Kimkim Trip Reviews for Galapagos Islands

Bob and I truly enjoyed our time on the Yacht Anahi. The staff was warm and very helpful. Any request was immediately attended.

Our cabin was spacious and comfortable. We were surprised to find that it was bigger than the hotel room we had in Quito! We had all of the amenities and then some! Couldn’t have been happier.

Our guide, Gallo, was extremely knowledgeable, organized, efficient and funny 😄. He was informative on all aspects of the Galapagos - flora, fauna, birds, reptiles, sea life...we left this trip with a lot more than we bargained. We can’t wait to return and visit the other islands that weren’t part of this trip.

The food was delicious. Karen is a great chef and produced wonderful meals each day. My only suggestion is to offer snacks that are readily available to the guests...like a bowl of fruit. Snacks were available when the crew put them out after an occasional excursion, not all excursions, and were in the form of a bowl of potato chips or pork rinds. Things we don’t normally consume. No real options.

Lastly, the jacuzzi on the second level was not utilized. Twice I requested turning on the unit and was met with a “later” excuse that never materialized.

Overall, it was an amazing experience. Truly a trip of a lifetime. We are very grateful to the crew, our guide Gallo and Gabor at Kimkim.

We enjoyed our 5 days of sailing in the Galapagos aboard the Fragata. Our guide, Roberto, was entertaining and knowledgeable about the islands. We especially enjoyed our interactions with the crew, namely Ramon and Jordan. They made our time aboard the boat fun by joining us for games. It was great to get to know them.

Overall, we had a great experience.

One suggestion is about snorkel gear rental. The Fragata website is not clear about cost of rentals. It lists a price for snorkel equipment. What is not clear is that this price is for either snorkel and mask OR fins. If you want the full package, it is double the cost.

I am so glad I found this site. I was able to describe our interests, and Isabel put together a very nice itinerary that hit all our interests and maximized the use of our limited time, but still had some down time built in. Having a local "shepherd" us, first from the airport onto the bus/hotel, and then each morning to the group activity, took so much stress off of us (standing in line, buying tickets, wondering where the meet point was, etc.). We have traveled in many countries, but this by far was maybe the smoothest and best thing I've ever done -- all the comfort of a local who speaks the language without the constraints of being tied to the same group/same activities each day. Once in Puerto Ayora, Karina checked us into the hotel and explained the itinerary for the coming week, including what activities, recommended footwear, etc. Karina was both personable and efficient - always on time to the minute, with the taxi right on time as well - no stress at all. The group tour (hiking and snorkeling - our two favorite things) with Fausto on Santa Cruz was a big highlight - great tour!

Linda was absolutely amazing and put together the ideal itinerary for us which turned out to be the trip of a lifetime! Not only was she there for all the preparation and planning but when we arrived she was a total star in sorting out lost luggage, making sure we were ok, and even tracking down a lost pair of glasses that caught up with us by high speed boat just before we were about to leave. 5 stars is just not enough, Linda really was a life saver! I highly recommend Linda and Kim Kim, absolutely brilliant!

There were some slight variances from the descriptions but some were lacking while others were above and beyond expectations! Fernando was so great we felt as though we were leaving a friend after out short stay in Quito. Richard in Galápagos was very knowledgeable and clearly proud of all that he has learned. The day tours in Galápagos are not really as described although we enjoyed them thoroughly. I suggest contacting the excursion companies and request updated information.
When I look back at my trip I can only think how very perfect and wonderful it was! I will highly recommend Kimkim to friends.

Overall the trip was absolutely amazing. It was also very easy to organise the trip through Kim Kim.
Two things to note were that on one day we sat on the boat stationary for 6 hours without a guide and weren't able to do anything as we waited for others to arrive.

Secondly, on our itinerary it was different to the itinerary the boat had for us on the last day. We had to go off by ourselves to see the tortoises and meant we were additionally out of pocket to go see this site as another place was planned for the others. This was our last chance to see them so we had to do it at this time. The people on the boat said this was an issue with the people who made our booking.

Other than that, was a great trip.

Thanks for everything.

Ben

Overall I can sum up our experience as Excellent!! Thanks to Linda who did a wonderful job of getting the tour planning and arrangements taken care of. Our entire trip was very well organized and worked like a clock right from the day we landed in Quito. Linda worked methodically answering every question that we had during the planning process, customizing the minute details, dietary requirements, transportation, guide information etc. I liked the personalization of the whole package. I would recommend Kimkim travels to anyone who considers planning a vacation to the Galapagos and Amazon. Great staff, very courteous and affordable.

Linda was absolutely wonderful. She booked my last minute Galapagos trip . She was eager to help very responsive and knew the area really well. I am grateful for her help and I strongly recommend her to other travelers. Thank you Linda

Our 4 day custom tour was nearly perfect. The only glitch was an early morning pick-up that didn't happen. I reached our contact person and we were instructed to hire a cab to deliver us to the pier (a 30 minute drive). I paid the driver $25.00 for which I was reimbursed 2 days later. All of our guides were professional, pleasant and very accommodating. Marielisa was our knowledgeable travel specialist and arranged quality tours, boats and helped with planning the itinerary. Thank you. KimKim helped to make our Galapagos Islands vacation the trip of a lifetime!

All went as planned... except I got sick, had to see a doctor a day before one of the trips to an island. I was told even though I called in advance, they would not refund my money for that day. She said the company who they contracted with said no, they would not refund it. I asked for the info of this company, supervisor, contact info, etc but I never received it. Very disappointing.

We really enjoyed the whole trip. We found it was well planned. It ran very smoothly in terms of logistics. We particularly liked the itinerary and the scope of activities were simply great. All three islands are a delight. The food provided was, overall, extremely good. Zambo was very attentive and responsive.

The only recommendation we can give from our experience is related to the opportunity to have a dive. Unfortunately, the dive operation was not able to provide daily insurance cover, something is commonly available in diving operations around the world in our experience. The expectation was that we would have already taken dive insurance before we arrived. As a result the only choice was to dive without insurance which we opted not to. We would advise Kim Kim to make their clients aware in advance that if they may wish to dive they must arrange their own insurance in advance. Or better still, Kim Kim partners with a diving operation able to provide daily insurance cover.

Saying that, this did not detract from our full enjoyment over snorkelling ar kicker rock.

Overall, we would recommend this trip to our friends.
Patricia & Martin

We had a great time on each of the tours you organized. Thank you!!

I wish we had known the physical level required for the trip. I found it to be more physical than expected - - not undo-able, but would have appreciated knowing that walking sticks over the lava beds are suggested and vaulting from the panga to the yacht is a 2-3 times a day requirement.

Tariq was responsive and had an answer for our questions within a few hours every time.

The trip was awesome!