I contacted kimkim to help craft a custom itinerary with a guide spend almost a week hiking in the Ecuadorian Andes. The kimkim staff was professional and responsive. Most importantly, they contracted an independent local guide who spoke excellent english and specialized in hiking trips.
During the trip we had to adjust the itinerary based on road conditions after a very strong storm closed the road to one of our our planned overnight stay locations. Alternative accommodations were...
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I contacted kimkim to help craft a custom itinerary with a guide spend almost a week hiking in the Ecuadorian Andes. The kimkim staff was professional and responsive. Most importantly, they contracted an independent local guide who spoke excellent english and specialized in hiking trips.
During the trip we had to adjust the itinerary based on road conditions after a very strong storm closed the road to one of our our planned overnight stay locations. Alternative accommodations were made seamlessly, and it was great to see that the kimkim folks and our local guide were on the same page and kept us in the loop.
My one change would probably be to find a location closer to Chimborazo outside of Riobamba instead of staying in town. The town is not terribly clean and fairly noisy. While our time there was completely fine, l would suggest this improvement for the next group interested in doing a trip similar to ours.
Lastly, I can't say enough good things about our local guide Milton. He really made our trip special and we will treasure our time together for a long time.
Hotel Reviews
Santa Lucia House - Forum
Cuenca
Wonderful staff, great location, and a lovely interior. Our room was situated at the front of the hotel, so we heard som street noise, but the large sitting room just outside our room more than made up for it.
Breakfast was good. We really appreciated they adjusted their breakfast schedule to accommodate us leaving early in AM on two different occasions.
Authenticity & Character
Lovely traditional Andalusian style.
Location
Less than 5 minutes to the town center.
Staff
Everyone we met was friendly and helpful
Mansion Santa Isabella
Riobamba
While the Andalusian style is nice, the staff was only moderately helpful and the room overlooking the street was very noisy.
Staff
The weekend staff was not terribly friendly or helpful. It didn't seem like they enjoyed their job very much.
Activity Reviews
Cajas National Park
Ecuador
Who knew Scotland was in Ecuador. This is a very special place to hike.
Quality of Experience
We lucked out on the weather. Go early!
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Cuenca is a special town. We were fortunate that our guide Milton was from there, so we totally benefitted from having a local experience.
Quality of Experience
Meeting our guides family.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Milton's family was awesome.
Explore the Quilotoa Lagoon
Ecuador
The hike around the crater is terrific. There is some steep vertical in the first quarter of the hike going counterclockwise, so be ready for that.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Our guide Milton recommended going counterclockwise, which was totally the right call.
Transport
We made a decision the night before to stay in Chugchilan instead of Isnilivi. Not only were we closer to the lake the next day, but we luckily avoided a major landslide that would have kept us from getting to Quilatoa at all.
Explore Cotopaxi National Park
Ecuador
We totally lucked out to see the mountain. Great hikes to the Rifugio and around the lake.
Guides, Drivers and Staff
Transport
We used a local driver for the last part of the drive.
Local specialist: Paul Cisneros