Hotels in El Chalten and Ushuaia were great. Enjoyed trekking on the glacier the best. Also enjoyed Ushuaia. Overall very nice trip and well organized and coordinated

Laura

We had a great time booking with Kimkim, and will definitely use them again. We would also recommend them to others, and in particular others doing the trip we did.

We had some really great calls with our specialist Martin, who did an amazing job, and helped us plan the trip that we wanted. I was very particular about our accommodation, but Martin listened to what I wanted and (patiently) found the perfect options. He also helped us maximise our time in Patagonia e.g by thinking outside the... read more

We had a great time booking with Kimkim, and will definitely use them again. We would also recommend them to others, and in particular others doing the trip we did.

We had some really great calls with our specialist Martin, who did an amazing job, and helped us plan the trip that we wanted. I was very particular about our accommodation, but Martin listened to what I wanted and (patiently) found the perfect options. He also helped us maximise our time in Patagonia e.g by thinking outside the box and finding other flight options when we discovered that all the domestic flights were booked out due to the G20 (we had booked our international flights by ourselves and didn't realise). He was also so helpful with all the logistics of moving round so much in such a short time, and planning the best trip possible so we could see everything we wanted to in the time we had.

When circumstances changed (e.g unpredictable closures in Buenos Aires during our stay due to the G20) Martin was on hand to help out in person (he even came to our hotel) with other options for us - very quick thinking!

He also put small touches on our trip which were both lovely and personal and absolute lifesavers (such as arranging for us to have a shower after a hike and before a plane ride when we had checked out of our hotel) which allowed us to be comfortable and make the best use of our time.

It is one of the best trips we have ever been on (if we planned it again we would change nothing) and all the individual tours we did as part of it were amazing, in particular all the day trips and accommodation in el calafate. Special shout out as well to Hotel Lago Grey and our guide Carlos, which were absolute highlights of the trip.

We would only mention a couple of other points as feedback:
1) I would generally allow plenty of response time to queries during the planning phase (as this could sometimes take a few days or so)
2) to double check the schedules and bus tickets etc have the correct dates and hotels on them (we had to get some errors corrected to match our itinerary, but once pointed out these were speedily corrected by the travel team)
3) one transfer showed up half an hour early and then left without us, but as it was only a cab ride to the nearby bus station we were able to run there to make the bus, and
4) when we were dropped off in Torres del Paine it was later than scheduled and there was no one there to meet us, and the phone in the cafe wasn't working - luckily we found someone who spoke English who took us to talk to a ranger who was able to radio base to call our hotel, who then came to collect us.

These are all however minor points (which happen when you have so many things booked), and did not detract from how pleased we were with this absolute trip of a lifetime, and the hard work put in by Martin to help us realize this. Thank you so much Martin! 11 out of 10! We would recommend to anyone visiting Argentina and Chile.

Overall it was a fantastic trip.
I take at least 2 and sometimes 3 vacations a year and I am very particular. I had been using a particular agency for many adventures and decided to give Kim Kim a try.
I will give a concise but honest evaluation if you permit and at the end some suggestions that may help Kim Kim and future travelers.
Day 1, All day walking tour A , that night was the Argentine Experience A+.
Day 2, Navigation to Tigre C
Although interesting, I found it to be a long boat ride... read more

Overall it was a fantastic trip.
I take at least 2 and sometimes 3 vacations a year and I am very particular. I had been using a particular agency for many adventures and decided to give Kim Kim a try.
I will give a concise but honest evaluation if you permit and at the end some suggestions that may help Kim Kim and future travelers.
Day 1, All day walking tour A , that night was the Argentine Experience A+.
Day 2, Navigation to Tigre C
Although interesting, I found it to be a long boat ride followed by a long and boring train ride. Guide for both days was the same. Although very knowledgeable he had no communication skills and was very boring.
Day 3, Mendoza , Wine tour and lunch. A+. This guide was A+ with good communication skills and a sense of humor.
Day 4 White water rafting A+ and I followed it up with a canopy adventure. A+. Guides overall with the expedition we're great.
Day 5 High Mountain Full day tour.
Although very scenic it was just way too long a drive. Guides stopped at MANDATORY spots for pictures, tiny walk, lunch and site for pictures. C
Day 6 Travel Day
Day 7 P Morena and National Park and boat ride. D
This was the most disappointing day of my trip. Bus was 1 hour late for pick up and I was on a bus with 37 other people. Took 45 minutes for everyone to get off and then back on bus for a picture . Boat ride was cancelled due to the weather (wind). We walked down steps to view glacier and then spend 3 1/2 hours at the refreshment house . This was absurd, watching bus load after busload of tourists coming and going. Unbelievable and touristy.
Fortunately, the guide was able to get a different boat trip to save some part of the day.
Day 8 Estancia Discovery Cristina B+
Great views and scenery. 4X4 trip was very exhilarating. B+
D
Do away with the boring museum tour and garden visit.
Ugh.
Day 8 Travel Day
Day 9 Beagle Channel boat ride and Penguin Island A+. Great overall experience.
Day 10 Trek and Rafting trip. Great guide (Pedro) A+.
Day 11 Travel Day , Flight, USA.
Here are my suggestions, take or leave them. I think they make your company a little more personal.
1. Warn your clients that they should be aware of counterfeit $ being used all over BA (taxi drivers are notorious).
2. Forworn your clients that some adventures (national park, lunches, etc.) must be paid in cash and pesos only.
3. Forworn your clients that they should make dinner reservations before they arrive in the next destination. Suggest restaurants to clients . They will appreciate it rather then go there blind.
4. Advise clients to bring their passport to trekking in Ushuaia so they can get them stampted at the end of the world.
This little item may mean something to a person.
5. Suggest places to shop and places not to shop. Do some research and it will pay dividends. Maybe even get a discount for clients at certain places.
6. Double check all info to clients as my reservations were incorrect the first night and my flight info was also incorrect. (Very confusing).

So I have exhausted my time and you are probably tired of reading all of this but I wanted to make sure you really knew my thoughts.
Hope this info may help someone in the future.
Having said all this I would consider using KimKim in the future.
All the best Billy Gluck

Maria was wonderful from start to finish. She picked a terrific itinerary and gave great advice on where to go and how many days to spend. All the arrangements she made went off without a hitch. She helped with changes and a traveler who had to change plans last minute due to illness. We all had a wonderful time and I would use Maria again in a heartbeat!

I must say I did not have a great experience with KimKim and will not be using again.

For starters, communication took too long. I would respond to a message within seconds of receiving it and I would get a response the next day.

Secondly, when booking a tour, I had asked for a more private tour. The booking I received stated semi-private. When I asked what semi-private actually meant, how many people would be in our group, I never received a response. When I was picked up and taken to... read more

I must say I did not have a great experience with KimKim and will not be using again.

For starters, communication took too long. I would respond to a message within seconds of receiving it and I would get a response the next day.

Secondly, when booking a tour, I had asked for a more private tour. The booking I received stated semi-private. When I asked what semi-private actually meant, how many people would be in our group, I never received a response. When I was picked up and taken to our boat tour, there was nothing private or semi-private about it. It was a regular tour boat with what seemed like 70-100 people. We were also promised a guide. There was no guide.

The price we paid seems a bit high for a large group tour that I basically could have bought a ticket through the boat company themselves and saved money.

Finally, although we were reserved as VIP. The boat had some problem on the return trip and we had to wait to take a different boat back where there was no VIP section at all. This was a waste of money in my opinion.

Erin is excellent. She was incredibly helpful while planning our time in Patagonia, and was always available to answer any questions. While in our trip, she went above and beyond to make sure we were set (we forgot our immigration papers while in a national park, and she coordinated getting them to us). You couldn't be in better hands.

Pros: Smooth booking process, quick turnaround to our requests, professional dialogue and we got compensation (other services) or refund for all travel inconveniences. The services we did benefit from (tours, accommodation) were of good quality.
Cons: one day tour was not what we asked to book, and one day tour was cancelled due to transportation issues at one of kimkim’s partner.
Martin was very cooperative, communixative, reaponsive and went above and beyond to solve the issues in such a manner that he managed to minimise our travel discomfort.

We had issues, but Martin was good in getting the situation back on track.

Erin and Emily from Dittmar adventures put together a superb and well-organised itinerary for us. Every day was memorable, from our trip to Estancia La Peninsula, to the W trek, to kayaking down the Serrano River and at the foot of a glacier. We will be sure to use KimKim again, and would particularly recommend the wonderful local specialists.

Axel and Argentina on the go built an excellent trip for me! I was thankful to have them when an unexpected strike happened with the airline and they arranged alternative travel for me. In Mendoza the guides were excellent except I would not recommend doing the cooking class- my experience was it wasn’t worth the money unless you do not know how to cook. I expected more out of that tour. All the rest of the tours were great and Iguazú Falls was incredible.

The entire trip went as smoothly as possible. All transfers were on time, all guides were quite knowledgeable and gracious hosts. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and would love to return. We had many unique experiences and were grateful to see them all. The most spectacular were the Beagle Channel tour in Ushuaia, the hiking in El Chalten and the Perito Moreno Glacier tour near El Calafate.

We were on a trip to Patagonia and toured around Argentina and undertook a number of experiences. All of these were incredible and while there were some things that slightly detracted from the experience we were very pleased overall with the experience.

We happened to arrive at a time when a strike was scheduled which meant one of our days had to be moved around. This meant we stayed a day longer in El Calafate and had to find something to entertain us whilst we were there, which we managed... read more

We were on a trip to Patagonia and toured around Argentina and undertook a number of experiences. All of these were incredible and while there were some things that slightly detracted from the experience we were very pleased overall with the experience.

We happened to arrive at a time when a strike was scheduled which meant one of our days had to be moved around. This meant we stayed a day longer in El Calafate and had to find something to entertain us whilst we were there, which we managed no problem due to my interest in wildlife and the presence of a nature reserve at the edge of the town.

The strike also had a knock on effect that meant our transfer from the hotel to the bus station the next day didn't turn up and we had to very quickly jump in a taxi and head across to the bus station and similarly when we returned to El Calafate a transfer with a different company also didn't show up which meant a walk in the dark back to the hotel with no map.

We also had an issue with some cash machines which after an internet search turned out to be due to some Argentinian banks not working with European issued credit/bank cards. We found that HSBC and Santander were able to work fine and actually charged less overall for the withdrawals.

Activity 1: Canoeing on Lake Mascardi with Kawen Adventure Company.
Guides Julian and Rodrigo turned up on time and spoke good English. They talked us through the area, the wildlife and the plan for the day. After a morning of canoeing the weather ahead looked pretty bad and we made the decision to stop for lunch. We had lunch on the shore overlooking Lake Mascardi. Lunch wasn't just some sandwiches and a bottle of water. A full table was set up with a whole range of different food, pastries, salad and of course Argentinian wine. After lunch we carried on back to the start before heading back to Bariloche.

Activity 2: Horse Riding at Estancia Frugua
Another great day, however there wasn't a bi-lingual guide and my Spanish is pretty poor. We were due to go out in the morning and afternoon but for some reason we only went out in the morning. I suspect there was a reason for this but as we don't speak enough Spanish to hold a full conversation we were left in the dark a bit. We managed to communicate through most of it though. The food here was also incredible.

Activity 3: Mini Trekking Perito Moreno Glacier
Great day again. Good guides, spoke good English and a great experience overall. The trip out to the glacier was great and it just got better and better throughout the day. An experience not to be missed. Whisky on the glacier was pretty cool too.

Activity 4: Hiking in El Chalten
The hiking in El Chalten was incredible. We were fortunate that the weather turned to the good the day we arrived and stayed good for our entire stay but it is an incredible place and a must for anyone who likes the outdoors. The hikes we did were far from challenging and took in some amazing scenery. A couple of steep sections but nothing anyone who is relatively fit couldn't take on.

Activity 5: Valdes Peninsula and Whale Watching.
Again an experience not to be missed. After touring around during the morning and early afternoon seeing various wildlife, (guanaco, burrowing owls, mara, elephant seals, penguins and sea lions) we then got the chance to go whale watching and we were so close to the whales it was incredible.

Hotels
Design Suites Bariloche - Very nice hotel and restaurant. Great views across the mountains and very friendly staff.

Hainen Hotel - Nice place but obviously not meant to be overly luxurious. It was great, served our purpose and the staff were friendly and accommodating when issues occurred.

Lunajuim - Really nice hotel, very friendly staff who really made us feel welcome.

Hotel Peron - Nice hotel, although clearly a lot busier than others we had stayed in so breakfast was a lot louder. Good views across the bay. Staff spoke less English, but we managed to check in.

Hotel NH Florida - Nice hotel and polite staff. Breakfast was incredibly busy with people finding it hard to find somewhere to sit and staff seemed to be struggling to keep up with providing enough cups and glasses etc.

Other small notes -
There were a few costs that we hadn't budgeted for nothing major but may be worth making clear to people in future -
Park Entrance Fee for Canoeing (300 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Mini-Trekking (600 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Glacier Boat Tour (600 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Whale Watching (520 pesos each)
City Tax in Bariloche (approximately 300 pesos)

Total of approximately 4,340 pesos. All of the above also needed to be in cash. Once we'd resolved the withdrawals issue it wasn't a problem. Also worth noting that the fees are much reduced for residents of Argentina.

It is worth noting that while there were a few issues we had the telephone number of our local specialist who managed to resolve the issues as they occurred and generally put our minds at rest when we were concerned.

Overall this experience was incredible and one not to be missed.

This trip was a good experience. I'm glad we chose the northwest of Argentina because it has many beautiful things. I would have preferred to be told how long it was to get to the Parque del Rey. It was about 4 hrs just together and once there even more time in the truck to go to different places where we actually did not see the animals that are typical of the area. Few birds and a type of Dorado fish. Just that for such a long trip back and forth. I would not recommend it to anybody. The best parts of the trip were Salta, Purmamarca, Humahuaca, salinas grandes.

Very easy to book and easy to deal with. Well organised everything went smoothly hotel was nice and the tour was fine. Will reccomended services

We had a fantastic time on our trip to Iguazu Falls. Jacquie’s organization was perfect. Our guide at the Falls Solange was excellent as was our accomodation organized by Jacquie. A fabulous time. Thank you!!