Kimkim Trip Reviews for Colombia

Jess, our agent/local specialist has been amazing. Our trip was very last minute and had some special circumstances, yet Jess was on top of it. It was our first time in Colombia and we had not time to research much, so it was amazing to have KimKim's recommendations, and then Jess's guidance in booking things. Jess checked in many times to ensure everything was going well, she answered all my questions almost instantly, which given the last minute nature of the trip was very much... read more

Jess, our agent/local specialist has been amazing. Our trip was very last minute and had some special circumstances, yet Jess was on top of it. It was our first time in Colombia and we had not time to research much, so it was amazing to have KimKim's recommendations, and then Jess's guidance in booking things. Jess checked in many times to ensure everything was going well, she answered all my questions almost instantly, which given the last minute nature of the trip was very much appreciated, she was very patient and detailed and professional in all her communication. She even informed us about the schedule of some museums that we wanted to visit and could not do on the days we had a guide for.

The activities booked all worked out as planned. The guides and drivers were not only on time, but in most cases early. I traveled most of the time alone with my 7-year-old, therefore having this service was reassuring. While there have been some minor communication errors between the guides, their bosses, the agency, mostly about the timing of the activities (somehow most of them had earlier times than us) , all the guides and drivers were very flexible, accommodating and understanding. All the guides had excellent English. The private rides were in very comfortable and clean cars, with working seat belts (not a given in any Colombian taxis :)), and nice chatty drivers (if you speak Spanish). We also liked that we had the same guide for our entire stay in one location.

Raffael, our walking tour guide in Cartagena was great in giving us the lay-out of the old city center and it's history. The chocolate making activity at the Chocolate Museum was very educational and fun for both my child and me. Our guide there (I believe Nelson) was fantastic. The day trip to Playa Azul was nice, but I have been to nicer and quieter beaches that didn't require a 45-minute speed boat ride to it, so unless you are desperate for beach time, you can skip this activity. With that being said, my 7-year-old loved it, and Cartagena is surrounded by water, so it would be a tease not to go to the beach while there.

Mauricio, our guide in the coffee region, was the most fantastic guide one could ask for. He clearly loves what he does and is very good at it. He is very passionate and knowledgeable about nature and everything in the region. He was fun, flexible, accommodating and an endless source of information. We LOVED our hike in Cocora Valley, a must for anyone going to Colombia. We did the entire hike (almost 14 km long), and our 7-year-old was fine with it. It is a quite difficult and treacherous hike though, so I only recommend it to those in good physical condition. You must ride in a Jeep to it, a Willy, if you don't mind some minor discomfort. We loved it! The valley is simply gorgeous. We really enjoyed the coffee farm tour and visiting some of the villages in the region the next day.

We spent two days in Bogota with our guide Sharon. She was very knowledgeable about the places we visited and accommodating for our needs. We went to the local market which was very colorful, but nothing unusual for a European. The trip up Monserrate is a must while in Bogota. The view is gorgeous. We went on a walking tour of the Candelaria neighborhood, the Gold Museum, and the emerald row. Sharon was great at explaining everything we needed to know and in recommending great places to eat. We also visited the Botero museum (on our own, as it was closed the day we had a guide), and I think it is a must see while in Bogota.

Overall Colombia is great destination. The food is excellent everywhere. We felt safe everywhere. Our trip was unforgettable, and that is thanks to KimKim and Jess. There is no way I would have been able to plan such a trip and get so much out of it in short 7 days, even if it wasn't last minute. My only wish is to make the pricing of the activities more transparent, activity by activity, so we can decide weather some are worth it for us or not. Thanks everyone!

We only booked a portion of our trip with Kimkim and overall it went well, but there were a few hiccups throughout that I thought would have been organized through the service. For instance, it said we had a coffee tour booked, but the hotel was unaware and there was no English tour guide. Also the driver we had to Medellin didn't know the address we were going to, despite me giving it to the service beforehand, meaning we had to turn the data on our phone.

Otherwise went smooth and all parties turned up on time! Our guide in the Cocora Valley was great.

We had a truly memorable trip to Colombia. Clearly there are some internal communication issues with the Logistics Department at Aventura Colombiana but Laura was very quick to initiate action to try to resolve situations as quickly as possible.

Two guides that really stand out are Alejandro who took us on a bird watching expedition. Very knowledgeable and personable. We had a great time. And Gian who took us on a really relaxed and interesting city tour in Cali. The biggest... read more

We had a truly memorable trip to Colombia. Clearly there are some internal communication issues with the Logistics Department at Aventura Colombiana but Laura was very quick to initiate action to try to resolve situations as quickly as possible.

Two guides that really stand out are Alejandro who took us on a bird watching expedition. Very knowledgeable and personable. We had a great time. And Gian who took us on a really relaxed and interesting city tour in Cali. The biggest disappointment was the guide for the Corcora Valley. He was due to meet us at the hotel at 8.30 but didn't show up. Eventually we caught up with him at 9.30am in Salento by which time no jeeps were available. Not only did we make a late start because his failure to be in the right place at the right time but he then cut short the tour which meant we had 4 instead of 6 hours.

Natalia was superb. I initially indicated there would be about 10 people traveling and ultimately there were 17. She did an excellent job of structuring an itinerary (consisting of Santa Marta- Zipaquira- Villa de Leyva-Bogota-Medellin-Guatape-El Penol- Santa Elena) to accommodate my requests. She graciously and quickly accommodated every change as needed. She did a terrific job of planning the trip, choosing the hotels, securing the airline tickets, acquiring all the subcontractors,... read more

Natalia was superb. I initially indicated there would be about 10 people traveling and ultimately there were 17. She did an excellent job of structuring an itinerary (consisting of Santa Marta- Zipaquira- Villa de Leyva-Bogota-Medellin-Guatape-El Penol- Santa Elena) to accommodate my requests. She graciously and quickly accommodated every change as needed. She did a terrific job of planning the trip, choosing the hotels, securing the airline tickets, acquiring all the subcontractors, responding to inquires, and making adjustments as needed 'on the go'. She was totally accessible, even responding to What'sApp texts on Sunday morning during the tour, and immediately interfacing with bus drivers when there was confusion about their location.

Her choice of subcontractors for guiding and transportation was excellent. All of the vehicles were new or nearly new, and had ample space for all passengers and luggage. The 6 personable guides were always on time, spoke excellent English, and had a immense grasp of the history, culture, and noteworthy information of the locations we visited.

KimKim's pricing was very fair. It's 5% surcharge became somewhat confusing from time to time, and it's payment system for payments from multiple guests was somewhat clunky, but we managed to get it straightened out quickly and completely before the trip even started.

In summary, I would gladly recommend KimKim and Natalia to anyone who wanted a great travel planner and booking agent in Colombia.

Nichols was an amazing guide. He was very knowledgeable, great communicator, available at all times via WhatsApp, Kimkim site email, and personal cell. It was our first time traveling to Colombia and relying on a local host to fully arrange a trip to Providencia gave us comfort and reduced our burden of researching and planning. We saved days by going with Kimkim and following Nicholas’s recommendation. Providencia was the most memorable part of our trip and every suggestion Nicholas made was... read more

Nichols was an amazing guide. He was very knowledgeable, great communicator, available at all times via WhatsApp, Kimkim site email, and personal cell. It was our first time traveling to Colombia and relying on a local host to fully arrange a trip to Providencia gave us comfort and reduced our burden of researching and planning. We saved days by going with Kimkim and following Nicholas’s recommendation. Providencia was the most memorable part of our trip and every suggestion Nicholas made was worth it. Kimkim team, especially Yoos, was very helpful. I got sick two days before our trip and contacted Nicholas and Yoos and both very extremely supportive and gave me several options including cancellation with full refund. Luckily I got better and made the trip. If you are looking for trust worthy, easy to work with, knowledgeable, deliver as promise group KimKim is the best.

The Kimkim team was great in helping me plan this trip. I would give Nicolas 10 stars. He was so attentive and responsive to all my questions. Everything was as planned. Thank you Nicolas for helping us with this amazing trip. All the guides were great, especially Melissa from Foodies and also Enrique from the tour to Boquilla. I can’t thank everyone enough.

Desiree

Our experience using KimKim to book our trip to Colombia was amazing. It saved us time and made our trip run smoothly and painless.

Sharon was our guide in Bogota and she was very knowledgeable and gave us great recommendations for things to do or places to eat after our tours were over. We really enjoyed the trip up to Monserrate and eating the delicious food in Paloquemao market.

Juan Carlos was our guide for 2 days in Medellin and we had a great time. He went above and beyond and... read more

Our experience using KimKim to book our trip to Colombia was amazing. It saved us time and made our trip run smoothly and painless.

Sharon was our guide in Bogota and she was very knowledgeable and gave us great recommendations for things to do or places to eat after our tours were over. We really enjoyed the trip up to Monserrate and eating the delicious food in Paloquemao market.

Juan Carlos was our guide for 2 days in Medellin and we had a great time. He went above and beyond and added in a few stops between our tours to show us more of the city.

In Cartagena we had a great guide who answered all our questions and even took us to a grocery store when we needed to grab a few items.

We are already set up with kimkim to book our next vacation to South Africa, we hope that we get the same great service we received from all the ladies in Colombia from kimkim.

We loved our trip to Colombia, it completely surpassed our expectations. The country and people are so warm and vibrant!

Nicolas helped us to build a great itinerary and he was available for us to contact in country. There were a few issues where information seemed to be lost between Nicolas and the tour providers on the ground, but everyone worked quickly to rectify them and ensure we had a great trip.

All of our guides were very knowledgeable, friendly and keen to ensure we experienced the best of Colombia.

Natalia did a wonderful job planning our trip to Colombia. She worked with me to ensure that I had the accommodations and tours that I wanted. We loved all our tour guides. Everyone was on time and super friendly. We loved our hikes, coffee tour, and bird watching. Thanks for a great trip!

Overall, we had a very nice trip. Nicolas prepared a diverse itinerary for us. We got to see a lot, although we all found the pace to be too rushed. My primary criticism is the car trip from Tayrona to Cartagena. We were told that the trip would take 4 hours but it took 7 hours due to heavy traffic.
I would recommend either flying to Cartagena or driving at night, if the roads are safe. As far as the guides, Jairo in Bogota was by far the best, due to his knowledge and enthusiasm. The... read more

Overall, we had a very nice trip. Nicolas prepared a diverse itinerary for us. We got to see a lot, although we all found the pace to be too rushed. My primary criticism is the car trip from Tayrona to Cartagena. We were told that the trip would take 4 hours but it took 7 hours due to heavy traffic.
I would recommend either flying to Cartagena or driving at night, if the roads are safe. As far as the guides, Jairo in Bogota was by far the best, due to his knowledge and enthusiasm. The guide in Bambusa was adequate and the guide in Cartagena was poor. The hotels were very nice- especially Bambusa, and Cartagena Sofitel. The setting of Los Naranjos in Tayrona was beautiful, but the meals were not very palatable. Bogota's EK Hotel, although very nice, charged for water, which left a bad taste in our mouth (no pun intended). Nicolas, although mostly responsive, did not receive our message that we were canceling trip to Rosario because we were too tired from long day of travel to Cartagena. He called us and woke us up early in the morning. Nor did the driver to the airport in Cartagena show up, so we had to order a taxi. We should be reimbursed for the boat excursion to Rosario. Overall, I would commend Nicolas for a job well done but urge him to take relaxation time into account when planning a trip.

While the planning process was quite smooth initially, at the last minute there appeared to be a rush to assemble information from us. Further, we did not received an updated itinerary to include hotel changes before we left on our trip.

But, those details aside, we had a great experience overall and an especially memorable experience with two of our local guides; namely Maria and Vivi. Their attention to detail, promptness and professionalism was outstanding.

Working with Brian and his colleagues was truly a great experience. Brian was very responsive from the start and provided great input. After my initial contact, Brian suggested a call to learn more about what we were looking for and to share with us what his company was about. We travel quite a bit and have used local guides for tours, but this was the first time that someone suggested a call to better understand the travel experience we were looking for. We wanted a more cultural... read more

Working with Brian and his colleagues was truly a great experience. Brian was very responsive from the start and provided great input. After my initial contact, Brian suggested a call to learn more about what we were looking for and to share with us what his company was about. We travel quite a bit and have used local guides for tours, but this was the first time that someone suggested a call to better understand the travel experience we were looking for. We wanted a more cultural experience vs just the usual tourist sites and we are so grateful for the experience we had with Brian and his colleagues. Brian and his team handled the logistics from start to finish.
We were a family of 11, including 4 children, traveling on a family vacation. We couldn't get enough of the delicious fruits at the local market with our lovely guide Ana and her husband Freddy. We then cooked dinner with Brian and his fiance at their place...what a treat. Added bonus was Freddy playing his cello after dinner. We were lucky enough to visit a couple of private homes and meet the amazing owner and her family in Santa Fe de Antioquia and visit a coffee farm that does not do public tours and can only be visited with Brian and his team. On our last day, we visited communa 1, which was led by the local artists in the neighborhood and had lunch at one of the local artist's home cooked by his mom. It was truly a special moment to have met these amazing people with their inspiring stories. We very much enjoyed talking to our guide Diego as well as his story started off in a neighborhood similar to communa 1 and his journey that took him from Medellin to US and now back to Medellin.

From reading the review, one would think our trip went without any glitches. However, on our 2nd day in Medellin, the glass shower door broke while my niece was in the shower and cut her right foot deep enough to cut a couple of tendons requiring an emergency surgery in Medellin. As unfortunate as this situation was, we were very grateful that if it had to happen, it happened in Medellin where there was good medical care and Brian and his team along with the staff at the hotel were just amazing in the care they gave us. The hotel had someone Spanish/English speaking with my niece and brother-in-law the whole time at the hospital and must have pulled some strings as they were able to operate on my niece's foot the same day.

Overall, we feel very lucky to have visited this very special place and very lucky to have found Brian and his team for our journey.

We just returned from our family 8 day vacation to Colombia. Jules, our specialist, helped us plan, organize and get ready for our trip. He was also available during our trip to answer questions along the way. This was so helpful.
Once we got to Colombia we had a great driver, Evan and a wonderful guide, Fabian. Fabian was an energetic, personable guide and great with our kids. He took our 10 year old son all over the beach, climbing rocks and exploring the shore. We enjoyed his genuine positive attitude.
We also enjoyed our beach time, river float and the sunset cruise!

Natalia at kimkim helped us with our 8 day Columbia itinerary,
that consisted of 3 days at Tayrona National Park, 2 days at Cartegena, and 3 days at Salento.
All hotels, activities, and ground transportation was arranged by Natalia.
Everything went perfect. Drivers were always on time and helpful. The hotels, while not very expensive, were perfect. (Boutique hotels that were perfect value for money).
We were especially impressed with the guides for our Cocora valley hike (full loop at 7 hours) and Tayrona hike (9 hours). Overall, we were very happy with the value we received.

Overall a great experience, we really enjoyed Colombia. We were in Bogotá, Medellin and Cartagena and they all were worth the visit. We had very good guides in Bogotá and I think we should have stayed longer. Our guide in Medellin (day trip to Guatapé) was really good too, he really was engaging. If I were to do it again I would arrange more guided trips with kimkim in Medellin. The last guide we had was in Cartagena and a tour of the city, our guide here was not the best guide, while... read more

Overall a great experience, we really enjoyed Colombia. We were in Bogotá, Medellin and Cartagena and they all were worth the visit. We had very good guides in Bogotá and I think we should have stayed longer. Our guide in Medellin (day trip to Guatapé) was really good too, he really was engaging. If I were to do it again I would arrange more guided trips with kimkim in Medellin. The last guide we had was in Cartagena and a tour of the city, our guide here was not the best guide, while she was personable, her English was hard to understand and she spoke very softly making it almost impossible in the city to hear what was being said.

Our transfers were always extremely professional, on time with only the best and most comfortable transportation for our family. I will travel again using kimkim to help me make the arrangements. I would highly recommend Colombia to other families. My kids are aged 8, 10 and 12 and together with my wife we had the family adventure that we wanted.

Jess was very helpful in planning the trip and made all the changes we wanted. Laura took over and was super helpful when we needed to make a couple of changes part way through the trip. She was quickly responsive over What's App which made it much easier for me to communicate with her than through email. At one point we needed to go to the hospital and Laura arranged private transport for us at the last minute from Taganga to Cartagena and found out hospital recommendations for us which was... read more

Jess was very helpful in planning the trip and made all the changes we wanted. Laura took over and was super helpful when we needed to make a couple of changes part way through the trip. She was quickly responsive over What's App which made it much easier for me to communicate with her than through email. At one point we needed to go to the hospital and Laura arranged private transport for us at the last minute from Taganga to Cartagena and found out hospital recommendations for us which was very helpful, especially when we were stressed out about the situation.

Rio Claro was terrific, we loved everything about it. The activities there were also crazy cheap (like 8 USD to go rafting!)

The Los Nevados Trek was beautiful and incredible. Highly recommend this trek. I would not recommend the guide that we got though. He was nice enough but didn't interact with us much and was not a great guide. He didn't bring very good food, had a water filter that was not appropriate for group use (small in-line water filter for himself), and told us the water was fine to drink "because it didn't look that dirty." (even though he was filtering his own water and the other guides for other groups were like "do NOT drink the tap water! It's definitely not safe to drink!" We were fairly cold at night. I would have liked to bring my own water filter and a sleeping bag in hind sight. (I was told we didn't need them.) Also, there was an error with the pick up for the trek in the morning. We were told 10 am by the travel agent and got picked up at 5 am by the guide. (Something to work out for the future.)

The transportation arrangements were invaluable with private transport.

We had a fantastic trip to Colombia over the 2018 winter holiday break. For a family of four, Nathalie Clavet helped personalize and customize our Colombia trip experience and provided a multitude of options for us to select from as we were in the planning stages. While in Colombia, Nathalie and her colleague, Mathilde, took care of us, checking in and were available to help us with any additional questions. Thank you Nathalie! My family and I really had a memorable time in Colombia and we can't wait to visit again!

A very good trip. Tatiana and Pablo were great guides and we all enjoyed the places we were at. Favorites were Bogota and Salento. Great food and lots of fun.
Just a few hiccups, not unexpected in South America.
Some suggestions for future travelers around Christmastime.
Do Salento on the 24th and Christmas Day. Everything is open there.
Do the coffee farm in Salento on one of the days instead of Cocondo. Too many bugs at Cocondo. We all got eaten up despite the repellent.
Don't do Medellin on the 24th. Everything is closed.
Thanks.
Ezra

Our trip to Colombia took me and my husband to Bogota, Salento, Cocora Valley, Tayrona National Park, and Cartagena. I think what was most striking to us was the multitude of landscapes that exist within the country - mountains, valleys, beaches, tropical forests - it was all very beautiful and steeped in a tradition of ceremony, sustainability, and conservation. We were also impressed with the knowledge of our guides and the variety of their subject matter expertise. One was a world-traveled... read more

Our trip to Colombia took me and my husband to Bogota, Salento, Cocora Valley, Tayrona National Park, and Cartagena. I think what was most striking to us was the multitude of landscapes that exist within the country - mountains, valleys, beaches, tropical forests - it was all very beautiful and steeped in a tradition of ceremony, sustainability, and conservation. We were also impressed with the knowledge of our guides and the variety of their subject matter expertise. One was a world-traveled artist (Camilo in Bogota) who was able to give us a deep, immersive lesson on the famous street graffiti, Botero, gold craftsmanship, along with a brief history on the origins and expansion of the city. Christian, an extroverted and boisterous botanist, was our guide in Salento and Cocora Valley. He knew everyone. And vice versa. We learned a lot about Willys, wax palms, coffee, and Tejo under his watch - he was an attentive guide, ensuring that we were well taken care of...and entertained! Jose was our trusty and tireless guide through the depths of the jungles of Tayrona National Park. He led us to Pueblito one day and the playas the next, providing a history of the pre-Colombus indigenous people and pointing out monkeys, caimans, and sacred rocks without breaking a sweat. In Cartagena, Rafa took us inside the minds of the engineers and architects, pointing out the strategy behind the construction of the fort and the wall. He also took us through the Old City neighborhoods, giving us a brief overview of of the plazas - and advice on where we should eat and shop. That said, our only negative experience was with the boat trip that was arranged in Cartagena. Our itinerary promised we'd be "treated to a boat around the Islas del Rosario...Aboard this boat you'll visit 3 beaches, in some top-secret locations that the day-tripper crowds have not heard about (nor are they likely to)." Instead, we were jammed onto a boat with 40 other people and taken to Bendita Beach about an hour away. The boats anchored off of the beach ensured that we sucked in gas fumes all day. Trying to redeem the day, we signed up for a snorkeling trip, which again was super crowded and the guides kept yelling at us to hurry up as we swam through the reefs. This was not a tour, nor was it 3 beaches, and it was anything but top-secret. We were very disappointed in the huge disparity between what was described and what we experienced and wonder how it happened and who benefitted off of our misfortune. We will never get that day back.

Nathalie was incredible, she knew exactly what my husband and I were looking for and designed the perfect trip for us in Colombia! She passed the "baton" to Mathilde during the holidays and it was totally flawless. The tour guides were all different in their own ways which gave us an interesting flavor of the culture and the hotels were perfectly located, in the heart of the city and in safe neighborhoods. The people we met during our journey were very kind and very sweet and I believe that a big part comes back to Nathalie, Mathilde and her organization. Bravo!

This was our first experience in Colombia and with KimKim. We worked with Nicolas while before our trip and he was very prompt and accurate in providing the detail level of information as well as customizing the entire trip for us.

The entire trip went very flawless and smooth as planned and committed. One thing to consider and be patient with is that there are several companies involved in the service chain including the KimKim, their domestic office, their local agent and their... read more

This was our first experience in Colombia and with KimKim. We worked with Nicolas while before our trip and he was very prompt and accurate in providing the detail level of information as well as customizing the entire trip for us.

The entire trip went very flawless and smooth as planned and committed. One thing to consider and be patient with is that there are several companies involved in the service chain including the KimKim, their domestic office, their local agent and their subcontractor which might make it a bit complicated but they planned all well. For example the driver picked us up on time from airport however he did not know the person who we had made the reservations, but everything went great.
The driver Anderson in charge of all transportation for the entire trip was fantastic, although he did speak almost none to minimum English, made every attempt to understand us and specially my limited Spanish.

The Coffee farm tour at Santiago's farm was amazing, the tour, lunch and their hospitality was amazing. Also the Cocora Valley and Finlandia tour guide Alberto was extremely knowledgeable and great company for the entire day.

Overall we were very pleased with the tour and highly recommend KimKIm company for Colombia and Zonacafetera visit.

At the end thank you Nicolas for this wonderful memory and experience.

Thanks
Greg G

Overall we had a really good trip. We were greeted at airport by Daniel, who was sweet, engaging and very knowledgeable. His English was quite good and he was very informative, sharing personal insights on history and culture. We never felt threatened or unsafe on the trip - we're also assuming that the second man who accompanied us during our first afternoon tour, and did not speak English, was there for security! Our lodging at Casa Canabal was very comfortable and very accommodating -... read more

Overall we had a really good trip. We were greeted at airport by Daniel, who was sweet, engaging and very knowledgeable. His English was quite good and he was very informative, sharing personal insights on history and culture. We never felt threatened or unsafe on the trip - we're also assuming that the second man who accompanied us during our first afternoon tour, and did not speak English, was there for security! Our lodging at Casa Canabal was very comfortable and very accommodating - though the rooms are small and have no windows. A very creative lighting system in the walls, however, gives the semblance of outdoor lighting and ended up being fine. Breakfasts were good and the waiters were wonderful and very friendly. I would suggest that the hotel have towels available at the pool.
We enjoyed the cooking class the second day with Sandra and Ellie. The trip to the market was eye-opening and truly a cultural experience. Visitors should be forewarned, however, not to wear nice shoes! We made ceviche, guacamole, fried plantains, salad, fried fish, coconut rice and passion fruit panna cotta - all delicious!! Sandra was engaging and very interactive - teaching us new skills and lots about Columbia.
We had been told in our tour itinerary that we would be going to Playa Azul in the Rosario Islands and getting there by private speed boat. We were surprised and a bit confused when we arrived at the dock, and amidst a large and equally confused crowd of tourists, found out we were going to Bendita Beach on a speed boat with 30 other tourists. No one spoke English, other than the other tourists, so all the safety and general information given once we got on the boat was entirely in Spanish - not very helpful OR safe! Once we got to the beach, we were pretty disappointed with the number of people there (masses) and being "herded" to the lineup of beach chairs which weren't very comfortable. All activities were pretty haphazard - again, because English was limited and there were so many people. The lunch was good. I'm not sure we would have gone if we had known it would have been so crowded and uncomfortable - it certainly wasn't very relaxing and not what had been depicted and described in our itinerary. There certainly wasn't any place to go walk and "explore the island" and no one was around to talk about the flora and fauna.
All transfers were very good and on time. Our driver to the Tayrona region was excellent - Jorge was a wonderful driver and spoke relatively good English. Our lodging at La Mer de Bien was lovely - though we didn't we didn't realize we were staying there until we read the fine print itinerary (it wasn't the lodging listed in the larger itinerary which was actually quite a bit closer to the park). We loved La Mer de Bien - and Sergio and Diana couldn't have been lovelier hosts. Food was delicious and they were very accommodating making us sandwiches to take with us with our pre-breakfast early departure. Tour of Tayrona and the Victoria Coffee plantation in Minca with José were great. At Tayrona we had a great hike and saw monkeys and lizards. The afternoon at the beach was terrific. The tour at the coffee plantation was incredibly interesting and very well done. Again, visitors should be forewarned about the bumpy road from Minca to the plantation! We were fine, but our driver seemed worried in the van he was driving - especially since the road is so narrow and there was definitely traffic going both ways. Overall - a great trip and we very much enjoyed seeing this part of Columbia. We felt the country has done an amazing job making visitors feel welcome and safe.

We loved all three hotels. BOG hotel was excellent, had a wonderful breakfast and great service and was walking distance to restaurants. Great location.
Allure Chocolate is a wonderful hotel in a wonderful location. Service was great. The rooms are a bit on the small side but still a wonderful choice.
Las Islas is a dream resort. It’s very new so still has a few problems which I am sure will be fixed. We had an amazing time there.
The transportation everywhere was great! Drivers were always... read more

We loved all three hotels. BOG hotel was excellent, had a wonderful breakfast and great service and was walking distance to restaurants. Great location.
Allure Chocolate is a wonderful hotel in a wonderful location. Service was great. The rooms are a bit on the small side but still a wonderful choice.
Las Islas is a dream resort. It’s very new so still has a few problems which I am sure will be fixed. We had an amazing time there.
The transportation everywhere was great! Drivers were always nice and the buses or vans were great. Apart from one problem where the driver didn’t know our flight got moved to an earlier time and wasn’t at the airport when we landed all of them were on time.
The only problem we had was the guide in Bogota who despite being a very nice person was very unprofessional , didn’t know the facts and gave us both days disappointing tours.
We can highly recommend a tour we booked ourselves in Cartagena with Experience Real Cartagena- Alex Rocha. His son Chris took us to a tour of Cartagena and a day later Palenque. It was amazing!!!!
Mathilde was always available on WhatsApp and always very helpful and so was NathLie who helped us with booking a restaurant in Bogota. Thank you all, we loved Colombia.

Had great time in Colombia! Trip was very well organized by Lisa! Thanks!

Sharon in Bogota was amazing, as was David in Perreira.
Lovato in Medellin did a great job.
Dency in Cartagena lived up to her name (meaning "Dignified , explorer, powerful, happy, beautiful.")

We learned so much from each of the guides and enjoyed the various day trips and tours.

The wax palms hike and Penon of Guatape got us out into the countryside and were good physical challenges for me.
Loved the Cathedral of Salt, which was my "add" to the itinerary.
The coffee plantation visit was... read more

Sharon in Bogota was amazing, as was David in Perreira.
Lovato in Medellin did a great job.
Dency in Cartagena lived up to her name (meaning "Dignified , explorer, powerful, happy, beautiful.")

We learned so much from each of the guides and enjoyed the various day trips and tours.

The wax palms hike and Penon of Guatape got us out into the countryside and were good physical challenges for me.
Loved the Cathedral of Salt, which was my "add" to the itinerary.
The coffee plantation visit was amazing.
Really, a great trip and filled with surprises for me, since my daughter did most of the itinerary planning with Nathalie.

Thank you Nicolás for planning our trip on short notice and being so responsive to our questions! We had a great time and things went smoothly - from our transfers to our accomodations and our guides. We especially liked our accomodations in Cartagena and Tayrona. Our guides were also wonderful, particularly Jairo in Bogotá. He was very flexible and knew a great deal. I can't recommend him enough!

Miguel was a very competent careful driver. The driving part of the trip was longer and tougher than expected - 9 hours day 2, 7 hours day 3, 6 hours day 4. There was a lot of extreme poverty with many beggars requesting water and rice because they were so hungry. The main sites to visit were nice enough but the scenery along the way much less interesting than I had imagined. Taroa dunes beach is lovely. Places we stayed at understandably very primitive. Food monotonous but we did not... read more

Miguel was a very competent careful driver. The driving part of the trip was longer and tougher than expected - 9 hours day 2, 7 hours day 3, 6 hours day 4. There was a lot of extreme poverty with many beggars requesting water and rice because they were so hungry. The main sites to visit were nice enough but the scenery along the way much less interesting than I had imagined. Taroa dunes beach is lovely. Places we stayed at understandably very primitive. Food monotonous but we did not get sick.
We very much enjoyed the boat trip in camarones. Carlos, our boatman and guide was well informed and we saw many flamingos and red ibis. Learned about Wayuu which interested me. Would NOT recommend trip to others unless they have some real reason to be interested in area.

The full trip was awesome the guides very well ínformed and puntual and very helpfull. Every activity was memorable.

We had a really excellent experience in Colombia, and with KimKim in particular. One thing we appreciated immediately was that our drivers were always punctual and pleasant, and their vehicles were in great shape. We started off in Bogota and had a wonderful bike tour led by Daniel Felipe. We were particularly interested in street art, and it turns out he is a street artist himself, so it was a perfect match. The next day we had an equally great tour to Monserrate led by Sharon. We then... read more

We had a really excellent experience in Colombia, and with KimKim in particular. One thing we appreciated immediately was that our drivers were always punctual and pleasant, and their vehicles were in great shape. We started off in Bogota and had a wonderful bike tour led by Daniel Felipe. We were particularly interested in street art, and it turns out he is a street artist himself, so it was a perfect match. The next day we had an equally great tour to Monserrate led by Sharon. We then flew to Salento (in the coffee-growing region), which was the highlight of our trip. We stayed at Reserva el Cairo, which we can't recommend highly enough. We spent 2 full days there. On the first, we did a mountain bike tour of the wax palms through Salento Cycling (not through Kimkim), which was absolutely fabulous. The next day we had our best tour ever (provided by Kimkim), which was a tour of several local towns with our guide David. We learned to grow and prepare coffee, saw incredible beauty, and hung out in some really gorgeous (non-touristy) little towns. Loved it! The last part of our trip was in Cartagena. This was not our favorite, due to the heat, multitude of tourists, and extremely obvious income inequality. However, we recognize that many people really enjoy the hot coastal environment and that our going there and not loving it was predictable. We did, however, learn a lot about the history of the place, and really enjoyed our tour with Nestor despite our cutting it a bit short due to our discomfort in the heat. It was a relief for us to get back to Bogota, where we all agreed we could spend a lot more time. Overall, we loved Colombia and feel like we want to come back, spending more time in Bogota, the coffee region, and other areas that we haven't visited yet. I also was very pleased with KimKim's services, which were exactly what we needed and perfectly executed.

We loved our trip to Estación Corcornan. We enjoyed birds, monkeys, hippos, waterfalls and life on the river - all without a single other tourist or boat in sight! Our guides Ana and Victor were awesome and super knowledgeable about the area. Victor knew all the birds, frogs, and wildlife in general and even some of the tree species. I asked for a bird guide (I am a birder) and I definitely got someone who knew his stuff!

The trip felt very authentic and we enjoyed living like locals and eating traditional foods. Highly recommended and thanks so much for all the arrangements!

Nathalie organised a wonderful trip for us. She was very responsive and everything was organised perfectly. We were very happy with all of the hotels, guides and activities. Nathalie called us at the beginning and end of the trip to make sure everything was ok so it was a very personalised experience. We loved Colombia, especially our time in the Amazon and will definitely go back.

I had a wonderful trip from start to finish. Lisa was the BEST travel agent in assisting me in organising my wonderful trip to Colombia who has also turned into a wonderful friend. She was very patient and accepting of all the changes, questions, additions that I had in organising my holiday and I would highly recommend her to anyone who wished to book their travels to Colombia. I would personally like to recommend and thank German in Medellin and Carlos in Salento for being wonderful... read more

I had a wonderful trip from start to finish. Lisa was the BEST travel agent in assisting me in organising my wonderful trip to Colombia who has also turned into a wonderful friend. She was very patient and accepting of all the changes, questions, additions that I had in organising my holiday and I would highly recommend her to anyone who wished to book their travels to Colombia. I would personally like to recommend and thank German in Medellin and Carlos in Salento for being wonderful people and being so passionate about their country and being wonderful tour guides during my visit. The places I stayed in Colombia I think made my trip that much more special as I stayed mostly at little B&B type places that had a more personal and local touch. I loved especially my stays in Santa Marta (Casa Verde) and Salento (Posada del Cafe) which had such a unique and wonderfully local touch to them with the loveliest people running them. I couldn't recommend Kim Kim highly enough for my trip through Colombia. It was the first time I have every used the company so I was a bit apprehensive at first but I could not fault the service at all. Everyone I came into contact with were so genuinely nice and friendly and all the guides very knowledgeable and fun. Thank you for a wonderful holiday and thank you Lisa for putting it all together for me and for being a loveliest person to deal with throughout my booking with Kim Kim! I can't thank you all enough. I loved every single minute of my time in Colombia.

Many months in planning with Aventura Colombia’s wonderful adviser Elisabeth, paid off on my very memorable trip to Colombia. A special thank you and shout out to to my local guides (Juan in Bogota, Maria in Villa de Leyva, Oswaldo and Camila in Barichara, German in Medellin, and Sergio and Manuel in Cartagena) who made each city personally come alive. Some of the infinite highlights: Bogota’s La Candelaria district cobblestones, colorful and lovely historical Colonial-era buildings. Villa... read more

Many months in planning with Aventura Colombia’s wonderful adviser Elisabeth, paid off on my very memorable trip to Colombia. A special thank you and shout out to to my local guides (Juan in Bogota, Maria in Villa de Leyva, Oswaldo and Camila in Barichara, German in Medellin, and Sergio and Manuel in Cartagena) who made each city personally come alive. Some of the infinite highlights: Bogota’s La Candelaria district cobblestones, colorful and lovely historical Colonial-era buildings. Villa de Leyva’s magnificent square which is truly UNESCO World Heritage worthy, and the bike ride which was such an interesting way to see the countryside. The almost movie-set look of Barichara, and the challenging but beautiful hike to Villanueva showcasing the magnificent vista out the Rio Suarez valley. Spectacular, and cosmopolitan Medellin nestled in a giant “U” against the two mountain ranges, with its marvelous transportation system replete with cable cars and happy vibe. And finally Cartagena, which is truly a jewel of the Caribbean, enhanced by a stay at most perfect hotel in the middle of the cobblestoned Colonial-era mansion-filled walled city. I can't speak highly enough about Elisabeth and the entire Aventura Colombia's follow up, which made me feel that they really cared about me as a customer and a person. Hasta luego Colombia--I'd return in a heartbeat!

We visited Colombia in August and traveled through Jardin, Salamina and Cartagena. Our travel specialist Lisa Calabrese, did an outstanding job in arranging everything including transfers between the towns, tours and our choice of hotels. We were looked after every step of the way right from the booking. Initially I wasn't sure which places I wanted to visit but Lisa helped me through and after week or two we finalised an itinerary. Lisa always answered my query promptly.
We even got to meet her in Medellin. I will certainly book more tours through her.

My cousin and I booked our trip through kimkim and I could not have been more pleased! Lisa, was our specialist, created our itinerary, took care of us, and tackled any concerns that we had. We had expert tour guides with us on several excursions that made all the difference. I felt completely safe and was able to have a stress-free experience in Colombia. Our trip was truly memorable!

Tayrona National Park was amazing we were able to see lots of monkeys and other wild life. Our... read more

My cousin and I booked our trip through kimkim and I could not have been more pleased! Lisa, was our specialist, created our itinerary, took care of us, and tackled any concerns that we had. We had expert tour guides with us on several excursions that made all the difference. I felt completely safe and was able to have a stress-free experience in Colombia. Our trip was truly memorable!

Tayrona National Park was amazing we were able to see lots of monkeys and other wild life. Our guide, Jaruen, was really stealthy at finding all kinds of creatures. He came equipped with a laser pointer so we were able to easily spot, what would have been camouflaged animals and birds, with ease. I think other people on the hiking trail were jealous. Our guide also held our table at the restaurant once we made it to the beach-which was really helpful because the line for lunch became soooo long! My cousin and I were able to just walk right in. At this point, YES, the other hikers were definitely jealous! Bug spray is a must.

In Santa Marta, I highly recommend Lulo Cafe Bar for a FABULOUS cocktail and great service! Lots of great restaurants on the same street as well. Also some fun street entertainment on the street and at the square-it’s the teenage boys dancing that steals the show! It was also waaaay nicer as far as restaurants go than at the lackluster beach so stick to the square! Bug spray is a must if you are eating outside.

Our day trip to Minca for waterfalls and a coffee bean farm tour had a great guide named, Fidel. He was very knowledgeable about birds and wildlife in this area. My cousin and I swear that we thought we were following Mowgli into the Jungle! He really knew his stuff and LIVED this lifestyle. He took us to several waterfalls and was able to identify all kinds of amazing humming birds. The best part was that he took us to an authentic roadside “barbeque”. They had a huge, open brick oven with slabs of meat roasting in it. My guess is whatever animal was in there was alive not too long before we ate it. I have no idea what I ate exactly, but it was good! Great views of the mountain side too! Bug spray is, again, a must.

Our hotel in Cartagena was very nice and smack in between the old town and Getsimani so it was easy to mix it up within the city walls as far as exploring goes. Carlos, the guy who seemed to run the show at breakfast, was extremely personable! He showed us all the different native fruits as well as how they made coffee- taught me some Spanish as well! Carlos went above and beyond because he really didn't have to do any of those things for us- the breakfast was excellent as it was!

Our Cartagena city tour guide, Sergio, was also very friendly and informative. He had lots of insight into the history, and architecture of the city, as well as some current events and also what I felt was "insider" information! We found the BEST local artist-and both my cousin and I had been looking the whole trip- thanks to Sergio! The artist’s name is Fini. I really am impressed by her artwork and I’m currently in the process of getting it framed! Can’t wait to put it up!

We went to Casa del Farol at the Rosario Islands for a day of snorkeling and relaxation. The snorkeling was really surprisingly good considering that the weather was overcast. There was a lot of colorful coral, and seriously amazing fish! Lunch, as most every meal of our trip, was excellent. My only complaint is that the day was too short!

Overall, this was an amazing, exciting, bucket-list type of trip! Thank you, Lisa and kimkim!

Lisa was instrumental to the success of our trip. I would recommend to anyone interested in visiting Colombia for the first time or a repeat visit to book. I felt safe, informed, guided and assured. The guides were friendly and helpful and Lisa was able to track me thought the entirety of our trip.

Hi Juan, Sorry I have not been able to write a review before but I came back to a great pile of work with a deadline and I don’t like to miss deadlines and then I have been in hospital for an operation on my leg. Anyway now I have some time to devote to some feedback for you. The tour was great we only have few pointers to help with improvement :
1) I think it would help all travellers to have their internal flights, times, flight numbers and booking references would be really useful. We... read more

Hi Juan, Sorry I have not been able to write a review before but I came back to a great pile of work with a deadline and I don’t like to miss deadlines and then I have been in hospital for an operation on my leg. Anyway now I have some time to devote to some feedback for you. The tour was great we only have few pointers to help with improvement :
1) I think it would help all travellers to have their internal flights, times, flight numbers and booking references would be really useful. We have never done a tour before where we haven’t had those in advance of the trip.
2) It would be great if travellers attention could be drawn to last minute hotel changes. Our hotels in both Villa de Leyva and Medellin were changed and yes you did let us know but only in the small print in the tour schedule and contacts document it wasn’t on the trip plan. And some of the guides were not aware of the changes.
3) It would be good if the guides/ drivers knew where the hotel was we had 4 instances where the guides didn’t know. It all worked out in the end but it would have been easier for them all round if they had had better information or admitted they didn’t know and got more information.

Casa platypus in Bogotá was a really nice hotel,rooms were small and a little noisy but a great location and really pleasant. The guide in Bogotá and Villa de Leyva, German was very knowledgeable and good company.

The tour to Zipaquirá was excellent and the tour around Villa de Leyva was very good and had extra things added in.

The hotel in Villa de Leyva, Plazuela de San Augustin was excellent. Lovely room, great location and excellent breakfast.

The Hotel in Salento, the Salento Real was in a great location and was very pleasant with an excellent breakfast buffet. The driver from the airport, Alex was very good if a little confused as to where we were going.
The coffee tour in Salento / cocoa valley was excellent and far exceeded our expectations. Hilary was an excellent guide and made the experience both fun and interesting.
Dawhyni was an excellent guide for our walk in the coccora valley, he was very knowledgable about birds and animals and the surroundings and the walk was really lovely. He gave us excellent restaurant recommendations too.
The Hacinda Venezia was really beautiful and a wonderful place to stay. The guide to the PNN, Milton was again very knowledgable and a fantastic guide. The tour was amazing and a real highlight of the holiday.
The Hotel in Medellin was really very nice and in a really good location. The staff were very helpful although very worried about you going anywhere on your own. We were really dubious about the two tours we were doing in Medellin but they both turned out to be great. Thank you so much for your advice. Carlos Palau was quite a character and the guide who took us on the innovations tour, whose name escapes me right now, was really enthusiastic and knowledgable about architecture and social improvement.
Villa Maria in Tayrona was againa beautiful hotel with amazing food and really friendly staff. The walking trails within the hotel once you found them were really nice if a little tricky to follow and the food here was absolutely excellent.
We loved the walk with the guide Jaruen to Pueblito. He was really knowledgable about birds and history and knew some lovely secret beaches.
Hotel Alfiz in Cartegna was delightful and in an excellent location. The tour of Cartegna was really good the guide had very good historical knowledge.

Thank you very much for organising the tour and making all the suggestions that you did
Regards
Carol lewis

We had a busy visit to Colombia and just time for a day's birding from Medellin. We were put in touch with Juan Ortiz who was great. He made some great suggestions but told us frankly what was going to work with our flights, and what no. In the end we went birding in two parks above Medellin with Ivan Lau. It was a great day, we saw 50 different species of bird and Ivan was incredibly knowledgeable and patient.

What especially impressed me is that Juan and Ivan offered us more... read more

We had a busy visit to Colombia and just time for a day's birding from Medellin. We were put in touch with Juan Ortiz who was great. He made some great suggestions but told us frankly what was going to work with our flights, and what no. In the end we went birding in two parks above Medellin with Ivan Lau. It was a great day, we saw 50 different species of bird and Ivan was incredibly knowledgeable and patient.

What especially impressed me is that Juan and Ivan offered us more experiences than we had the time or energy for, all including in the price. They are real enthusiasts. And I learned a lot about the culture and history of Venezuela and Colombia during the day.

Very happy,
Stephen and Mary

The trip was fabulous. the guide (Alejandro Pinto) was superb. He has excellent knowledge of the local birds and was happy and helpful throughout despite being ill. The most memorable part was staying in Tatama. An excellent place. Good food and great hospitality.

The Colombian Project’s Eastern, Central, and Western Andean Ranges and Valleys 16-day tour exceeded my expectations! We visited a variety of birding areas, so the tour was a great introduction and sampling of the birds and birding in Colombia. Our bird guide, Alejandro, was energetic, enthusiastic, and located many hard to find birds.
I enjoyed dining at a variety of establishments, many of which included local fare, and staying in a variety of accommodation types, all of which were... read more

The Colombian Project’s Eastern, Central, and Western Andean Ranges and Valleys 16-day tour exceeded my expectations! We visited a variety of birding areas, so the tour was a great introduction and sampling of the birds and birding in Colombia. Our bird guide, Alejandro, was energetic, enthusiastic, and located many hard to find birds.
I enjoyed dining at a variety of establishments, many of which included local fare, and staying in a variety of accommodation types, all of which were clean and comfortable. Although there were a couple of long rides in between destinations, the large and comfortable van with big windows allowed for great viewing of the beautiful landscapes along the way.
I’m an avid birder and traveler, and this is one of my top experiences thus far - thanks to the Colombian Project’s planning, experience, and personnel!

Overall a great experience with very sociable and helpful guide, Aljandro really knows his birds.
I would have preferred to see more owls, nightjars and raptors but the forrest birds made for a superb trip.
Tx again KimKim

Lisa from Adventure Colombia was fantastic as our travel coordinator and advisor to the coffee region of Colombia. We flew from Cartagena to the city of Pereira where we were met by a private driver and van for the ride to Salento. Lisa had made reservations for us at the best hotel in right in the heart of the town. We were met by David our tour guide the next morning for a fantastic day of hiking in the Cocora Valley and touring OcaSa Coffee Farm. David has fantastic knowledge of the... read more

Lisa from Adventure Colombia was fantastic as our travel coordinator and advisor to the coffee region of Colombia. We flew from Cartagena to the city of Pereira where we were met by a private driver and van for the ride to Salento. Lisa had made reservations for us at the best hotel in right in the heart of the town. We were met by David our tour guide the next morning for a fantastic day of hiking in the Cocora Valley and touring OcaSa Coffee Farm. David has fantastic knowledge of the region and was extremely accommodating and enjoyable to be with.

Lisa also provided us with great information and ideas for our time in Cartagena, Bogota and Villa de Leyva.

Colombia is a beautiful country to visit. We felt safe everywhere we went and hotels, meals etc are extremely affordable when compared to traveling in Europe or the States. Although we do not speak much Spanish we found that many people had some English language skills.

KimKim and Aventure Colombia really did a great job in making our trip so fantastic.

David, Jan, Ryan and Lauren

Overall, this was a rewarding trip, however, not without some issues. In general, too much time was spent traveling from place to place, especially with some of the long car rides for activities that were only a few hours in length. EVERY flight we took on Avianca experienced delays, significant delays or cancelation. By and large, our guides were excellent, except for our experience on Day 2 going to Chingaza (see below). No events / activities were planned for any of the evenings and it... read more

Overall, this was a rewarding trip, however, not without some issues. In general, too much time was spent traveling from place to place, especially with some of the long car rides for activities that were only a few hours in length. EVERY flight we took on Avianca experienced delays, significant delays or cancelation. By and large, our guides were excellent, except for our experience on Day 2 going to Chingaza (see below). No events / activities were planned for any of the evenings and it might have been nice if we had been able to attend some sort of cultural event or to be directed to a special restaurant. Some specific comments follow:

Day 1- Edgar met us at the Hotel just as the World Cup match ended with Colombia's victory. He was excellent. He took us around the park nearby, to a Sunday craft market, and he made several good dining suggestions. He was also our guide on Day 3 which was also an excellent tour of places in Bogota. At our request, he brought us to the main food and flower market and introduced us to numerous indigenous fruits. In retrospect, we should have flown to Pereida at the end of Day 3 to give us more time in coffee country.

Day 2 - Chingaza was interesting but not worth the long trip. We met our guide in La Calera but the vehicle was not large enough for all the passengers. At the park, it was cold, raining, windy and at high altitude. We needed extra layers of clothing and waterproof footwear. Our guide was completely immersed in her discussion of the surrounding environment, would not stop talking for the entire time we were with her and didn't properly assess my wife's level of discomfort and desire to return. The park was interesting but I think it likely that there may have been other activities near Bogota that would have be more interesting.

Day 4 - By far the best day of the trip. The visit to the coffee farm was without a doubt the highlight of the trip. We very much liked our guide, Juan.
Day 5 - Salento and the Cocora Vally hike were nice but we needed to end early to fly to Medellin. Worst day of travel on the entire trip. No direct flights on Avianca so we needed return to Bogota. Our first connecting flight was cancelled and the later flight was 2 hours delayed. In all, it took us 8 hours. It would have faster to drive and even faster to fly on EasyFly direct in 1 hour.

Day 6 - Medellin, we had a nice morning touring Medellin but it probably should have been the entire day. We did not see as much as we would have liked. Then we spent two hours driving to Guatape, a beautiful town with some stops along the way. Unfortunately, we arrived in Guatape late in the day and during a rain downpour and were not able to walk around much. The visit to the town should be been the priority of the trip, not the side stops. Long drive back resulted in a very late dinner.

Day 7 - Rafting. The trip itself was great and worthwhile but our departure from Medellin should have been earlier, not 11am. Consequently, we didn't get back to Medellin until it was almost too late to go out to dinner.
Day 8 - Cartagena. Excellent day touring the City with Richard.
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Day 9 - Isla del Encanto. Two problems. 1) We were not instructed to bring towels and I had to rent them for 60,000 COP. 2) The guides explained the set up of the resort to all the passengers in Spanish on the boat before docking. After docking, they repeated the explanation to a group in English. It was a busy day (national holiday). By the time they finished us giving information about the resort, more boats had docked and every cabana chair on the beach and near the beach were taken by people who had exited the boats earlier. We asked the staff to help but pretty much got a cold shoulder. Given that we probably paid twice as much as everyone else, we were fairly irritated by this sequence of events. Otherwise, the visit was nice.
Day 10, we spent in the old city on our own before going to the airport.

A great planning experience and an amazing trip. Thank you True Colombian Travel. The entire team was professional and personal and went beyond the extra mile to plan us the perfect Colombian adventure. They are there and touring you around. They are the perfect trip planners and guides. I can’t recommend them more. Responsive and flexible. We felt completely taken care of. Thank you.

This was an incredibly well planned trip that was so enjoyable and excellent. Our guides were so knowledgeable and went at our own pace. Never rushed and each one was early every morning so no stress! Tatiana took us to the gold museum in bogota and her in depth knowledge made the next days trip to guaatavita very meaningful. We also went with her to la calenderlaria and the botero museum. The salt cathedral and guatavita are a must see. A highlight was the days we spent with David in the... read more

This was an incredibly well planned trip that was so enjoyable and excellent. Our guides were so knowledgeable and went at our own pace. Never rushed and each one was early every morning so no stress! Tatiana took us to the gold museum in bogota and her in depth knowledge made the next days trip to guaatavita very meaningful. We also went with her to la calenderlaria and the botero museum. The salt cathedral and guatavita are a must see. A highlight was the days we spent with David in the Corcora valley. We had an intimate coffee experience and amazing hike in the unique Corcora wax palm valley. David is so warm and enthused about his country and made the experience very personal with a coffee experience in pihao with a local farmer. In Cartagena the two best tours was a day trip to the sport baru hotel in the Rosario islands and the fishing with locals in la boquilla. Nathalie checked in on us was very responsive and definitely partnered with first class locals for the tours. It exceeded our expectations in every way!

I had a great time in Colombia. Angel was a remarkable guide who was able to cater to our group in an expert way. Each driver was skilled and they were fun to talk with. The Sierra Nevada in Santa Marta was beautiful and all of the hotels that Juan recommended were great.

Planning Notes

1. Final itinerary should come out to the group sooner. There was little to no time to consider changes for the group (example, we would have liked starting an hour later each day)

Transportation Notes

1. Our Bogota to Santa Marta flight was a complete mess! We didn't have confirmed seats and couldn't pre book them due to bad wifi connection speeds in Bogota. Because of this we almost didn't get to go on our flight and needed to wait while the airline asked 7 volunteers... read more

Planning Notes

1. Final itinerary should come out to the group sooner. There was little to no time to consider changes for the group (example, we would have liked starting an hour later each day)

Transportation Notes

1. Our Bogota to Santa Marta flight was a complete mess! We didn't have confirmed seats and couldn't pre book them due to bad wifi connection speeds in Bogota. Because of this we almost didn't get to go on our flight and needed to wait while the airline asked 7 volunteers to take a later flight. Even when we finally got seats they were all dispersed and it took additional changes to ensure the children could be with someone from our group.

2. Transportation to the fishing village and final transportation to the Cartagena airport for the last transfer were super tight! This was strange considering that for our other trips the vehicle was sufficiently large enough.

Bogota Notes

1. Walking tour was cut short due to rain. Is there anyway to have a more concrete back up plan if weather intervenes?

2. Adding a souvenir destination in some of the market areas of Bogota to the walking tour would be great to explore some of the handmade/cultural items available.

3. Ingrid, our Bogota guide, was kind, helpful, and friendly. Would definitely recommend her to other groups.

4. Hotel (Casa Deco) was in a good location and the staff were all helpful and friendly. Though the construction on that road made it difficult for our transportation to get in and out of the area.

5. Monserrate portion of trip was awesome. Great views, easy to access, & shopping available. Plenty of time to spend at our own pace.

Santa Marta Notes

1. Hotel was in a central location and staff was friendly & helpful.

2. However, hotel (Casa Ferol) nickeled & dimed everything we needed - extra charge for drinks during breakfast, charging for a bucket of ice without previously telling us it would cost us extra, etc.

3. Tayrona Park guides (Angel & Jorge) were great. Friendly, knowledgable, and attentive to the group. They did everything - helping kids and older adults with the hike and helping with ordering of lunch.

4. Tayrona hike is NOT for all fitness levels. Older adults and young children struggled with the heat, length of the hike, and large uneven steps in the hiking areas. Some of the adults with back and knee problems struggled with the hike as well.

5. Large waterfall of Marinka was awesome. High hammock and swimming was very nice.

6. Hummingbird stop was something we really enjoyed

7. Pozo Azul was a long, somewhat treacherous hike (wet rocks that we had to scale) for a small payoff compared to what we saw in the morning. Probably our least favorite stop on our trip.

8. Coffee plantation stop was boring. Nothing was actually happening (none of the equipment was running or being used) so following the guides words was difficult without seeing it in action. Also explanations given to the group were too detailed and made it super hard to follow.

9. A warning about how bumpy and windy the roads in Minca would have been appreciated. Several people in our party felt ill from all the bouncing (especially the children).

10. The driver in and around Santa Marta (and who also drove us to Cartagena) was EXCELLENT.

11. We loved the authenticity of the Minca restaurant on the slide of the cliff.

Cartagena Notes

1. Sergio (our tour gudie) was excellent. Presented things well about the history of Colombia.

2. The Emerald museum stop of our city tour by bus felt forced and more like a ploy to get a purchase of emeralds than an informational stop about Colombia's culture.

3. Rosario Island was a great stop. Snorkeling was fun and this stop was our most relaxing of our entire trip.

4. While walking tour was excellent, again, we would have appreciated a more planned opportunity for souvenir shopping.

5. Canoe trip thru mangroves was a bit too long. Crouched over for a whole hour was a bit rough on our backs and knees (especially for the older adults).

6. Our guide (believe it was Enrique) was awesome. He was open, friendly, and made it a point to learn our names. He also tried to relate to our children to make them more comfortable. He communicated things well and felt like a member of our group versus someone who was hired to guide us. Would definitely recommend him to others.

I am really glad I went with KimKim to book our trip in Colombia. Gael, our trip specialist, took care of all the little trip-planning details that would have taken me days of research and indecision to figure out. We ended up going to the Coffee Region, and our itinerary included staying at a coffee finca with great amenities, hiking in the Cocora valley, visiting charming towns along the way, eating farm-to-table, and of course drinking amazing coffee with our local guides Sebastian and... read more

I am really glad I went with KimKim to book our trip in Colombia. Gael, our trip specialist, took care of all the little trip-planning details that would have taken me days of research and indecision to figure out. We ended up going to the Coffee Region, and our itinerary included staying at a coffee finca with great amenities, hiking in the Cocora valley, visiting charming towns along the way, eating farm-to-table, and of course drinking amazing coffee with our local guides Sebastian and Santiago. We also floated lazily down a river in a bamboo raft for an afternoon. The landscape just seems untouched out there, it was really a treat! I was feeling a bit ill from the altitude on one of the days, and the local guides took really good care of me.

Our trip to Colombia was excellent. We had a wonderful time in the coffee region and the trip organized by Gael and Tucaya was a lot of fun and seamless. We had a few minor snags while booking the trip, as we were originally booked on a return flight that did not leave enough time to catch our connecting international flight, but we were able to switch our flights after bringing this up with Gael. Gael was very helpful with suggesting activities and excursions for us, all of which proved very... read more

Our trip to Colombia was excellent. We had a wonderful time in the coffee region and the trip organized by Gael and Tucaya was a lot of fun and seamless. We had a few minor snags while booking the trip, as we were originally booked on a return flight that did not leave enough time to catch our connecting international flight, but we were able to switch our flights after bringing this up with Gael. Gael was very helpful with suggesting activities and excursions for us, all of which proved very enjoyable.

Once in Colombia, we corresponded with Nicholas at Tucaya via WhatsApp and he was very helpful. He promptly responded to any inquiry and made sure to check in with us in the mornings and evenings to recap the day and preview the next day's activities. On the ground in the coffee region, everything worked very smoothly. We had driver's and tour guides waiting for us at the appointed times without issues, the hotel (Finca Bosque del Saman) was beautifully picturesque, and our activities were great.

One day, we to Filandia, Salento, and the Cocora Valley with our tour guide Sebastian. Not only were these areas beautiful, but Sebastian is an amazing and thoughtful guide who took us both to the main tourist attractions but also took us off the beaten path to local coffee shops and restaurants. Cafe Jesus Martin in Salento and restaurant Helena Adentro in Filandia were highlights. We can't recommend Sebastian enough.

Another day, we visited Finca Casa Vieja, a coffee plantation run by a local family. Santiago, one of the owners, gave us a wonderful tour of the farm (which grows many types of fruits and flowers in addition to coffee), as well as a look inside the coffee making process. After a delicious lunch prepared by Santiago's aunt (using produce from the farm), we visited the family's coffee shop in Quimbaya, Cafe de Altura, where we sampled many different preparations of coffee as well as some baked goods prepared by Alejandra, Santiago's sister. Sebastian, our tour guide from the day before, also joined us for coffee, which was a pleasure. To cap the afternoon, we took a bamboo raft down Rio de la Vieja, which offered great views and some fun swimming opportunities.

The main downside to this trip was that we were only in the coffee region for a few days. We certainly plan to visit Colombia again and would be happy to book through Gael and Kim Kim again, as we had a great trip that went seamlessly after we got everything booked properly.

This was an exceptional trip! Colombia is a beautiful country; a hidden gem. Floriane was as invested as I was in making this trip a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Every driver and every guide was pleasant, professional, knowledgeable and fun. Everywhere we went, the locals welcomed our guides as family and extended the same warmth to us.

Our 8-day trip included Medellin, Guatape, Armenia, Salento, Santa Marta and Bogota. My daughter are already planning our return trip.

A million thanks to Floraine and to all of our guides and drivers.

Maria

Dear KimKim,

Please update the rating scale. Only having five stars from poor to great does not allow me to rate how I genuinely want to. And my words do not provide justice to my overall experience in planning and booking my trip with the services I received from my local specialist.

In the past few years, I faced many tragedies. The first one was dealing with my oldest brother's suicide. Then I encountered looking after my grandfather for six years and witnessing him die with his... read more

Dear KimKim,

Please update the rating scale. Only having five stars from poor to great does not allow me to rate how I genuinely want to. And my words do not provide justice to my overall experience in planning and booking my trip with the services I received from my local specialist.

In the past few years, I faced many tragedies. The first one was dealing with my oldest brother's suicide. Then I encountered looking after my grandfather for six years and witnessing him die with his battle with cancer. After that, I lost the relationship with my mother and two youngest brothers. And finally, I endured a breakup with my ex-partner.

Traveling has become therapy for me. Each time that I have gone outside of the United States, I flew with others who knew how to communicate fluently in Spanish. And going to Columbia by myself and barely knowing and able to speak Spanish, I knew was going to be a challenge.

On May 11, 2018, I contacted KimKim to plan a trip to Medellín, Columbia. My travel dates were May 17, 2018, to May 24, 2018. No one responded to me, and I urgently reached out to KimKim again, on May 14, 2018. Finally, later on, that same day, Juan Ortiz, my local specialist responded.

Juan organized this last minute trip and assisted me 24/7. He was honest, polite, and upfront with me. ATTENTION KimKim, Juan deserves a trip on the house for going over and beyond serving and making me a fulfilled and happy customer.

My four-day adventure started on Friday when I went on the Pablo Escobar tour. I was mind blown by Carlos, who is one of the two remaining officers that served during the years that Pablo was alive. Saturday, I met my main and magnificent tour guide, Marcelo. That day I went on an Innovation tour of Medellín. Medellín has so many environmental and collected community organizing that I want to create in my hometown, Bethlehem, also known as the Lehigh Valley, in Pennsylvania. Sunday, I went to the Rio Claro Reserve. The Rio Claro Reserve brought me up and also down. It brought me up because it is an environment where I can see myself losing myself and escape from the madness of the world. Rio Claro brought me down because there is a need for new zoning laws to be reinforced. It will be devasting for Rio Claro to be taken over by the industrial invasion. I did not finish my tour small. I completed my journey with a big bang, on Monday and going to Guatapé. Guatapé was breathtaking, and no one has lived until they visit this beautiful "peace on earth." The last two days I was left to explore and have some me time.

KimKim, if there is a way to update your rating scale with all of the stars in the universe it will be a tremendous help. Then the range would be more accurate. Visiting Medellín, Columbia, alone was nerve wrecking. Notably, having uninformed people plant negative seeds into my head about going alone and the dangers that I might encounter. Everyone that I met including the Conquest 33 Hotel representatives treated me like family. Thus far, this has been the most memorable trip I have experienced. On June 1, 2020, please be my travel agency to plan my trip to South Africa.

Greatly appreciative and humbled,

Dèjour

While we really enjoyed our trip overall, I would not book with Kimkim again without there being more transparency on the costs. We spent nearly $6800 with Kimkim for only about 9 days of services including one internal flight for 2 people.

Jules did a pretty good job communicating with us but he did say the following about providing us with some tips on packing but he did not provide this detail, even after we followed up with him inquiring about this. He later apologized saying he was on... read more

While we really enjoyed our trip overall, I would not book with Kimkim again without there being more transparency on the costs. We spent nearly $6800 with Kimkim for only about 9 days of services including one internal flight for 2 people.

Jules did a pretty good job communicating with us but he did say the following about providing us with some tips on packing but he did not provide this detail, even after we followed up with him inquiring about this. He later apologized saying he was on a trek in the Amazon but if he's unable to properly respond to people he should make sure someone else is monitoring his emails to do so. From Jules: "I will get in touch with you 15 days prior to the trip with the last details and a checklist for the things we recomend you bring on the trip (nothing too special, but like this you have a good idea on how to pack ! )."

Our Guides:
Nicholas was fantastic. We really loved him. 5 stars
Diana was also very good. We enjoyed the time we spent with her. 4 stars.
Qapac was okay. He spent too much time talking about politics and religion. He made assumptions about food that we would like. For example we went to a restaurant after a hike and he ordered us plates of spaghetti without consulting with us. I don't want spaghetti when I'm in South America. 3 stars.

Pedro Salazar was an excellent tour guide to have. He was very knowledgeable about the city of Cartagena and helpful with lots of information.

Will Osolinsky was extremely helpful setting me up with information for my trip.

Speaking no Spanish we found that we could not communicate with our drivers. We could confirm where we were going but that was it. Sometimes it would have been good to know a little about where we were on the road, if there was interesting facts about the area and if there were any good view points to take photos along the way. However, the drivers were always punctual and many times our plane or bus was late but the drivers were always there.
Floriane was constantly in contact with me to... read more

Speaking no Spanish we found that we could not communicate with our drivers. We could confirm where we were going but that was it. Sometimes it would have been good to know a little about where we were on the road, if there was interesting facts about the area and if there were any good view points to take photos along the way. However, the drivers were always punctual and many times our plane or bus was late but the drivers were always there.
Floriane was constantly in contact with me to check everything was going well which was very comforting.
Marine who originally helped with our itinerary was excellent. However, when it was given to Floriane to take over all the information given already had to be redone which became quite frustrating. Whereas everything was written down and if Flor had read the conversation she would not have had to ask everything again.

Our trip in Columbia was wonderful. great country, very safe. We had exceptional experience with Aventura Columbia. The organization of the trip was impeccable.
The only bad part was flying with Avianca. All flight we took in Columbia were delayed.

Our family of two teen boys + Mom & Dad had the best time on our trip to Cartagena and the Caribbean coast. Our guide Nicholas was amazing. Flexible enough to change things on the fly, but also got to every place on the itinerary. Jules and Nicholas put together a terrific itinerary based on our looking for a mix of city and country. We wanted some off the beaten path and we got it in spades! Colombia is a big country and we look forward to exploring more next time.

Sidrah - was amazing as our tour coordinator. She worked with us and accommodated our requests for changes as we had some last minute scheduled business meetings. She was really on the ball- and proactive in checking with us and making sure we were ok with all arrangements. She was wonderful to work with and very responsive and prompt. The only problem we had was with the arrangement of the islands tour in Cartagena- we had planned to have a English speaking guide, however that request was... read more

Sidrah - was amazing as our tour coordinator. She worked with us and accommodated our requests for changes as we had some last minute scheduled business meetings. She was really on the ball- and proactive in checking with us and making sure we were ok with all arrangements. She was wonderful to work with and very responsive and prompt. The only problem we had was with the arrangement of the islands tour in Cartagena- we had planned to have a English speaking guide, however that request was lost in communication with Sidrah. As a result of this- we cut short our trip as we were unable to understand the captains of our boat and were not able to learn/ enjoy our trip with them.

Bogota guide- Tatiana- We rated her 6 out of 10- as her English and the accent was hard for us to understand. She was really polite and flexible,however lacked the organization and knowledge that we were looking for. For example- she did not budget enough time for lunch and we almost missed our Graffitti tour. Otherwise- she was really flexible and helped us with things ourtside of the tour as well.

Coffee region Guide- Juan David- 7/10- Was really knowledgeable and great to have around

Cartagena Guide- Densy- 9/10- Her knowledge of the city and history was amazing. She was passionate and really knowledgeable. The only negative about her was her English accent as the children had a hard time understanding her.

I would 100% recommend KimKim. Our local specialist Nathalie was quick to respond and answer our questions. She put together an amazing trip for myself and friend. She took care of arranging our tours, hotels and flights. Nathalie stayed in touched with us while in Colombia and ensured our trip was going as planned.

All of the services were provided just as promised.

The boat ride from Taganga to Playa Cristal was quite unpleasant. (The return trip was OK.) The sea was quite rough. My wife and I felt like we were being tossed around in a clothes dryer for close to an hour. We were bounced very hard on wooden benches with no cushions. I felt very sore for several days after the boat ride. You should warn people about how unpleasant the journey can be.

The drive between Cartagena and Santa Marta was also a bit scary at times, as the drivers tried to pass trucks.

Colombia is one of the most beautiful, diverse places I have ever visited. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to experience city life, nature life, and island life all in one place!! Our trip started in Bogota - a huge city, thankfully our guide Tatiana showed us the way, and helped make lasting memories hiking up the Monserrate pathway! Would highly recommend the graffiti bike tour as well! Next stop - the coffee reason, the most stunning place with beautiful mountains and... read more

Colombia is one of the most beautiful, diverse places I have ever visited. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to experience city life, nature life, and island life all in one place!! Our trip started in Bogota - a huge city, thankfully our guide Tatiana showed us the way, and helped make lasting memories hiking up the Monserrate pathway! Would highly recommend the graffiti bike tour as well! Next stop - the coffee reason, the most stunning place with beautiful mountains and a jungle feel! The people are very kind, although I would recommend knowing some Spanish! We tried the best coffee in a Salento village!! We had the most wonderful guide to show us the way through Cocora Valley - a once in a lifetime hike!! Additionally our guide David, showed us the quainte Quindio villages, another unique beautiful area of Colombia. To end our trip we stopped in Cartagena, and the Rosario Islands - this place is magical! The town of Cartagena has great vibes and friendly people, and the islands have their own feel of a tropical paradise!! Every hotel we stayed in was well kept, clean and absolutely amazing! I would highly recommend using KimKim to help you plan your next adventure!!

Nathalia was awsome. Very responsive to my particular requests, available for issues, great suggestions, knowledgeable about Colombia, and planned a trip that was very easy.

My Guide in Bogota, Tatiana, my guide in the coffee region, Alejandro, my guide in Medellin,Joachim, were all fantastic. The guides in Cartagena,were Old School, Boring and not cool.-dont remember their names. All hotels were excellent Opera,Diez,Bantu, except the Hacienda in the coffee region.Bosques del Saman-the food was really mediocre and the front desk guy didnt speak English well and didnt communicate well. I was freezing at night and had to walk thru a big field to get to my room. The... read more

My Guide in Bogota, Tatiana, my guide in the coffee region, Alejandro, my guide in Medellin,Joachim, were all fantastic. The guides in Cartagena,were Old School, Boring and not cool.-dont remember their names. All hotels were excellent Opera,Diez,Bantu, except the Hacienda in the coffee region.Bosques del Saman-the food was really mediocre and the front desk guy didnt speak English well and didnt communicate well. I was freezing at night and had to walk thru a big field to get to my room. The swimming pool area was not great. It was really a 3-31/2 star place- not 4-41/2 as requested. Setting was pretty.

All the drivers were great.
The cooking class and salsa classes were fun.
I went on a trip on my own -with a group to Guatape- from Medellin- that should be a must do-which was fantastic.
I hired a guide to take me out at night in Medellin to dance clubs - that was really fun.

I probably travelled a bit too much-for the period of time- next time I would cut out one place- but that was my request.

You need to emphasis to bring clothing for cold and rain- it rained everywhere except Cartagena.

On the whole I loved Colombia- the people, the country side and the cities so well organized and beautiful. I will definitely be back!!

We've just returned from a wonderful four week trip to Colombia, and were extremely pleased with our local specialist, Marine, who was helpful during our detailed planning process and who was always in touch with us during our trip to make certain that everything went smoothly.

All of our guides, Remy, Guillermo, et al, were excellent - well informed and a pleasure to have on our adventure. We covered a great range of places in Colombia, from the beginning of the Amazon region in the south... read more

We've just returned from a wonderful four week trip to Colombia, and were extremely pleased with our local specialist, Marine, who was helpful during our detailed planning process and who was always in touch with us during our trip to make certain that everything went smoothly.

All of our guides, Remy, Guillermo, et al, were excellent - well informed and a pleasure to have on our adventure. We covered a great range of places in Colombia, from the beginning of the Amazon region in the south to the mountain town of Minca in the north. All of our drivers were excellent and always right on time, and we felt confident and comfortable throughout the trip.

In planning our trip, we emphasized that we were interested in archeological sites like San Agustín and Tierradentro, as well as doing some hiking and visiting some of the culturally important cities of Colombia, like Cartagena and Medellin. From swimming/floating down the Sarabando River to the hike in Las Nubes (the clouds), each day was filled with very pleasurable activities. Because we spoke Spanish, it was also fun to have Spanish speaking guides and go to less visited areas of Colombia.

Thanks, Marine, for helping us to organize such a terrific experience.

Bernard and Ann Rubenstein, Santa Fe, New Mexico

We had a wonderful time on our 1 1/2 Medellin tour last week. Our guide couldn't have been more friendly and informative. It was abundantly clear he loved his city and his job! Despite the mix up with the itinerary at the start, everything was smooth and fun, especially the fabulous hike to Angel Waterfalls. Definitely recommend Kimkim Tour for any sort of tour and adventure! They are so responsive and professional from all the emails to their vehicles, thank you!!
Octavia Jones

My wife and I had arranged a holiday to Peru and took advantage of the international flights connecting via Bogota to spend a week in Colombia on the return journey.

I then researched via the internet for itineraries and transport options around Colombia, which is when I came across the Kimkim site for the first time. From then on the trip fell into place very nicely with Elisabeth from Aventur making contact with a suggested itinerary based on my stated preferences. A few changes were made... read more

My wife and I had arranged a holiday to Peru and took advantage of the international flights connecting via Bogota to spend a week in Colombia on the return journey.

I then researched via the internet for itineraries and transport options around Colombia, which is when I came across the Kimkim site for the first time. From then on the trip fell into place very nicely with Elisabeth from Aventur making contact with a suggested itinerary based on my stated preferences. A few changes were made at my request, and were accommodated by Elisabeth readily until we had the perfect itinerary for us. The proposal we received was detailed and clear, and included all transfers, guided tours and internal flights as well as a breakdown of hotels booked and inclusive meals . Everything was covered. The payment system was simple and secure via credit card.

The holiday itself was super, having come off the back of a great time spent in Peru I was concerned that our Colombia stay might have been overshadowed, but not at all! The variety of Colombia was reflected in our itinerary and made for a great experience.

Following our arrival at Bogota airport our polite private transfer driver was waiting at 'Arrivals' and drove us to our standard accomodation in the Candeleria area of Bogota which we found to be a bustling and lively part of the city. I admit that the press and government advice regarding security and safety in Bogota did have us slightly on edge but spending the best part of 2 days there we did not feel threatened at all, but we were sensible about where we walked and careful that we didn't make ourselves look like tempting targets. That said , we did see a bag snatched from a young woman on the walk to the Monserrate funicular/ cable car station, but police were very quickly on the scene.

Our guided bike tour around Bogota, ably guided by ex pat Californian Mike 'the bike', was a great experience where he introduced us to the key sites over quite an area of the city centre, to places that we would not have ventured on our own or on foot. We really covered quite a distance in the 5 hours. In addition to seeing key sites Mike explained historical connections and context to the places that we saw as well as generally giving us an understanding of Bogota and Colombian society, culture. politics, and yes the past influences from the darker side of the Colombian economy.

Time spent in a neighbourhood cafe where they roast their own beans in the back was a worthwhile experience (we were given a peak at the process in action at the back of the shop), and the time that we spent wandering through the central fruit/veg market between stalls tasting different fruits was great. Mike seemed to know everyone!

Ending with a drink and a game of the national sport 'Tejo' which involves throwing rocks at paper wraps filled with gunpowder on a clay base the whole tour was definitely a success. I would recommend the Bogota bike tour to anyone who can ride a bike.

Food options in Candeleria were endless, we ended up having an evening meal in an Israeli restaurant just down the road from the hotel and it was nice food at a good price.

We were transfered on time to the airport for our internal flight to Armenia from where we were transfered to our hotel(Salento Real) in Salento, which was a very nice place just at the edge of the town centre. It was a good location because we were staying over the weekend and the town gets very busy, we were 2 minutes from the wonderful centre but not efftected by the noise at bedtime.

We had a leisurely guided tour to see the Wax palms in the nearby Cocora valley which involved a bit of light hiking, amazing views and lots of flower and bird spotting. Our guide, Blane, was passionate about the environment and had us catapulting wax palm seeds into the jungle to help spread the area where they are growing(as he explained, they are under some threat from agricultural development) Blane had us climb a wax palm(not easy!) followed by him playing the flute pipes while we had a rest at a view point. Then to a restaurant with a view for lunch, where we ate trout on a crispy plantain flat bread, delicious.

In the afernoon we were led, again by Blane, to a small scale coffee plantation, about 45 minutes walk, which was a very informative experience.
The next day we were taken on a full day driven tour of the Quindio villages/ small towns, guided by David who again was a very capable guide with environmental matters being part of the discussion. The villages were varied and beautiful, we took the time to experience churches, crafts , local flora and architecture as well as a coffee producers with a difference, a fermented raw milk cafe and a Bar of memories, all quirky and interesting. We had a 'locals lunch' by the Rio Verde and all in all a great day.

Salento town itself is a fantastic destination, beautiful buildings and open spaces, with a buzzing plaza and central streets with old fashioned entertainment and fair rides, lots of craft shops and bars/ restaurant of good quality.

We transfered early the next morning to Cartagena(internal flights) on the Caribean coast. On arrival at Cartagena airport there was a slight confusion with the transfer driver who was there on time(as it later turned out) but had the incorrect name for pickup, which led to a short delay while we called Aventur on the office number to fix it. Within minutes the mixup was resolved and we were matched up with our driver.

It was just gone lunchtime when we arrived at the hotel(Casa Deco), which is an attractive old boutique place with friendly, helpful staff. The hotel made a room ready early for us while we had some lunch around the corner and then we were met on time at the hotel by our guide for a walking tour of Cartagena. The city is a beautiful, fascinating place, with a rich colonial history but we did find the guided tour which was suposed to be 4 hours but was barely over 2 hours quite light on historical, architectural and cultural details and we came away feeling underwhelmed by the experience... maybe the guide was having an off day!

Anyway, we had a great meal out later and enjoyed the hospitality of the hotel, including the pool.

The next day was speedboat ride to one of the Rosario islands, Isla Bella, which was tiny but beautiful. after an hours boat ride we spent a few hours lounging on the beach-front paradise, enjoyed an inclusive meal and caught the speedboat back, which was a scarily exciting journey, as the wind(and waves) had picked up. We got quite wet but not a problem in the tropical heat and it was quite a laugh.

Another great night out and the next day gave us the morning to explore the city ramparts, and have lunch before getting our transfers back to Cartegena airport to start our journey home.

I have gone on at some length with this review because I wanted anyone reading to get an idea that the trip was a great experience and well organised by Elisabeth (Eventur) with a good selection of interesting activities along the way. The balance of planned activities and free time worked well for us, others way want more time to relax, or want to be more full on. I am confident from our experience that all holiday styles would be ably catered for by Elisabeth.
The Trip was well organised and the itinerary was spot on, with the only exception being the name mix up on arrival at Cartegena, which lets be honest is nothing, and was sorted without delay.

So well done to Aventur, thanks to Kimkim for getting us connected, and our gratitude to Elisabeth for taking care of us so well.

Our tour of Bogota was fantastic, thanks to Katiana. She had all the patience and energy needed to give us real insight into the history and culture of Colombia. She really made the Gold Museum come to life with the backstory she provided. She’s probably the best tour guide we’ve ever encountered.

Susan also did a great job on showing us the sites in Villa de Leyva. What a beautiful setting.

We had both a translator and a guide in Barichara. Waste of time and money. We translated for... read more

Our tour of Bogota was fantastic, thanks to Katiana. She had all the patience and energy needed to give us real insight into the history and culture of Colombia. She really made the Gold Museum come to life with the backstory she provided. She’s probably the best tour guide we’ve ever encountered.

Susan also did a great job on showing us the sites in Villa de Leyva. What a beautiful setting.

We had both a translator and a guide in Barichara. Waste of time and money. We translated for ourselves much more quickly and accurately. The Spanish speaking guide had only very rudimentary comments on the town. We ended the tour before it ever really got started. Nice guys but they need to look for other work.

Marine and Elizabeth at kimkim are both excellent. Patient, thoughtful, and articulate.

My only complaint about kimkim is that it is not transparent in its pricing. No price breakdown is given for the individual components of the trip. Difficult to decide among various trip components / options when planning the itinerary if you don’t know what the individual pricing is. We requested a breakdown on numerous occasions but were politely refused the information. For this reason alone we will most likely not return to kimkim for future travel planning.

Trip to Colombia was fantastic. Guides were terrific, car services were prompt, which made this trip run very smoothly.

This was my first experience using KimKim. I was refered from a friend. I recently traveled for 9 days in Colombia. I use travel agents for most of my international pleasure travel. On the plus side my agent, Flor was very responsive both via email and with telephone calls.

Booking the trip was a bit frustrating. I think this was partially due to my unfamilarity with kimkim. Also my impression was that while Flor was very responsive and doing her best to help but she lacked in-depth... read more

This was my first experience using KimKim. I was refered from a friend. I recently traveled for 9 days in Colombia. I use travel agents for most of my international pleasure travel. On the plus side my agent, Flor was very responsive both via email and with telephone calls.

Booking the trip was a bit frustrating. I think this was partially due to my unfamilarity with kimkim. Also my impression was that while Flor was very responsive and doing her best to help but she lacked in-depth travel experience. For example, I thought I had booked both hotel and intrastate travel. I had challenges securing a particular hotel and also plane travel times that I thought were confirmed ... but actually were not. We had to go back and forth a few times.

On the plus side I had a situation in Medellin with a hotel I was unhappy with. The room had a leak under the sink and they really were not too friendly. Flor was very responsive and moved me to a wonderful hotel. Both the private tour guides and the tours in Bogota, Medellin and Cartenga were all very good with the exception of the private tour in Cartenga- the guide was a bit flat.

If there were a 3.5 star rating, that is what I would give. That being shared, I would give Kimkim another try on my next international trip. Thanks!

We booked our Columbia trip using Kimkim. This was the first time we used Kimkim. What a great company. We will use them again. Nathalie, our specialist, was awesome. She was very helpful in tailoring the trip to what we like. The ideas and suggestions she had were great for us and our kids. We did things that even books such as lonely planet did not even list as activities. Everything we did in Columbia was great. Nathalie even called us several times during the trip to make sure everything... read more

We booked our Columbia trip using Kimkim. This was the first time we used Kimkim. What a great company. We will use them again. Nathalie, our specialist, was awesome. She was very helpful in tailoring the trip to what we like. The ideas and suggestions she had were great for us and our kids. We did things that even books such as lonely planet did not even list as activities. Everything we did in Columbia was great. Nathalie even called us several times during the trip to make sure everything was going smoothly.

The people Kimkim used in Columbia, from drivers to guides, were all very nice, always on time, very helpful and knowledgeable. We loved everything we did, from the beautiful Spanish colonial towns of Barichara and Villa de Leyva to the beautiful beaches of Tayrona and around Cartagena. We loved the lush coffee region and the Valle de Cocora. We all enjoyed a private coffee tasting that even our 10 and 11-year-old daughters loved and asked for more coffee! Best coffee ever. As outdoor lovers, we especially enjoyed hiking, zip lining, white water rafting, tubing on a river and mountain biking.

Just back from 13 days in Medellin, Tayrona and Cartagena, Colombia.
What a wonderful country, full of beautiful scenery, friendly people, good food, interesting (though somewhat tortured) history.
Of course, not all is rosy, and the guidance of the Kimkim team and Marine was crucial in keeping us safe and fulfilled.
Medellin, for example, has its rough spots, but we never felt insecure or vulnerable.
The day trip to Guatapé was great, as was city tour, Park Arvi. Staying near Parque... read more

Just back from 13 days in Medellin, Tayrona and Cartagena, Colombia.
What a wonderful country, full of beautiful scenery, friendly people, good food, interesting (though somewhat tortured) history.
Of course, not all is rosy, and the guidance of the Kimkim team and Marine was crucial in keeping us safe and fulfilled.
Medellin, for example, has its rough spots, but we never felt insecure or vulnerable.
The day trip to Guatapé was great, as was city tour, Park Arvi. Staying near Parque Llera was great.
Cartagena was a great experience too, and staying at Bovedas Santa Clara allowed free access to the Sofitel, a world class beautiful resort.
Tayrona was unique as well though be forewarned, no hot water showers!
Summary.....all connections went without a hitch, all guides, drivers on time, all reservations as described. The trip was perfectly tailored to our preferences. I was very happy with the Kimkim engagement and would definitely use them again.

All of the guides were fabulous. Very knowledgeable and respectful. Most of our tours were in Spanish as requested. Drivers were on time, very courteous and hospitable. Every day on this trip seemed to top the day before. Don't miss the Valley of the Cocora (Wax palms) and a shopping trip through Salento. Staying in the coffee region was a great relaxing time between Bogata and Medellin and provided a feel for the more rural part of the country. Also great was the bike tour of downtown Bogota. Kimkim was attentive and flexible every step of the way. They made our trip! Thank you.

Jules and his colleagues made the trip a wonderful and memorable one. We cannot speak more highly of their guidance, hospitality, support and knowledge.

The trip was great! Nathalie was very responsive and tried to accommodate our requests for the trip. Everything from the hotel to the events for la Feria went extremely well and I would recommend travelers use this service. Especially first time travelers.

All the arrangements were great and professional. Medellin was the highlight. All tour guides were knowledgeable and professional.

12/20 our driver is very nice and did a good job driving us to our destination.
12/22 our driver came with a very old pick up truck, for the price we contract and discription from our agent we should have professional driver with Duster car brand, the driver not only driving super fast on winding road also passing car frequently, we were so worry all the way, the car does not come with air condition, we were suffer from the bad air, dust plus very hot, it was a very uncomfortable trip. We... read more

12/20 our driver is very nice and did a good job driving us to our destination.
12/22 our driver came with a very old pick up truck, for the price we contract and discription from our agent we should have professional driver with Duster car brand, the driver not only driving super fast on winding road also passing car frequently, we were so worry all the way, the car does not come with air condition, we were suffer from the bad air, dust plus very hot, it was a very uncomfortable trip. We will not recommend this car company for future customer.
12/24 our pick and hotel pick are ok.
12/26 our tour with driver and guide are good.
12/27 airport pick up is good
12/31 we were waiting for airport pick up , when the time passed hotel front desk call Nathalie and found out there was no pick up , we paid and schedule for the pick up, Nathalie didn’t confirm for us and kept us waiting , luckily front desk checked for us and hurry arrange a taxi for us, so far I have not receiving any explanation from Nathalie, iwouldliketo request refund and apology for almost missed our flight.
Fran lee

Thank you Marine for all of the calls to check up on us. When our guide handed the phone to me, I knew it was Marine and could talk to her about how things were going.

Guides and transfers:
Every guide and transfer showed up on time or early. We soon learned that this country runs on time. Our first transfer was not an exception but was a bit of a shock when they arrived 30 min early and we were not quite ready. This happened to be the only bus trip we had.

The guides who stood out as... read more

Thank you Marine for all of the calls to check up on us. When our guide handed the phone to me, I knew it was Marine and could talk to her about how things were going.

Guides and transfers:
Every guide and transfer showed up on time or early. We soon learned that this country runs on time. Our first transfer was not an exception but was a bit of a shock when they arrived 30 min early and we were not quite ready. This happened to be the only bus trip we had.

The guides who stood out as exemplary were: Elvis at Calanoa, Fernando at Villa de Leyva, and David and driver who picked us up at Hacienda Combia. David and the driver (sorry, can't remember his name) were so much fun and went out of their way to make our stay excellent.

The one exception to all of the good guides was the one at Tayrona. He told us at the beginning we had to keep up with him as we had a long trip and that's exactly how it was. When my foot got stuck in the mud he was far ahead and not there to help, he never slowed down or stopped to interact with us, when we passed buildings he didn't stop to explain what they were. We had to keep our heads down to keep up the pace while still looking ahead to keep him in our sight. Not a fun trip!

Hotels:
Loved Casa Pizarro in Cartegena and the area it was in. Really liked staying in a residential area with lots of restaurants nearby.
Maloka Barlovento was so beautiful. Would have loved to stay there another day so we could see the beach. We only had time to see the building we stayed in. Bit of a shock to find only cold water shower. This may be normal here, but this is not normal for us. Maybe a heads up would have helped.
Posada Suenos De Antonio in Barichara was lovely and peaceful. Really liked the patio and view.
Casa Deco in Bogota was in a good location but our room overlooked a hostel and could be noisy.
Calanoa Lodge was excellent! The food was superb, our cabana was superb, and all of our interactions with staff (even if we didn't speak Spanish) was superb!

Hacienda Combia had a lovely setting, but was the big disappointment of the trip. When we arrived I asked for water and was told that it was only supplied with dinner. All other hotels had water accessible either in the form of the first bottle free or a fill up station. Seeing as we could not use the water from the tap to even brush our teeth, this was a major drawback to this isolated hotel.
We asked for a glass of wine with our dinner and were told that they did not have this and we could buy an overpriced bottle.
The food was the most disappointing. We spoke with them about the selection and they added a couple of things to the menu, but this didn't really help. Really, really disappointed in 4 dinners here and no option to go elsewhere. The meals we were offered were a stripped down version of the regular menu.
We didn't feel welcomed here.

We loved Colombia and would like to thank kimkim.com and Marine for making it such a memorable trip. We will definitely recommend the country and booking company to anyone who will listen.

We wanted an Amazon Jungle experience and Nathalie recommended Calanoa Reserve.
We booked a 2 night 3 day trip. We were very unsure as to what to expect.
Before the trip Nathalie was very helpful and answered all our questions very promptly.
The trip itself was absolutely amazing! And exceeded all our expectations- it was as Nathalie had described- but we didn’t expect it to be so good!!
The accommodation was beautiful - we had a double bed in the ground floor and twin beds on first floor... read more

We wanted an Amazon Jungle experience and Nathalie recommended Calanoa Reserve.
We booked a 2 night 3 day trip. We were very unsure as to what to expect.
Before the trip Nathalie was very helpful and answered all our questions very promptly.
The trip itself was absolutely amazing! And exceeded all our expectations- it was as Nathalie had described- but we didn’t expect it to be so good!!
The accommodation was beautiful - we had a double bed in the ground floor and twin beds on first floor and a private bathroom.
The staff were amazing - the cooks, the organisers and the guides - all so helpful and couldn’t do enough for us.
It was easy to swap activities around and add extras. The whole 3 days worked like clockwork - such a slick operation- very impressive.
We saw pink river dolphins (and grey), went pirhana fishing, went to a monkey orphanage, indigenous village, forest walk in day and night, early morning bird watching and watched the sun set over the Amazon...... incredible!!
Food was good (lots of fish!).
We would highly recommend Calanoa Reserve and the services of Nathalie at KimKim. Nothing went wrong so we didn’t need to contact her during the trip - but it was reassuring to have her number just in case.
Thank you Nathalie for your recommendation and help with the booking.

We had an excellent trip!! Great local guides, amazing eco-lodges everything flowed well. We especially like Jorge, the guide who took us to Tayrona (and hope he passed his exam on tourism). the whole journey in the Tayrona was spectacular, as was tubing down the river in Palomino and the expertise on birds from our guide David in Minca. The only caveat was that the arrangement was to have our baggage brought to Palomino while we were trekking in Tayrona, and there was no info on that -... read more

We had an excellent trip!! Great local guides, amazing eco-lodges everything flowed well. We especially like Jorge, the guide who took us to Tayrona (and hope he passed his exam on tourism). the whole journey in the Tayrona was spectacular, as was tubing down the river in Palomino and the expertise on birds from our guide David in Minca. The only caveat was that the arrangement was to have our baggage brought to Palomino while we were trekking in Tayrona, and there was no info on that - no guidance given to myself and the driver was also unaware. So instead we made our own arrangements to leave the bags at Finca Barlovento. It would have been better if this piece of info on the trip had been communicated to me so we knew what the arrangement was instead of improvising along the way. All in all the trip was exactly the adventure we were looking for - thanks!!

1. Driver on time - great
2. Jeannine checked to be sure we were aboard - BETTER THAN GREAT
3. Rony Perez- excellent guide - good English , really good with my husband who walks (little) and Slow! Good information - will definitely recommend in the future
4. Meal great - so very fresh
5. experience overall - exactly what we were looking for - thank you Nathalie for suggesting
6. interacting with the local people very good experience - they were very kind to us

We needed to arrange this on very short notice. Marine was very responsive and we we got this planned quickly. We stayed in beautiful small hotels and ecolodges that were immersed in natural beauty. We went to Tayrona Park and Minca and our guides were very good, very knowledgeable. Unfortunately we were slightly disappointed that when in Minca we had car trouble early in the day, another car was not sent to continue our trip but to return us to town.
Cartagena is a beautiful historic city... read more

We needed to arrange this on very short notice. Marine was very responsive and we we got this planned quickly. We stayed in beautiful small hotels and ecolodges that were immersed in natural beauty. We went to Tayrona Park and Minca and our guides were very good, very knowledgeable. Unfortunately we were slightly disappointed that when in Minca we had car trouble early in the day, another car was not sent to continue our trip but to return us to town.
Cartagena is a beautiful historic city and we stayed in lovely boutique hotels in the old part of town. Our guide for here, Sergio, was terrific. He took us to neighborhoods out of the tourist area to see how the locals live and to his favorite places.
Our last days were spent at Punta Faro on an island. Great place for a couple of days to relax. A boat ride is the way to get there and can be a bit choppy but well worth it. Due to weather, our return was difficult. The hotel arranged an alternate method for us (and a few others) to get back to the mainland (shorter boat ride and a bus) including a taxi back to our hotel at no additional cost.
Marine and Elisabeth were in constant contact throughout to check on things. Always easy to get in touch with if necessary. We happened to be there during the rainy season and a holiday weekend so more potential than usual for issues to come up.

We had a really great time in Colombia last October. The trip was adjusted to meet our various requests prior to departure, and everything was perfectly organized once there (visits, drivers, hotels...). We would recommend KimKim and Marine without hesitation. Thanks again!

Nathalie was extremely responsive and our holiday went incredibly smoothly. The guides and activities we did were really high quality and we had a fantastic trip, in large part because of the well organized trip and recommendations we got from Nathalie. The only thing I would have changed is the booking of our flights, which had to be changed due to the strike. These were not booked immediately and therefore the price went up again. However, this is fairly minor as we appreciate that those... read more

Nathalie was extremely responsive and our holiday went incredibly smoothly. The guides and activities we did were really high quality and we had a fantastic trip, in large part because of the well organized trip and recommendations we got from Nathalie. The only thing I would have changed is the booking of our flights, which had to be changed due to the strike. These were not booked immediately and therefore the price went up again. However, this is fairly minor as we appreciate that those were unusual circumstances. We otherwise found the service to be very responsive and easily facilitated through Kimkim.

The quality of the tours was amazing. Everywhere we went, we had dedicated drivers. The only thing I would change is the hotel in Cartagena. It felt a little run down and dirty. Otherwise, everything else was perfect! My favorite stay was in La Jorara.

Juan & his team made themselves available 24 hours a day, even when we had a flight delay.

Nathalie was great to work with. It might've been nice to have a "menu" of activities to choose from in each city. It would also be nice for the pricing to be broken down by activity/accommodation to better understand how the total was calculated.

Nathalie was very accommodating in the planning process, and checking in with us at the beginning and end of our trip was a nice touch. There were a couple of times that we would've liked to call her but couldn't because we didn't want to incur... read more

Nathalie was great to work with. It might've been nice to have a "menu" of activities to choose from in each city. It would also be nice for the pricing to be broken down by activity/accommodation to better understand how the total was calculated.

Nathalie was very accommodating in the planning process, and checking in with us at the beginning and end of our trip was a nice touch. There were a couple of times that we would've liked to call her but couldn't because we didn't want to incur expensive international cell phone charges. It would've been nice to have been provided a cheap cell phone that we could've used to reach her if necessary - this is something we have had from other agencies for other trips.

Planning (with Nathalie) was excellent and everything that had been arranged went off really well.

Excellent service and always on-hand and attentive

Most of the trip was very good and well organized.

The Cartagena portion of the trip could have been better. There was some confusion with our day trIp to Rosario island. We didn't have the right information as to where to go and were told we needed a voucher which we never received. Tour guides in Cartagena tried to change our tour times and insisted on taking us to emerald shops (twice) even after we said we didn't want to go there.

Taxi drivers always showed up on time. Most guides were very good. Our favorite tour guides were Angelica in bogota and David in the coffee region.

I absolutely loved my (2) treks with Expediciones Colombia (in partnership with the other two companies my guides were from). To make the trip better, I would have liked to hike with others. I was alone with my guide and was hoping to make some new friends! So, that was disappointing. I'm not sure why Expediciones couldn't find more trekkers since I made the reservation months in advance for that purpose (of finding other trekkers). The trek itself and the scenery were excellent. Thank you!... read more

I absolutely loved my (2) treks with Expediciones Colombia (in partnership with the other two companies my guides were from). To make the trip better, I would have liked to hike with others. I was alone with my guide and was hoping to make some new friends! So, that was disappointing. I'm not sure why Expediciones couldn't find more trekkers since I made the reservation months in advance for that purpose (of finding other trekkers). The trek itself and the scenery were excellent. Thank you!

Tara's emails were excellent, but I was corresponding with Jules. On the day I needed to contact him, he was held up in an area that didn't have good reception (returning from his rafting trip). It would have been helpful to have had Tara's phone number or my guide's (Erwin's number) so I could speak with someone else instead regarding packing and logistics for the following morning.

It is truly difficult to put into words how amazing our trip to Colombia was! When my friend and I initially decided to travel to Colombia, I did some research and found that there were SO MANY places that looked amazing, but some of them were a little off the beaten path and it seemed like going with a guide would be the best option. I had previously done a private tour with a local guide in India, and it was such an amazing experience that I was hoping to find something similar in Colombia.... read more

It is truly difficult to put into words how amazing our trip to Colombia was! When my friend and I initially decided to travel to Colombia, I did some research and found that there were SO MANY places that looked amazing, but some of them were a little off the beaten path and it seemed like going with a guide would be the best option. I had previously done a private tour with a local guide in India, and it was such an amazing experience that I was hoping to find something similar in Colombia. This is when I found Kimkim and was connected with Jules.

Jules, Tara, and their team really went above and beyond helping us plan the tour. They were very responsive to our questions (and there were a lot of them), and they worked with us for at least a month, going back and forth with different tour options until we had planned a trip that fit our budget and our desired itinerary. I'm sure I drove them a little crazy, but they were extremely kind, patient, and professional throughout the entire planning process. Jules was so enthusiastic about all of the places that we wanted to visit, and it was obvious that he was very genuine and excited for us to be experiencing a side of Colombia that a lot of tourists never see.

Since Jules had another obligation, he set us up with Nico, one of his teammates, as our tour guide for the majority of our tour. Nico was super laid back and fun (and funny!), and we had an amazing time touring with him to La Cienaga Grande/Nueva Valencia, Taironaka Reserve, La Guajira, and Medellin. He was very knowledgeable about all of the places we went, and he was also kind enough to share with us some personal stories about his life and about growing up in Medellin, a city I really never thought I would visit, but one that ended up being really vibrant and beautiful, and that I am so glad I was able to visit. During our 4 days with Nico, we visited a village on stilts in the middle of the swap, cooled off in a peaceful river after a very hot day and spent the night at an archaeological reserve, drove through La Guajira desert and interacted with the Wayuu people, swam in the Caribbean at the most insanely gorgeous beach (that we literally had to ourselves) in Cabo de la Vela, saw Flamingos in the wild, and toured a coffee plantation in Medellin! Every single place we went was incredible in its own way.

After we left Nico in Medellin, we lucky enough to go on a 2-day rafting trip on the Rio Verde, with our guides Mael and Lucho, who were also super cool guys, and who obviously love what they do. It is hard to pick my favorite part of the trip, but the rafting trip was definitely up there. The drive to the town of San Francisco was beautiful, and the 3-hour hike through the mountains down to the river was some of the most beautiful, lush green scenery that I have ever seen. We camped in the jungle that night, and saw fireflies, shooting stars, butterflies, birds, and even a monkey! The next day we rafted for about 3 or 4 hours, swam in a gorgeous waterfall, and just enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us.

This trip was truly unforgettable, thanks to Jules, Tara, Nico, Mael, and Lucho, and also the wonderful drivers that we had for different parts of the trip. I only wish I could have stayed longer! Thank you all SO much!! It truly was a magical experience that exceeded our expectations. There is really nothing better than swimming in the Caribbean on a beach that you have almost entirely to yourselves and seeing Flamingos in the wild.

Tara was very friendly, quick to respond to my messages, and also very helpful in tailoring our trip to make it fit our budget and desired itinerary. I really appreciate her help with adjusting our plans when one of our friends was unable to come on the trip due to work.

Thank you, Tara!

Jules, Tara and the staff at Expedition Colombia helped us to plan an AMAZING itinerary, but once we began our active holiday, the places we went and sights we experienced were beyond anything I could've dreamed. The entire trip was truly extraordinary. I figured Colombia was a beautiful place, but everything far surpassed all of my expectations! A great big thanks to the team of wonderful and charming people at Expedition Colombia! The knowledgeable and charismatic guides for our adventures... read more

Jules, Tara and the staff at Expedition Colombia helped us to plan an AMAZING itinerary, but once we began our active holiday, the places we went and sights we experienced were beyond anything I could've dreamed. The entire trip was truly extraordinary. I figured Colombia was a beautiful place, but everything far surpassed all of my expectations! A great big thanks to the team of wonderful and charming people at Expedition Colombia! The knowledgeable and charismatic guides for our adventures (Nicho, Mael and Lucho) and drivers made our experience that much better. I highly recommend an active holiday with Expedition Colombia for anyone who is looking for a truly memorable, once in a lifetime experience in Colombia. Thanks again for such an incredible time!!!!!

Tara was incredibly friendly, knowledgable, helpful and responsive while coordinating with her to plan our amazing itinerary in Colombia. She is an absolute pleasure to work with!

We enjoyed our activities. However, on two occasions our guide/driver arrived earlier than listed so they had to wait for us a bit. I hope they didn't mind! Also, the hotel for our beach excursion was not aware that we were to have access to a room for changing and leaving out items as described in our outline (so we were unable to do so). No big deal though.

Nathalie was very helpful and patient during the planning stages. She listed to what we wanted and was flexible with our requests. We enjoyed working with her!

Nathalie was awesome and she gave us everything we asked for and the price was perfect!!! We had an awesome time and a lot of that was KimKim making all our arrangements!! It is so nice to get off a plane tired and just see s sign with your name on it!!! Love it!! And even my friends said we will use KimKim again for future travels!! Thank you so much for a great trip!!!

Suggest that the trip summary include the start times of tours.

Nathalie was great

The events and activities we did were amazing and highly enjoyable. We were sad that Natalie was not available to help us or answer our questions while we were here. No one picked us up at the airport in Cali and the Calanoa transport was told the wrong time for our flight. Otherwise, Natalie was very helpful and we have had a great trip.

You guys provided a great itinerary, but I think it also would have been nice to know some other details beforehand. i.e., the walk down to rio verde is rigid and pretty long, wear good shoes. There are no showers or sinks at the camp site. Bring plenty of water, etc.

I put in the passport for that one person from our group was a vegetarian and there was no vegetarian dinner option. :(

For future groups, I would recommend providing a luggage requirement. We were told in the van on the way... read more

You guys provided a great itinerary, but I think it also would have been nice to know some other details beforehand. i.e., the walk down to rio verde is rigid and pretty long, wear good shoes. There are no showers or sinks at the camp site. Bring plenty of water, etc.

I put in the passport for that one person from our group was a vegetarian and there was no vegetarian dinner option. :(

For future groups, I would recommend providing a luggage requirement. We were told in the van on the way to the river that there would be limited space in the dry bags. It would have been nice to know ahead of time so we could have packed minimally instead of having to re-pack bags on the side of the road and leave things in the van.

It was fantastic and planned very well. We had a great time. My only comment would be more detail in the overall itinerary so we don't have to bounce around kimkim trying to find different pieces of information about each activity.

The hotel we stayed at in Santa Marta was not great. The lack of air conditioning was a big problem. Also our guide for the hike in Tayrona did not speak much English and was therefore not very helpful. Other than that, the trip was great!

It was weird that I just got one travel agent, and that there was no choice at all -- an agent that ended up being good, if not perfect. I felt there was no particular reason I got this agent as opposed to any other--why this person? What was so great about them? What was special about who they were, or why I they were the person who should plan my trip?

Communication could have been better. We went 3 days without hearing anything, and then found out that our itinerary needed changes. Trip was still amazing, but going through that was nerve racking.

We were very pleased with our experience in Cartagena and Isla Mucura. We did not appreciate the difficulty of the 13.3-mile hike planned for our second day in Colombia. (For example, we did not know how long the hike would be. We had an estimate of how many hours in would last, but not of the difficulty.) We are in good shape, but this was a daunting scramble though and over boulders and with a 300-meter plus gain in altitude in a tropical jungle.
We were disappointed in the Casa Lina... read more

We were very pleased with our experience in Cartagena and Isla Mucura. We did not appreciate the difficulty of the 13.3-mile hike planned for our second day in Colombia. (For example, we did not know how long the hike would be. We had an estimate of how many hours in would last, but not of the difficulty.) We are in good shape, but this was a daunting scramble though and over boulders and with a 300-meter plus gain in altitude in a tropical jungle.
We were disappointed in the Casa Lina Hotel in Palominos and in the Casa Amarilla Hotel in Mompox. The language barrier was high in both locations, the beds were uncomfortable and the staff were correct but not friendly.

We seemed to have difficulty understanding each other. When we needed help with a billing dispute (in Mompox) and in adjusting our itinerary (in Palominos), she was not readily available.
As in other aspects of the trip, we were to blame for some of this. We should have pursued more subjects before we left, regarding temperatures, hiking difficulties, sunscreen, etc. I was also disappointed when we were asked for full payment earlier than I expected.

I can't say enough what a pleasure it was working with these folks for our trip into the Amazon for our honeymoon. From the time I made the initial contact with KimKim until the end of our adventure, we felt like we were the only concern they had. We worked with Nathalie on the front end for lining the trip up and making sure we had everything we needed. She was very thorough and polite, and kept in excellent contact with me prior to the trip.
Once we arrived at the airport in Leticia we... read more

I can't say enough what a pleasure it was working with these folks for our trip into the Amazon for our honeymoon. From the time I made the initial contact with KimKim until the end of our adventure, we felt like we were the only concern they had. We worked with Nathalie on the front end for lining the trip up and making sure we had everything we needed. She was very thorough and polite, and kept in excellent contact with me prior to the trip.
Once we arrived at the airport in Leticia we waited a few minutes for our ride to show up and then were taken straight down to the office to get ready for our 4 day trek into the Amazon jungle! Thats where we met with our guide Ramiro, were promptly issued some rubber muck boots, and went over some necessities for our trip. We didn't bring enough mosquito repellent or rain ponchos, so we made a quick stop at the store to grab some and then had a nice lunch with our guide at a restaurant there in town. Once we were ready to roll, we hopped in a cab and were driven about 20 minutes outta town, where we got out and the 3 of us began walking through the jungle. Immediately I was feeling grateful that they gave us the rubber boots and told us to grab more Deet!! We eventually started fondly calling the bug repellent "Amazonian Cologne". It worked great though and really as long as we kept some on, the mosquitoes really didn't bother us that much.
We walked for maybe a couple hours into the jungle to a Maloka and met with some of the native people there working on the plantation. Our guide Ramiro knew the people well and immediately introduced us and explained what they were working on. We had some supper and just hung out for a little bit until it got dark. Then we went for a hike into the jungle to look at the nocturnal wildlife, which was really awesome to see everything!! We saw all kinds of cool stuff! That night we met with the Shaman and shared his Mumbai. We had a good talk with him and learned a bit about their culture, which we found very interesting!
The next day we woke up & had breakfast & then hiked for several hours through the jungle to a remote Lodge where we showered & relaxed for awhile. After supper we hiked for about 15 minutes to a huge tree where we repelled UP about 100 feet to a big platform just above the jungle canopy. Ramiro was given instructions by the company to leave us alone in the tree house for a few hours, since it was our honeymoon, so he set us up with some rose petals, grapes & chocolates, and a bottle of champagne, and then they went back to the lodge for a few hours so we could have some privacy ;) The next morning we woke up to see the sun rise over the jungle, zip lined out of that tree into another tree platform, and repelled down to the ground. What an experience! We hiked for a couple hours to the river and boarded some kayaks and took off paddling. It was high water season so the river was swollen up and into the jungle so we had a lot to look at from the kayaks. We paddled a couple hours and finally made it across a big lake to another Lodge where we ate lunch and met our boat captain. The last leg of our journey was in a small boat where we got to see a bunch more wildlife, including sloths, toucans, monkeys, pink dolphins, grey dolphins, green parrots, and piranhas! We fished for and caught piranhas and took them back to the lodge where they cooked them for us! They were great! We drank some cachacas with the folks who run the lodge and then went off to bed. The next day we boarded the boat again and made our way back to Leticia to conclude our trip.
All in all I would say our Amazon jungle experience was truly amazing! The people that we met were all so nice, courteous, and respectful, and you could tell they sincerely appreciated our business. We feel that we made lifelong friends with our guide Ramiro, and hope to stay in contact with him through Facebook. He had everything lined out perfectly and even cooked most of the food we ate on the trip! What seemed like an amazing trip to us was literally just another day to him. He has done hundreds if not thousands of those trips and we felt safe the entire time.
I would highly recommend this company for your trip into the Amazon. They did a great job for us and was worth every dollar we spent on it!!! A+

The overall experience and final results were good but communication was frustrating. You do everything by internet which is fine for a young generation but for a senior generation this impersonal approach is difficult and when in transit usually without wi-fi availability it becomes challenging. Unfortunately our contact left your company at a critical time although both girls were excellent.

The overall plan was generic but the notification of pickups was and van drivers were last minute.... read more

The overall experience and final results were good but communication was frustrating. You do everything by internet which is fine for a young generation but for a senior generation this impersonal approach is difficult and when in transit usually without wi-fi availability it becomes challenging. Unfortunately our contact left your company at a critical time although both girls were excellent.

The overall plan was generic but the notification of pickups was and van drivers were last minute. The local transport companies and drivers you contracted were outstanding punctual and polite. In our party, 3 did not speak any Spanish and I fluent in both ended doing all the translating and acting as a guide not a big deal but if you are going to expand tourists from North America you should try to get ones with a little English.

From Pasto to Cali travel company Tierra y Cielo as well as driver Henry Patoja and guide in Medellin Maria Elena Marín were A1. Travel companies Cali Salento and salento Medellin I give a A. English guide in Salento was charming but English very limited. Your hotel choices Le park in Medellin was good and ideally situated and Hacienda Cairo was excellent and highly recommended. As a born Colombian living in Canada I was happy to show my wife and friends Colombia in a positive way and very happy with your arrangements

Over Xmas, I now intend bringing my children and grandchildren for a two-week visit and hope we can work together again.

Pick up info at each point was last minute, all else was well. Nathalie and Katheryn were good.