Kimkim Trip Reviews for Chile

Guides and activities were outstanding! Hotel in Puerto Varas was fine, but not exceptional -- very much enjoyed the hotel in Pucon. We had to defer the trip for a year after a preceding trip to Antarctica was deferred -- Oxana was extremely helpful in working with us on those changes. We did have some confusion with internal Chile airline reservations -- caused by different requests within the travel group -- also some confusion with final payments (likely caused by the fact that we had to defer). Overall, it was a very positive experience.

Overall the trip to the Lake District was enjoyable with several hickups. We wrote to you about the discrepancy on Day 2 between what was originally quoted about lunch being included and still have not received any answer or verification of that. The original quote on which we paid stated lunch was included and then we found out it was not. The stay at Casa Karfu in Punta Arenas was not enjoyable. The hotel is very noisy, ALL the floor boards squeak, the walls are thin, and you can hear people walking above you. If you don't have ear plugs you won't get any sleep. The staff was not particularly friendly except for one young lady at the desk who was helpful. It was a 15 min walk to town, which after a long day was not something we felt enthusiastic about. Thankfully there are 2 options down the street. Breakfast did not start promptly at 0700. Ronaldo, our guide in PA, was very good. He was professional and answered all our questions. All the activities were enjoyable.
Casa Estado in Pucon was very nice. The only complaint, if any, is it is far from town and costs about $12 each way in a taxi. You are pretty much stuck there without a car. Stefanie from Amity Tours was very nice. She was not good at keeping pace with the whole group on the hikes. One person was a fast pacer and she kept her pace with him. The 2 of them walked far ahead of the 3 of us. The 3 of us felt we could have just taken a walk together without paying for a guide. She should have considered the "pace of the whole group" and set that pace so all of us would have had the benefit of walking with the guide. This happened both days. Otherwise, the hikes in both national parks were beautiful. The thermal pools were enjoyable.

We had a great tour with our guide, Rodrigo, and our driver, Oscar. The two had a great rapport and were both very friendly. Our favorite sight was the Rainbow Valley (which was not on the original itinerary, and we only ended up going because the Taito Geyser Field was closed), because Rodrigo took us on some paths that most tourists don't go on, and we had the whole place to ourselves. Additionally, Rodrigo has studied geology in university, so he was very knowledgeable on the rock formations and other geologic details we saw throughout the whole trip.

After finding myself en route to Santiago for work, a friend thought, "you should go to Patagonia and take some photos..." I hadn't thought about it until that moment... and with only 3 weeks out, I didn't think it remotely possible. That's when another friend passed along kimkim's info.
I truly didn't think it possible to put together such a well thought out, well planned adventure with so little time. But that's exactly what Erin was able to create... Essentially, pulling a rabbit out of a hat in a couple of weeks.
Given that my solo adventure was geared towards photography, my itinerary for 6 full days was tailored towards that experience. My journey took me from Estancia La Peninsula for a tour of an authentic Patagonian sheep farm, to portions of the W trek inside Torres Del Paines National Park including the French Valley and Mirador Las Torres hikes. From there, I was able to spend a couple nights in the Serrano River Valley outside the park, and mingle with the horses and herding pups at Pampa Lodge.
Finally, the culmination and the final day of my adventure was a private photography tour with an amazing guide, who took me to some of the great spots in Torres Del Paines as well as some hidden gems that only a true local would know about...
This experience was something that I will never forget. It was surreal and beautiful looking at the Andes Mountain range... meeting some amazing people in Refugias and along the trails... and it would never have happened without Erin and Julia. High fives to the two who made this whole thing so special and unforgettable.

Nicholas planned the trip just right. We have some issues on the first day (out fault, that I left the phone in a Cabify taxi). Our trip guide helped us a lot, and eventually, we have got it back the next day. The rest of the trip was good and enjoyable. Nicholas was always accessible, and the tour company made everything hassle-free. Thanks, Nicholas.

This whole experience has been wonderful, start to finish. Everyone involved in the trip planning portion (Erin & Julie) were very attentive, informative and prompt. I would just like to say that I work in marketing for a tourism DMO and have been in the hospitality industry for 10+ years - Cote was one of the best guides I have ever encountered. She was organized, genuine, hospitable, knowledgeable and she intuitively knew what our group needed at all aspects of the trip. I cannot stress enough what a unique and authentic person she is, she truly made the trek all the better.

Also, the staff at all the lodges (in particular our third stay at a Fantistico Sur) were so warm & welcoming. I’ll be spreading the word about this experience!

Cote our guide was fantastic! She set a great pace and made our time very enjoyable even through the more demanding parts of the trek. Most memorable is the lookout on grey glacier, French valley, and the secret lookout Cote took us for the towers, not busy at all which made it really great. 10/10 would recommend to family or friends that are interested!

Nicholas’s trip preparation for us was fantastic. We got to see what we wanted from the lake region to Patagonia to Iguazu Falls within our budget. The local drivers who picked us up at various airports in Chile were on time, so we did not have to worry. The local guides were knowledgeable and attentive. We will ask for him if we will visit Chile/South America again!

Everything was already fully detailed on the planning but getting on the sites itself, it got way more spectacular!

You also get the help you need and everywhere I stayed, the people were very helpful and nice and welcoming!
Even if you have the slightest misfortune (a delayed flight) they came to check on me and to adapt the planning accordingly.

All by all, it is something I will do again and i would recommend.
It helps you travel but does not forget to give you enough free time where necessary!

Overall, good experience
Emilce is knowledgeable of Argentina and provided great suggestions. The service provided was affordable and of good quality. The only improvement I would like to see is to be provided with a fully detailed and confirmed itinerary before we departed. We made this slightly more complicated due to some last minute flight changes but in today's digital era, an updated itinerary would be easy to provide via email. We did not know our exact itinerary for each location until we met the local guide at each airport. This included formal confirmation of our flight arrivals and hotels accommodations. This made for a mistake in pickup time at one of our arrivals and required us to make some calls to confirm our exact hotel and to take a taxi to get there (which they did reimburse us for). More than anything, this lack of explicit detail was just unnerving and can be easily fixed with a detailed itinerary.

This was our first trip to South America. We decided to visit Chile because our son had been on a 4 month study abroad exchange program in Vina del Mar, Chile and his time there was coming to an end. We did not really know how to tackle our vacation planning, so we scanned the Internet and found KimKim. We decided to go with this approach of travel because we wanted to plan our own agenda and did not want to be locked into a group tour. It was also an affordable solution for the quality of service we received

Virginia Crivelli was our trip organizer. She did a fantastic job throughout the entire experience. She helped up plan and was in contact with us during our trip. She was very professional and gave us good advise. She even calmed my fears about traveling to Chile during this time of protest and unrest that started in October 2019.

Our time in Chile included the following locations: Santiago, Vina del Mar, Valparaiso, San Pedro Atacama, Casablanca Valley, Punta Arenas, and Puerto Natales. Virginia booked us wonderful hotels, fantastic tours and plane flights in country. We had local guides who spoke English and provided excellent insights into their country and location.

This was one of the best experiences we have had traveling...and we have traveled quite a bit. I would highly recommend KimKim and their local custom service model. We never felt like a tourist lost in the crowds. The local guides were friendly, knowledgeable and made us feel welcome. Thanks for the attention to details and making our trip to Chile a memory we will hold in our hearts forever!

Melody, Neil and Tanner Buckner

Kimkim has been very helpful in organizing the trip while able to offer the best value for money service. Daiana has been very responsive also for small details. Huellas Del Desierto has been able to organize a short trip that was at the same time able to touch the most amazing areas in the time. The most beautiful one being the Altiplanos Lagunas.

My son and I had a wonderful trip to Chile. We travelled from the Atacama Dessert to the Lake District and finally to Patagonia. Isla de Magdalena and Torres del Paine National Park! Thanks to Nicholas, the trip was planned perfectly. We had a lot to see but we also had our down time and time to tour on our own. Ending in Patagonia was awesome!

Such a beautiful country with wonderful people. We hope to return someday and see more of the National Parks!

Thank you NIcholas!

We recently came back from a great trip to Chile

While we had a general sense of what we wanted to see & do, we elected to utilize Kimkim to assist us in our planning

They put us in contact with Nicholas at TURISMO MILODON travel based in Santiago Chile who did an especially great job and promptly responded to all emails and text messages

Prior to our trip we inquired about some of the excursions that we were interested in (Santiago, Valparaiso, Atacama, Torres del Paine)

Nicholas came back with an assortment of suggestions that met our needs (especially since we can't stand some activities on the high elevation in Atacama)

We also needed some guidance on hotels. Again, he provided multiple options (at different price points). All the hotels met or exceeded our expectations. The Hotel Vendaval in Puerto Natalas deserves special attention. The staff was extremely accommodating, and the hotel construction was unique – natural wood, minimal carpeting and a large rooftop deck/lounge with great views

Roberto (our guide for the Santiago and Valparaiso excursions) was very knowledgeable on the history and various sites we visited. Language was not a problem as he spoke excellent English

One other excursion we had was a full day private tour at Matetic vineyard which included horseback riding, winery tour and tasting and a great lunch at their Restaurant (Equilibrio’s). Their Sovereign Blanc and Syrah wines were both excellent and are recommended

Our guide for the Valle de Luna excursion (Oct 16) was very thorough and gave an excellent tour

More importantly, a BIG THANKS to Nicholas who was proactive in monitoring the civil unrest situation that developed in Santiago during our visit and suggested we switch to a different hotel for our last night. He was able to get us a room at an airport hotel which worked out great since our return flight was moved up 10 hrs. to a morning departure

All in all, we had a great experience and highly recommend using Kimkim

We are looking forward to returning to Chile

Edwuardo was good, at times a bit condescending. I think he needs to show more background info on the trips he guides in other words plants and animals. Trips were to short. Back to the hotel by 14:00. I paid a lot of money not to have short days. On one day we did the geyser basin plus the 10km hike that was to be schedule the next day. back to hotel by15:30. because of this I pointed out to my guide that I had an empty day. We ended doing a hike up this volcano. Again back early. Your rep. Santiago should have met me, not talk on the phone and give me a number to contact. You should REALLY stress with your clients in Chile not to lose their PDI and were to get a replacement. This will avoid challenges I had to put up with hotel manager in San Pedro(19% surcharge on hotel cost if I could not get one by the end of my stay)

It was a great pleasure working with Daiana. She replied to all my questions throughout the planning phase and helped me customize my trip. I will give her a wave on top of the 5 star rating.

Atacama:
1) Our private guides Alejandra, Frank, and Javier (driving us) to the Moon and Mars Valley and the Rainbow Valley were absolutely fantastic. They had the passion and experience to match that of ours. They took pleasure answering our questions or even look up the internet to do so.
2) The group tour guides for the Cejar Lagoon and Tatio Geysers were great too but were not of the same quality as those on our private trips. They were friendly an responsive though. Although not too knowledgeable about the geology and scientific facts that they were explaining.
3) Star grazing was out of the world, I wish we could do more.
4) Location of the Hotel, friendliness of staff, proximity to major restaurants an town center was great.

Easter Island:
1) Stunning group tours at Easter Island. Great organization, improvisation when it started raining to add two trips into one helped us see everything planned.
2) Durande (might be butchering his name), our tour guide was a native Rapa Nui with the great depth and breadth of knowledge that impressed us.
3) Private tour to watch sunset at Tahai need not be a guided tour. All we needed is a vehicle to go to the spot. The tour guide was friendly and did his job, but there were not much to guide.
4) Location of the Hotel was too far from the town center. I would recommend giving us a choice even that makes a price difference. One option should be near town center or near beach the other option could be the one where we stayed.

Overall a 5 Star experience. Appreciate Daiana's willingness to help, good organization of the tours, and reasonably priced for the value we got.

Will highly recomment Kimkim and Say Hueque and will use them for our next trip to South America.

Best regards,
Soumava Adhya
[email protected]

Chile is an outstanding travel experience. I have traveled extensively in the world and I believe the country of Chile is one of the best. The scenery is stunning and the people are warm and friendly. My wife and I returned from a three week trip yesterday and are basking in the afterglow.
Our guide and driver in the Santiago and the Elqui valley areas were Alejandro and Luis. There can be no better guide than Alejandro with Senderos Nativos and no better driver than Luis.
Alejandro is a personable individual whom I immediately felt comfortable with on an interpersonal level. I feel privileged to be shown the country of Chile by a person of his stature. He is brilliant in his knowledge of all aspects of Chilean culture, history, flora, fauna, and landscape etc. Luis is likewise easy to get to know and is extremely efficient and dependable. He has raised the level of driving to an art and I never once felt uncomfortable with him behind the wheel.
Travel to the Atacama area is a must. It is a travel experience that is singularly unique and powerful.
Our guide and driver in this area was Javier with Huellas del Desierto. Like the two individuals just mentioned, he is easy to communicate with and is completely knowledgeable of the Atacama area. He went above and beyond to make our experience in San Pedro both fun and informative. He is a professional in every sense of the word.
Our guide in Valparaiso was April who was perfect in every sense. Valparaiso is another must visit travel destination. April brought the city alive in a manner that would have been impossible without her.
Mery ( primarily) and Daiana (backup) worked hard to make our travel experience happen the way I wanted. Mery was critical to the success of the trip and she came through perfectly. Daiana also provided assistance at critical moments. Everything that was arranged happened as planned and occurred like clockwork. I have friends and family considering a trip to Chile and Argentina and I would not hesitate to recommend either one of them for travel assistance.
All of these individuals are complete professionals and are excellent at their respective skills. I have never written a review before but I can honestly say if you are planning a trip to Chile and/or Argentina, you can have complete trust and confidence in them to provide an unforgettable first rate travel experience.

The first two nights of the trip were terrible. Our original campsites were indiscriminately closed without warning. As a result all the campers were forced to use the facilities of much smaller refugios, which were inadequate for the number of people. We were herded in and out of the eating areas like cattle, with strict time limits for consuming our meals.

Furthermore, I was dramatically overcharged compared to other people in my group who booked directly with the tour operator, Chile Nativo. I was charged approximately $2500 US, including KimKim's fee, while others in my group paid approximately $1700 US!! I have requested a refund and will not use or recommend KimKim's services to my social network unless I am properly reimbursed. This is very unprofessional.

This was my first time in South America and Chile, and also my first time as a solo traveler. Mery put together a fantastic and thorough 15 day itinerary for me in Chile covering all the highlights and more that I had not thought off. I am grateful and privileged to have covered so much of Chile in such a short amount of time. All credit for this goes to Mery and her team.

The tours that were arranged were on-time, professional and very informative. The guides, whilst mainly catering to Spanish speaking passengers, also took the time and patience to explain the same to me in English.

I was also impressed with the accommodation that was booked, it felt like someone had really thought about the location and quality of the places. The accommodation in the various towns/cities was centrally located, close to shops and restaurants and very comfortable.

The highlights of the trip were the San Pedro de Atacama desert (would recommend the Altiplanics Lake tours, Laguna Cejar, Moon Valley tour & the Night Sky tour) which has so many varying and unique landscapes. Patagonia including the Torres del Paine national park and Balmaceda/Serrano glaciers are a must see, these are truly spectacular.

Overall a very well organised and thought out trip, that exceeded my expectations. Thank you for putting this together and ensuring I had a great experience. Would not hesitate to recommend kimkim/Say Hueque again.

Chile 2019 - thank you to Daiana and all the drivers and tour guides who made this a trip of a lifetime. Hotel Ismael is Santiago is perfect. Matetic Winery is a must see. Atacama desert experience was beyond expectations. Judy