Alvaro Pereira

I should begin off by mentioning that I was really skeptical and paranoid about using kimkim for my dream trip to South America as it was my first time using it and I did not have any one i know that could vouch for it, but am now a convert and would use kimkim for my future plans as well.

Alvaro (Planner for my trip) was very patient and prompt in making sure that all my interests are captured well in the plan. The itinerary was put together with careful consideration to what I wanted.... read more

I should begin off by mentioning that I was really skeptical and paranoid about using kimkim for my dream trip to South America as it was my first time using it and I did not have any one i know that could vouch for it, but am now a convert and would use kimkim for my future plans as well.

Alvaro (Planner for my trip) was very patient and prompt in making sure that all my interests are captured well in the plan. The itinerary was put together with careful consideration to what I wanted. However personally, I expected no less in terms of the planning but the thing I appreciated the most was the fact that Alvaro was very patient in dealing with my questions and constant paranoia. I have in the past dealt with other services( not kimkim) who want you to finalize a plan quickly and push you to do so, so that they can get the commission and move on however Alvaro encouraged me to take time to make sure things are good.

The trip in itself was wonderful . Experience in Peruvian Amazon was nothing less than extraordinary.. Being in the lap of nature literally in the lungs of the world was experience of a lifetime. Luckily for us the weather was good and it did not rain(I am used to humidity from India so that did not bother me much) so was able to make full use of the time there. Our decision o visit North Chile as well was probably a little unorthodox but something I absolutely loved. From the Amazon to Atacama was a transition that was worth the money and time. Words and pictures cant do justice to the landscapes that we saw. The quality of the service throughout was excellent.

Hotels chosen were all based on our budget and good, while the guides and local services were on most trips awesome. Likewise for airport pick ups and drops (which I took because i dont know Spanish and wanted to avoid dealing with local taxi) were always on time.

People may be skeptical about the cost, as it would definitely be higher than if you would plan your own backpacking tour or use a local vendor, but if you are looking for a relaxing family tour where someone plans out your entire end to end tour without you having to worry about anything, then the cost is more than worth it. If you know the country and exactly what you are looking for then maybe you can go ahead an look for local vendors to save on money but otherwise if you dont know the country well, would encourage you to give kimkim a try!

Areas of Improvement -
The trip in itself went without any hiccup but one suggestion would be for Kimkim to ask the local vendors to contact the clients a day before without fail and have them share the plan for the next 3-4 days on day 1. For Peru that was the case with me, but for Atacama, Chile I was contacted for each tour separately (in advance of that particular tour). Like I said it went without any issue but did leave me anxious a couple of times waiting for a message from the local vendor.

All in all a 5 start experience for me!

Alvaro and Daniela were absolutely amazing to work with and helped so much in planning our trip. They knew the places to stay and where to go and made sure to find a way to add the places I really wanted to see in Galapagos. Even when we got sick they were there with info on local pharmacies and any info we could ask for! It was so nice having someone(s) there during our trip to answer any pop up questions we had as well. It went flawlessly and was even more amazing than we could have... read more

Alvaro and Daniela were absolutely amazing to work with and helped so much in planning our trip. They knew the places to stay and where to go and made sure to find a way to add the places I really wanted to see in Galapagos. Even when we got sick they were there with info on local pharmacies and any info we could ask for! It was so nice having someone(s) there during our trip to answer any pop up questions we had as well. It went flawlessly and was even more amazing than we could have even imagined. Well done!

Hotel Reviews

Wyndham Quito Airport

Quito

Insanely easy to get to and super nice if you have a late or early flight.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Las Plazas

Quito

Location was perfection and staff were so loving and nice

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right in the plaza

Staff

Sooooo nice

M/Y Solaris

Perfection! Loved the staff and the itinerary

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Isla Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Great location and beautiful view and rooms

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Colonial Quito City Tour & Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the World- Transfer Airport

Quito

Loved our guide Leo. 5 stars

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring the Santa Cruz Highlands

Galapagos Islands

Loved our guide Dario, super cool tunnel and tortoises and food were awesome

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking Adventure in Tortuga Bay & Afternoon Bay Tour of Santa Cruz Island

Puerto Ayora

Great tour, our guide was wonderful

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to San Cristóbal Island! Visit the Interpretation Center, Tijeretas Hill, or La Lobería

Galapagos Islands

Great time with our guide Patricio! He was just as cool as the places we visited

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wildlife Encountering at Lobos Island

Galapagos Islands

Great guide (Paulina I believe) and a ton of fun

Quality of Experience

Oh

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Embracing Nature: Discovering Wildlife on Española Island

Isla San Cristóbal

Carlos was awesome! So much info and great time with the people on the boat, crew of boat and naturalist

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

North Seymour island was cool and the guide was awesome too - Andreas. I’m not big into birds but thought the island was so cool and the babies were so cute!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snorkeling at Kicker Rock

Isla San Cristóbal

Martin was an awesome guide and the whole tour was awesome. Sooooo many sea lions and kicker rock we saw hammerheads! He was super intuitive and really tried to find us them even though we were snorkeling, it def paid off!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had the most amazing trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - a once-in-a-lifetime experience. From the initial interaction with KimKim and Alvaro all the way through to our last day - everything was flawlessly planned and executed. Alvaro put together the perfect itinerary for us, and was always available during the course of the trip, and managed to change our plans at the last minute during our trip.

All of our guides, drivers, tour operators, etc. were excellent - special... read more

We had the most amazing trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - a once-in-a-lifetime experience. From the initial interaction with KimKim and Alvaro all the way through to our last day - everything was flawlessly planned and executed. Alvaro put together the perfect itinerary for us, and was always available during the course of the trip, and managed to change our plans at the last minute during our trip.

All of our guides, drivers, tour operators, etc. were excellent - special mentions to Chris and Alejandro!

Ecuador is a spectacular place to visit. I would highly recommend a trip - from the volcanos, cloud rainforest, jungle, Galapagos Islands, and the wonderful people.

Thanks again Alvaro for planning such an epic visit!

Our Mindo forest tour was great. Marco picked us up on time and was more than flexible with what we wanted to do. Back on time with great memories of birds, zip lining and the scenery of the Mindo area. read more

Our Mindo forest tour was great. Marco picked us up on time and was more than flexible with what we wanted to do. Back on time with great memories of birds, zip lining and the scenery of the Mindo area.

Activity Review

Expedition to Mindo Cloud Forest

Quito

We did a small group personal tour to Mindo with Marco. He was great to deal with and fluent in English. We were flexible on what to see and do and so was Marco. Ended up skipping some planned items and added some others on. Great day.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Marco was driver and guide and was great at both.

Transport

Nice vehicle for our small group.

Alvaro was extremely good with making all my arrangements which were last minute. Everything ran very smoothly and according to my itinerary. All the bookings for transfers were with credible local guides who were friendly and very helpful and thoughtful. All in all an excellent service read more

Alvaro was extremely good with making all my arrangements which were last minute. Everything ran very smoothly and according to my itinerary. All the bookings for transfers were with credible local guides who were friendly and very helpful and thoughtful. All in all an excellent service

We decided in February to plan a family trip to the Galápagos Islands in June. I was overwhelmed by the prospect of researching such a trip, and turned to KimKim for help. Alvaro reached out to me in less than 24 hours with a jam-packed itinerary that was very insightful. He notes from the questionnaire that we were traveling with 2 teenagers, and intuitively booked us 2 rooms at all our hotels to ensure some space and privacy. He met with us via zoom to go over the itinerary, and we tweaked... read more

We decided in February to plan a family trip to the Galápagos Islands in June. I was overwhelmed by the prospect of researching such a trip, and turned to KimKim for help. Alvaro reached out to me in less than 24 hours with a jam-packed itinerary that was very insightful. He notes from the questionnaire that we were traveling with 2 teenagers, and intuitively booked us 2 rooms at all our hotels to ensure some space and privacy. He met with us via zoom to go over the itinerary, and we tweaked it accordingly. We had a wonderful trip! Alvaro was VERY quick to respond with an informative answer to any message I sent during our travels. The local guides that we encountered were a wealth of information, and took great care of us. Toward the end of our trip, my husband had a 24 hour stomach illness, and electrolytes and over-the-counter remedies were delivered to the hotel for him, initiated and arranged by the local guides. I will happily use KimKim again, and refer them to all my friends.

Hotel Review

EB Hotel by Eurobuilding Quito

Quito

Very comfortable, and the staff was incredibly accommodating. Breakfast had a wide variety of offerings.

Activity Review

Wildlife Encounter at Los Tuneles (Cabo Rosa)

Galapagos Islands

Without question, this was a highlight of our entire Galapagos trip. Every type of marine life and bird we hoped to see, we found up close. Our guide, Darwin, took photos and videos of everything and everyone, and graciously transferred them to everyone’s phone. We swam with so many sea turtles, sharks, rays, penguins. We found an octopus, a sea horse, and learned about the blue-footed boobies and penguins. It was a truly memorable day!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alvaro was great in the organization of the trip. The team on the ground was very attentive, committed and pretty well organized (albeit some Latin American habits never change like not being on-time for your fist meeting :) ) and showed us how great is Ecuador. The Galapagos are fantastic and highly recommended - make sure you spend enough time there and book the right visits. Thank you! read more

Alvaro was great in the organization of the trip. The team on the ground was very attentive, committed and pretty well organized (albeit some Latin American habits never change like not being on-time for your fist meeting :) ) and showed us how great is Ecuador. The Galapagos are fantastic and highly recommended - make sure you spend enough time there and book the right visits. Thank you!

Found the whole experience a bit of a mess to be honest. Had to keep chasing for pick up times which kept changing. Quito is dangerous in the evening and I wasn’t told this so basically stayed close to my hotel for safety. Room was small and dank. Staff were friendly though. Missed 7 hours of a scheduled day awaiting a transfer which turned out to be a small car not big enough for 3 passengers and luggage. Nearly 4 hours trapped in the front seat with my backpack between my legs. Hakuna... read more

Found the whole experience a bit of a mess to be honest. Had to keep chasing for pick up times which kept changing. Quito is dangerous in the evening and I wasn’t told this so basically stayed close to my hotel for safety. Room was small and dank. Staff were friendly though. Missed 7 hours of a scheduled day awaiting a transfer which turned out to be a small car not big enough for 3 passengers and luggage. Nearly 4 hours trapped in the front seat with my backpack between my legs. Hakuna matata lodge was a good experience and the trip I did was enjoyable. Private transfer back to Quito turned out to be a battered old taxi with a driver more interested in picking up fares on the the way than my safety. Road is dangerous and more so when the driver tries to overtake on blind bends. 3 1/2 hours of terror. Oh but I got offered a Wapping $40 compensation for my troubles. Communication is good from Kim Kim but customer service and attention to detail is missing.

After heavy research, my friend and I wanted to see Ecuador more than the “typical” Galapagos trip so we thought KinKim provided that to us. It delivered what we were looking for when we went, from the ornate gilded churches of Quito to the Mitad, the dizzying scenery of Quilotoa, to the spectacular waterfalls of Banos and views of the mighty Cotopaxi from a full day’s hike. Our itinerary manager, Alvaro, was very thorough but we found the asset of KimKim Ecuador was our guide, Sebastian.... read more

After heavy research, my friend and I wanted to see Ecuador more than the “typical” Galapagos trip so we thought KinKim provided that to us. It delivered what we were looking for when we went, from the ornate gilded churches of Quito to the Mitad, the dizzying scenery of Quilotoa, to the spectacular waterfalls of Banos and views of the mighty Cotopaxi from a full day’s hike. Our itinerary manager, Alvaro, was very thorough but we found the asset of KimKim Ecuador was our guide, Sebastian. Ecuador is a jewel in the crown for sure so I’d highly recommend KinKim to anyone who wishes to explore it.

I had a really great experience planning and booking this trip for my family. Alvaro was great - very patient, accommodating, and willing to revise the trip a number of times based on our requirements. However, our experience on the trip was not great. According to our trip plan, a guide was supposed to meet us at the Baltra airport in the Galapagos and help us navigate from the airport, onto a bus, onto a ferry to Santa Cruz island, take us to our hotel and help us get to our afternoon... read more

I had a really great experience planning and booking this trip for my family. Alvaro was great - very patient, accommodating, and willing to revise the trip a number of times based on our requirements. However, our experience on the trip was not great. According to our trip plan, a guide was supposed to meet us at the Baltra airport in the Galapagos and help us navigate from the airport, onto a bus, onto a ferry to Santa Cruz island, take us to our hotel and help us get to our afternoon activity. The guide did not meet us. Cell coverage in the Galapagos is very poor, so we were basically stranded trying to figure this all out on our own. When we finally connected with Alvaro, he told me that he did not know why the guide didn't meet us and that "this never happens." Not particularly helpful. The woman who finally met us at our hotel in Santa Cruz provided no explanation about what had happened and where our guide was. Also, she did not speak any English. That was fine because we speak Spanish, but it would have been a problem if we did not. On the last day of our trip, we were returning to Santa Cruz from Isabela Island and, again, a guide was supposed to meet us on Santa Cruz (which I confirmed several times in advance) and no one met us. Ultimately, the Galapagos-based tour operator refunded us $110 for the missing guides. I do not think that was enough of a refund for the inflated cost of the trip or for our stress and inconvenience. I would not recommend booking with KimKim. There seems to be a major disconnect between KimKim and the Galapagos-based tour operators. We spent a lot of time on our trip dealing with coordination and logistics and stressing out about the next steps in our itinerary. It was disappointing.

Hotel Reviews

Posada del Mar

Puerto Ayora

We had a lot of trouble with our tour operator and the hotel owner went above and beyond to try to help us and make our experience better.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Fiesta

Puerto Ayora

This was a great hotel! Good location, awesome pool, very comfortable and nice rooms!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hostal Loja

Puerto Villamil

The owners/operators of this hotel were really helpful and kind.

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Activity Reviews

Hola Galapagos! Arrival to Santa Cruz Island

Puerto Ayora

The guide never met us and we were stranded at Baltra airport trying to navigate the bus to the ferry to the hotel all on our own. There is very limited cell reception in the Galapagos and we weren't able to connect with anyone from KimKim to help us out.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

No one met us

Transport

Afternoon Bay Tour of Santa Cruz Island

Puerto Ayora

The guides were great! We enjoyed this activity.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

The guide, captain, boat staff were all excellent! The food was fantastic!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hiking the Sierra Negra Volcano (AM) & Speedboat to Santa Cruz Island (PM)

Galapagos Islands

Rain was in the forecast, but the guide did not offer us the chance to turn around or change our plans. We were absolutely soaked and the clouds obscured any view we would have had. The park rangers were unhelpful and refused to help us call a taxi to come "rescue" us from the volcano.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide was not looking out for our safety or comfort.

Transfer to Airport on Baltra Island - Flight back to Mainland

Galapagos Islands

Dario was a great guide. He was very knowledgeable and helpful throughout the entire experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discover the Wonders of Tintoreras Islet: A Journey into Breathtaking Biodiversity

Puerto Villamil

Sebastian was a great guide! Very friendly and knowledgeable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Danny was our guide he was awesome perfect fit for a relaxing vacation. Alvaro planned our trip he did a awesome job very happy with both of them read more

Danny was our guide he was awesome perfect fit for a relaxing vacation. Alvaro planned our trip he did a awesome job very happy with both of them

We had the most amazing trip to Ecuador. It was a group of 5 family members. The activities were of a wide variety to satisfy everyone. Our guides and drivers did a wonderful job. They were informative but also gave us time to sit back and enjoy the scenery. All of our provided meals were delicious.

The places most memorable include the hacienda resort in the high amazon and banos. Getting into the nature of ecuador was great. Our guide in the high amazon Miguel was great, easy to understand knowledgeable about his content and the flora and fauna.

The mainland portion of our Ecuador adventure and our guide, Christian, were wonderful and exceeded our expectations. This includes the visit to Asuni National Park and Napo Cultural Center with our guide for that area, Jose.
Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for kimkim's travel vendor in the Galapagos. Who that vendor actually is, we were unable to determine. We had carefully and intentionally scheduled a down day for our first full day on Isla Santa Cruz so that we would have a... read more

The mainland portion of our Ecuador adventure and our guide, Christian, were wonderful and exceeded our expectations. This includes the visit to Asuni National Park and Napo Cultural Center with our guide for that area, Jose.
Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for kimkim's travel vendor in the Galapagos. Who that vendor actually is, we were unable to determine. We had carefully and intentionally scheduled a down day for our first full day on Isla Santa Cruz so that we would have a chance to rest and recover from our busy and arduous many days on the mainland, plus another rest day for after the island trip. This did not happen. We were informed on arrival to arise the next morning for a 6am departure to Isla Bartolome. The guide who met us at the airport was unsympathetic. The trip itself was great, but we were not prepared (no previous contact about a change to our itinerary, let alone agreement on our part) for a full day trip on our first day there, and suffered accordingly. Not only was the schedule changed without our knowledge or agreement, but they couldn't even get the departure time correct. We were told to be outside our hotel at 6am and we were. Our pickup was late and had to speed to catch up to the bus halfway back to Baltra. Unbeknownst to us, the bus had actually left at 5:30am from a pickup point we didn't even know about. After a full day of sun and fun, instead of taking us to our hotel, the bus took us to the pickup/drop of point we had not even been to and we had no idea how to find our hotel. Fortunately, our guide for the Bartolome tour, Elizabeth, did not abandon us. Although she didn't know our hotel, the bus driver did and amid much confusion agreed to drop us there. Thank you Elizabeth!

We paid big bucks for our private tour and an itinerary that met our needs. But instead of our carefully planned rest days before and after the Bartolome trip, we had first the taxing trip then two unnecessary rest days after. Simply unacceptable and prevents a five star review and recommendation for kimkim. We are flexible, but not that flexible. Otherwise we had a great trip, but are not likely to use kimkim again as a result.

Hotel Reviews

Napo Cultural Center

Quito

Wonderful people and experience! Bring an appetite - they give you enough food for an army!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Jungle canopy tower, parrots and parakeets at clay lick, blackwater canoe trip.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa de Vista Alta

Mindo

A beautiful area and bed and breakfast. Very nice and accommodating hostess.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Las Plazas

Quito

Beautiful old (but renovated) hotel with very helpful staff.

Authenticity & Character

All the highly polished wood and the unique dining area.

Location

In Old Town. Area seemed safe enough to us.

Staff

No elevator but desk clerk took care of our heavy bags.

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Floresta

Baños

Modern and convenient.

Hotel Spa Casa Real

Riobamba

Adequate and spacious, but funky electrical outlet locations. Adequate but unremarkable restaurant with less than stellar menu. Surrounding area appeared possibly unsafe/unwalkable for a alternative restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Boutique Carvallo

Cuenca

Wonderful old but fully renovated hotel with very helpful and courteous staff. Conveniently located in Old Town Cuenca.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Posada del Mar

Puerto Ayora

This is not a luxury hotel but was comfortable and more than adequate for our needs. Very kind and helpful owner and his staff. Conveniently located to the pier area and central restaurants/activities in Puerto Ayora. The deli downstairs is one of the best places to eat that we found in Puerto Ayora.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Air conditioning was great and essential for the hot and humid climate. A spacious balcony overlooking the port.

EB Hotel by Eurobuilding Quito

Quito

This was by far the most luxurious hotel we stayed in during our Ecuador trip. Unnecessarily luxurious and over the top. The automated room lighting system was a constant pain with lights coming on and off unnecessarily. Hard to imagine how much the designers/architects must have been paid to design this inconvenient system.

Authenticity & Character

This building belongs in Europe. not Ecuador

Location

convenient to the airport

Staff

Very helpful and stored our luggage for us on the day after we checked out.

Cleanliness & Comfort

With three shower head to choose from, we think we got pretty clean!

Activity Reviews

Indigenous Encounter and Hike to Mama Cuna Path (Yaku Kausay Experience)

Yasuni National Park

Don't know what Mama Cuna Path is, but we had a great time in the Amazon, and all the staff and people we encountered were friendly, helpful and professional. We were well cared for.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring Cuenca and surroundings, Gualaceo, Chordeleg

Cuenca

See previous. The old weaving factory was a high light as was the amazing "Panama" hat factory where we acquired our beautiful hats.

Colonial Quito City Tour & Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the World

Quito

Our Quito tour was good but a few too many churches, though they are all beautiful in their own ways. Mitad del Mundo is the worst tourist trap we visited in Ecuador.

Quality of Experience

Food

Ecuadoreans have some strange ideas on "dressing up" a hamburger.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Afternoon Adventure to Teleferico Cablecar

Quito

We skipped this so can't really rate it but are forced to give one.

Sacred Wayusa Ritual, Goodbye and return to the City (Yaku Kausay Experience)

Yasuni National Park

We were given the opportunity to skip this early early morning activity, and the staff seemed as relieved as we were. We enjoyed the cultural activities we experienced in the village on the previous afternoon.

Relaxing Free Afternoon in Mindo

Mindo

We didn't have the free afternoon because our faithful guide, Christian, took us to a hummingbird sanctuary where we fed these beautiful creatures from a bottle cap placed in the palm of our hands. Having wild hummingbirds perched in our hands was a big highlight of our trip. Christian also took us to an amazing butterfly research and propagation station where we observed all life phases of many beautiful and fascinating butterflies.

Expedition to Mindo Cloud Forest

Quito

See previous

The Adventure Continues - Hiking Day at Cotopaxi National Park- Baños

Ecuador

Saw some interesting birdlife, but owing to the rainy season, we couldn't see Cotopaxi. Nobody's fault, just the season.

Reconnecting with Nature at Baños de Agua Santa

Baños

The waterfalls, especially the Devil's Cauldron, were truly awesome. We were looking forward to a soak in a hot pool, but this turned out to be unavailable and uninviting.

Journey to the Peak From the Center of the Earth: Chimborazo!

Ecuador

A snow and ice storm on top of the world! Again, because we were here in the rainy season, we didn't see much of the mountain, but we saw many wild vicunas including a heard running through the snowy countryside. Our local park guide, Alfredo, was a great and humble guy and local farmer who we much enjoyed meeting. The surrounding agricultural areas outside the park were a green checkerboard of fields extending to unbelievable heights up the mountain slopes. Much interesting local color and indigenous people in these areas.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring the Ancient Ingapirca Ruins: A Journey through History and Culture

Cuenca

Very interesting and well maintained historical area.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Cuenca! The Athens of Ecuador - City Tour

Cuenca

A beautiful, modern yet historic and cultural city and surrounding area. We can see why it's so attractive to expats. The artistry and craftmanship exhibited in nearby villages is outstanding.

From the Highlands to the Coast: Cajas National Park to Guayaquil

Ecuador

Beautiful mountain and lake vistas. Many landslides on the highway due to the recent rains, but we made through thanks to Christians excellent driving. The clouds parted at just the right time for us to have beautiful vistas above Guayaquil.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Santa Cruz Island: Highlands & Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

The tortoises at the farm were truly amazing and a big reason for our visit to Galapagos. We would have preferred to have gone straight to our hotel for check in and refresh ourselves and gone to the farm later.

Quality of Experience

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

The actual trip to Isla Bartolome was fantastic and we were able to see Galapagos penguins! Screwing up our agreed upon itinerary was not appreciated.

Exploring Local Culture: Otavalo Market & Hike the Cuicocha Lake

Otavalo

An interesting/scenic drive to Otovalo and a great unexpected side trip to a local park and waterfall. The market itself was repetitious and of varying quality, but useful if you want to buy items to take home. I wouldn't drive all the way there just for the market, but there is much else to see.

Tl;dr: I’d absolutely use kimkim and work with Alvaro again! It was overall a great experience. I’ll admit, I was a bit uncertain about it at first — I like being fully in control of all planning, and I’ve never used a travel agency before. Turns out it’s incredible to have local help with trip planning. All our guides were great (Hugo especially — he was our guide during the hiking, and was simply incredible) and there wasn’t a day I didn’t enjoy. Alvaro was wonderful throughout the process,... read more

Tl;dr: I’d absolutely use kimkim and work with Alvaro again! It was overall a great experience. I’ll admit, I was a bit uncertain about it at first — I like being fully in control of all planning, and I’ve never used a travel agency before. Turns out it’s incredible to have local help with trip planning. All our guides were great (Hugo especially — he was our guide during the hiking, and was simply incredible) and there wasn’t a day I didn’t enjoy. Alvaro was wonderful throughout the process, helping us plan the entire trip beforehand and during the trip was incredibly responsive (despite it being over holidays in Ecuador!) to help us solve any problems.

A few highlights of Alvaro’s helpfulness:
- Alvaro strongly encouraged us to keep the two rest days between our hiking in mainland Ecuador. We’re fit and used to hiking, so we were going to cut them out — and we were SO glad he insisted that we keep them. Hiking at altitude is totally different from at sea level; we appreciated the rest days.
- When our flight from Quito to the Galapagos was delayed, Alvaro had been tracking our flight and rescheduled our afternoon tour before we even messaged him about it. It was so nice not to have to worry about that or be contacting multiple people!
- We got altitude sickness during our acclimatizing hikes, so had to cancel our plan to hike Chimborazo. In the moment, Alvaro helped us make a new plan and adjust our accommodations for those nights. It was a little stressful to change plans last minute, but he made it extremely easy.
- One of our tour guides was late in picking us up and — despite it being 7:30AM — Alvaro helped us figure out what was going on and had the local guide come explain the situation. (The other people in our group tour had overslept.)
- We left our larger bags in the kimkim offices during our time in the Galapagos, and one of their drivers dropped it off with us at the airport to help us avoid an extra 90 minute drive to and from the airport. It really was the little things like this that made working with kimkim/Alvaro feel totally worthwhile. We would’ve had to rent a locker at the airport or something, and not having to deal with that hassle was a huge help.

Suggestions / things I would do differently:
- Know who your guide is each day. We never knew ahead of time who our guide was going to be, or if they’d be the same later. It would’ve been nice to know ahead of time that we’d have the same guide for all our hiking, for example. The pickup timing / structure was incredibly well coordinated, so we didn’t have trouble with finding/meeting our guide, but knowing who would repeat would’ve made tipping easier. And speaking of tipping…
- Figure out tipping expectations. Tipping is always confusing, all the time, but we still wish we’d’ve known more about norms. Alvaro gave us a general guideline to go off, which helped, but I wish we’d’ve asked him about specific days ahead of time.
- Get the direct contact info of your guides. While Alvaro was incredibly helpful, it would’ve been easier at times if we’d been able to communicate directly with our guides. One day our guide didn’t show up or communicate a delay to us (they arrived 90 minutes late, after we messaged Alvaro and he messaged them); another day we were at the departure spot in town, but had to walk back to our hotel for a pickup to drive us back there — it would’ve been nice to be able to just message the guide directly and tell them we’d meet them at the dock.
- Be well prepared for the weather, especially when hiking. We didn’t quite have the right expectations for the weather when hiking. I expect this is partially due to weather on mountains always being variable, but I wish we’d’ve been in contact directly with our guide beforehand to know how to prepare. (More notes in the daily activities, but tl;dr, we were colder than expected.)

Overall, kimkim made the entire travel experience much easier! Alvaro was incredible to work with and we appreciate all his help and expertise; truly the trip of a lifetime!

Hotel Reviews

Ikala Quito Hotel

Quito

Catered toward tourists: it's located in a touristy / wealthy part of Quito, the staff speak English, overall it was a very comfortable stay. Within walking distance of Quito's historical center, good restaurants, and a supermarket. - Breakfast (included) was incredible, seriously the best hotel breakfast I've ever had. - They have a laundry service, but it's priced per item and very expensive -- we ended up washing clothes in the sink. - Rooms and grounds are clean and well-kept. - The lighting is incredibly harsh and white. This seems to be the norm in Ecuador, but wow was it brutal turning on the lights in the morning. - Dinner (not included) is just okay; I'd go elsewhere for dinner. - Staff is very helpful! We left bags at the desk for a day while hiking (one night of camping, before returning to the hotel) and it was no problem.

Location

Within walking distance of Quito's historical center, good restaurants, and a supermarket.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cuello de Luna Mountain Lodge

El Chasqui - Pastocalle

Isolated hacienda on a hobby farm -- it is not within walking distance of anything, so expect to stay and eat here. Their food is good though, so for a rest day it's a lovely place to be. - They own a few friendly dogs that we played with outside. - Charming rooms; beds had heated blankets because it was a bit chilly -- no problems with temp for us. Rustic-feeling, but clean and comfortable. - Breakfast was simple and tasty (toast, eggs, cold oatmeal-type dish, GREAT coffee) - Dinner options were limited -- not really a menu, more of a "this is what's for dinner tonight, or you can have a sandwich" -- and tasty. They did accommodate vegetarians!

Authenticity & Character

Staff

Family run B&B; everyone was very kind, friendly, and welcoming!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Afternoon Bay Tour in Santa Cruz

Puerto Ayora

We took a boat around the Santa Cruz bay, stopping to observe blue-footed boobies, learn about some of the unique animals of the Galapagos, and snorkel. The water is beautifully clear, the salt water buoyant, and there is SO MUCH wildlife, snorkeling is incredible. We were within meters of iridescent rainbow colored fish, sea turtles, starfish, sea lions, stingrays… so much to see.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We were with a group that included families with younger kids, and the guide did a great job keeping them engaged while still talking with the adults. I was very impressed!

Colonial Quito City Tour & Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) Monument

Quito

On our first day, we went on a walking tour of the historical center of Quito and visited the equator. The historical center had beautiful old architecture, gold gilded churches, and a market where we ate local tropical fruit. We then visited the equator at the Intinan Museum and the fake equator at Mitad del Mundo. (As a bonus, we learned the process for making shriveled heads.) Incredible start to the trip!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Reaching Guagua Pichincha Summit

Quito

We hiked Guagua Pichincha, an active volcano! It was very cloudy at the top, so we couldn’t see the crater, but we could definitely smell the sulfur. And could definitely feel the altitude — it does make hiking (walking, moving, breathing) harder. At least for us: one of the many stray dogs in Ecuador was with us for the entire hike, more often leading than following. Instead of hiking back the way we came, we “land skied” by sliding on our feet down a sheer slope of sandy rocks. Our shoes were filled with rocks, but it was super fun!

Quality of Experience

I felt like this was "just" an acclimatizing hike. The weather wasn't great when we were there, so we couldn't see much. As a first hike at altitude, it was good.

Food

Vegetarians, be aware that options will be limited. We wished we would've said chicken was fine (we're not strict vegetarians) to open up our food options and have protein for all our meals. Many of our lunches while hiking had little / no protein.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hugo was an amazing guide who really understood our experience level and how to best acclimatize.

Transport

Hiking the Extinct Volcano Pasochoa

Quito

An absolutely beautiful hike up the dormant volcano Pasochoa. We had perfect weather for hiking — and for getting sunburned. Getting there by car may have been more treacherous than the hike itself — we drove down a narrow cobbled road with holes / ruts / ??? that could swallow a few humans. If we were driving, we never would’ve imagined a car could make it through. The summit itself was incredible, passing through a short, verdant rainforest-like section, then leaping over a small chasm. 10/10 would recommend.

Quality of Experience

One of my favorite days of the trip, absolutely incredible.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

I'm afraid of heights, but Hugo made me feel safe to jump across a "chasm" and not panic on the summit.

Transport

Discovering Climbing Iliniza North

Quito

This was our first hike above 5000m. The way up was challenging but great: we had nice weather, were feeling pretty good after our past two acclimatizing hikes, and there was lots to look at. We reached the refuge at 4700 m feeling tired but good, ate some food, then put on our helmets and harnesses to hike the last 425 m. It got tough quickly, scrambling up rocks using hands and feet, and the altitude was starting to really hit us. Right when we neared the summit, a storm began approaching, so we took a couple quick pictures, then headed down. We didn’t quite beat the storm, as the entire way down was in dense fog and it hailed on us for a few minutes, but avoided the deluge that started once we were in the car on the way back. It is a tough hike because of the altitude, but non-technical and a great first hike over 5000m!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking on Tortuga Bay

Puerto Ayora

We started the day with a walk into the national park to Tortuga Bay, where we kayaked among sea turtles (!), little hammerhead sharks (!), marine iguanas (!), and so many birds. It was SO COOL. The water is shades of azure and teal — it truly felt like we were in a movie.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

We technically had a guide who walked there with us and a larger group, but he didn't actually say or do anything, except show us where the kayak rental was. Not sure if he was supposed to be teaching us about the flora and fauna of the Nat'l Park we were walking through, but he did not. We felt we could've done this activity on our own.

Discover the Wonders of Tintoreras Islet: A Journey into Breathtaking Biodiversity

Puerto Villamil

We took a boat from Isabela to Tintoreras Islet with a small group. Walking along the islet we saw lots of marine iguanas (they’re in their nesting season, so it’s only the females) as well as white-tipped sharks, crabs, and pelicans and lots of other birds. After the island walk we went snorkeling again and saw a pair of blue-footed boobies doing a mating dance.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Hiking the Sierra Negra Volcano

Galapagos Islands

The volcano hike was long (~9 miles) but still far easier than hiking in altitude! We walked up to the caldera (nearly 10 km across) then down the south side and saw the remnants of lava flows from the 2005 and 2018 eruptions. The landscape felt a bit otherworldly, due to the lack of vegetation and lava rocks / fissures. We also saw on our hike three Galapagos hawks — a rare sighting according to our naturalist guide.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Was nice to have a guide explain the landscape to us, because it was so unique. Our guide, Pablo, was friendly and happy to chat with us about his experiences and the history of tourism on the Galapagos. It was interesting hearing a local perspective about the changes there over the past few decades.

Transport

This was the day we were ready at 6:50AM for a pickup and didn't get picked up or any communication until after 8. Apparently the other people in our group had overslept. We were tired and had rushed through breakfast to be ready on time, so sitting and waiting for over an hour, and not hearing anything until after we messaged Alvaro at kimkim, was really frustrating.

Visit Highlands Tortoise Reserve & Charles Darwin Research Station

Puerto Ayora

Our guide for the day took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station, where we learned more about the ecology of the Galapagos and the efforts to combat ecological destruction. It’s pretty cool how committed the islands are to preservation and environmental sustainability. At the research station we also got to visit the tortoise breeding center where we saw baby tortoises (younger than 5 years, when they’re returned to the wild), as well as a few old ones who were recovered from their early life as pets and can’t be released into the wild. After the research station, we went to the Highlands of Santa Cruz Island to visit a lava tunnel and tortoises in their natural habitat. It was, in a word, amazing. Because of the relatively short time humans have been present on the island, and the lack of predators, the wildlife here is shockingly unafraid of humans. They’re certainly aware of us, and the tortoises moved away if we approached from the front (threatening), but in general are fine with us being close and wandering around with them.

Quality of Experience

Food

The lunch at the Highlands Tortoise Reserve was honestly one of the best meals we had in the Galapagos, it was great.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Viviana was a great guide; she knew SO much about the history, ecology of the islands, tortoises, really everything we wanted to know! Very knowledgeable, informative, friendly, and gave us restaurant recs as well :)

Transport

Experience the Pristine Beauty of Galápagos Islands: Discovering an Uninhabited Island

Puerto Ayora

An ideal final day in the Galapagos. The whole day we spent on a sailboat with a dozen other tourists and crew and took a 3 hour ride to an uninhabited island. There we did a short "hike" (it was climbing 365 stairs) to an incredible viewpoint — our guide kept telling us it’s been named one of the most beautiful places in the world. By whom, we have no idea, but it was beautiful. After the hike, we went snorkeling again. We saw sharks and a Galapagos penguin, the only species of tropical penguin. The penguins are tiny — no more than a foot tall at full grown. The boat ride back was close to perfect — warm air, sea breeze, a few sightings of jumping rays — a great end to a Galapagos vacation.

Quality of Experience

Food

We were served full sit-down meals for breakfast and lunch in the boat, with good food! I get motion sickness, so I honestly would've preferred a more casual box lunch on deck -- just something to be aware of if you also get motion sick.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide and all the boat crew were so kind and welcoming. Our guide chatted with us and the rest of the tourists, gave recs for food, and overall made sure we were all enjoying ourselves.

I am impressed at the flexibility and ease of planning we had with Alvaro. He was more than willing to change our itinerary to meet our priorities, preferences, and last-minute changes. He also helped to structure the trip with personal time, one-on-one tours, and group activities, as well as with enough active, rest, and free time.

I also appreciated Alvaro’s honesty throughout the planning process, including retroactively seeing how truthful he was in suggesting swapping certain aspects... read more

I am impressed at the flexibility and ease of planning we had with Alvaro. He was more than willing to change our itinerary to meet our priorities, preferences, and last-minute changes. He also helped to structure the trip with personal time, one-on-one tours, and group activities, as well as with enough active, rest, and free time.

I also appreciated Alvaro’s honesty throughout the planning process, including retroactively seeing how truthful he was in suggesting swapping certain aspects of our original, preconceived trip ideas.

Alvaro was also proactive and quick to respond, usually checking in with us throughout the planning process and the trip itself to keep us in-the-know.

Alvaro also seemed to have connected us with a brilliant mountain guide, Hugo, who is a wealth of knowledge and always made us feel comfortable on the mountainsides. This was invaluable.

Overall a great experience, a great part of the world, and great guides and people.

Hotel Review

Cuello de Luna Mountain Lodge

El Chasqui - Pastocalle

Very friendly atmosphere!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Perfect for a rest day, though constrained if we’d wanted to walk somewhere to visit.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Colonial Quito City Tour & Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World) Monument

Quito

Enjoyed the day’s more historical lessons/sites regarding Ecuador’s history than other aspects (e.g. visiting the Intiñan Site Museum seemed more worthwhile than the Mitad Del Mundo site).

We were completely satisfied with our experience! Alvaro made everything perfect, was always accessible, helped with last minute questions and changes and even set up our last day with a very unique Ecuadorian agave tasting! As the cherry on top, Alvaro wrote us a hand written note, drew us an amazing picture of Galapagos blue footed boobies and gave us a champagne and chocolate strawberry send off completed with rose petals and towel swans on the bed. We couldn’t have asked for more from our birthday and engagement celebration. Thank you kimkim and especially to Alvaro!!

Great trip: your reps in Guayaquil & San Cristobal were on-time, knowledgeable & flexible, which turned out to be a big plus when our return flights on Cabo Air became a major snafu. Of course the boat was top-notch, and we'd recommend others take the 8-day cruise but not necessarily the 4-day one (100 points vs 75, let's say). All guides were knowledgeable about the history, the science & other facts like populations of both humans & other animal species. Their daily plans worked.

One... read more

Great trip: your reps in Guayaquil & San Cristobal were on-time, knowledgeable & flexible, which turned out to be a big plus when our return flights on Cabo Air became a major snafu. Of course the boat was top-notch, and we'd recommend others take the 8-day cruise but not necessarily the 4-day one (100 points vs 75, let's say). All guides were knowledgeable about the history, the science & other facts like populations of both humans & other animal species. Their daily plans worked.

One suggestion: when booking clients on any boat do warn them to prepare ahead of time for being seasick unless they KNOW FOR SURE they will not suffer from that. On both of our trips we had fellow "sailors" unable to eat, or participate in the things they came to do: out of only 14-16 pax there was always someone out of commission! They had not been warned by anyone it seemed!

The day trip around San Cristobal was excellent to include. The harbor-front hotel there was perfect, although for most 80-yr-olds its not having an elevator would have been a bad surprise; we are, thankfully, not most 80-yr-olds. The Guayaquil hotel was adequate & for $100/night incl breakfast & some drinks a "good buy". We even had dinner there every evening. Overall, in spite of knowing a lot about what makes those islands so special before we arrived, we came home knowing so, so much more

We had such a fantastic trip in the Galapagos (and a few days in Quito too!) planned by Alvaro. Seeing the islands was a life dream for both of us, and we really feel like we got a fully immersed experience. We let Alvaro know a few different things that we knew we wanted to do, and solicited his help and feedback to fill in around those. We went back and forth many times on the itinerary until it felt perfect, and then we were off! There are lots of transfers and moving parts when visiting... read more

We had such a fantastic trip in the Galapagos (and a few days in Quito too!) planned by Alvaro. Seeing the islands was a life dream for both of us, and we really feel like we got a fully immersed experience. We let Alvaro know a few different things that we knew we wanted to do, and solicited his help and feedback to fill in around those. We went back and forth many times on the itinerary until it felt perfect, and then we were off! There are lots of transfers and moving parts when visiting the islands, and everything was handled seamlessly. Our local guides were fantastic, and the experiences were unparalleled. We saw so much wildlife, got to experience the islands from land and sea, and feel like we left having gotten the absolute most out of our trip. We also really enjoyed the accommodations Alvaro helped us pick.

10/10 we would recommend Alvaro and kimkim when planning a trip to the Galapagos, and we really look forward to working with kimkim again for our next vacation!

Alvaro was a super specialist! We've never worked with a planner before and always did our own travel planning. Ecuador and the Galapagos seemed a little daunting to us, so we enlisted some help. Alvaro's help expanded from just Galapagos to our entire trip. He was always available to answer questions, make suggestions, follow up, check in with us, and send messages along the way as we geared up for our trip. We loved having a virtual call so we could go over what activities we enjoy doing... read more

Alvaro was a super specialist! We've never worked with a planner before and always did our own travel planning. Ecuador and the Galapagos seemed a little daunting to us, so we enlisted some help. Alvaro's help expanded from just Galapagos to our entire trip. He was always available to answer questions, make suggestions, follow up, check in with us, and send messages along the way as we geared up for our trip. We loved having a virtual call so we could go over what activities we enjoy doing the most and then Alvaro making suggestions and worked on a few revisions to make sure it was perfect.
I was not prepared for the level of support! We had tour guides at every junction guiding us to our next hotel, our flight, greeting us, and helping us check in. Our guides and drivers were all knowledgeable, friendly, and must be the best in the business! I would highly recommend any traveler, even a very experienced traveler, to use Alvaro and the Kimkim team to plan a memorable trip to any locale.
Our favorite places and memorable guides:
Napo Cultural Center, Yasuni National Park--Canopy tour, guide Sergio
Quito City tour--guide Christian, Cooking class at Alta Mira hostel with Chef Karen
El Provenir Hacienda--Cotopaxi hiking with guide Christian
Galapagos--Los Tuneles tour and snorkeling

Hotel Reviews

Hacienda El Porvenir

Machachi

Authenticity & Character

love the cozy fireplaces and the natural setting near the mountain

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

hot water bottles at night, exceptionally clean

Napo Cultural Center

Quito

Wonderful activities to do and explore with your guide just outside your door...viewing wildlife, canopy tour, night hike. The food was wonderful and the staff working here show tremendous pride in what they do and care immensely in a guest's experience, while also fostering a caring atmosphere and family for staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

incredibly attentive to all details and showing so much pride in their work and staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Had all the comforts of home, just in the Amazon river basin!!

Activity Review

Wildlife Encounter at Los Tuneles (Cabo Rosa)

Galapagos Islands

Our guide was fantastic--Peter. He was very invested in making sure we saw wildlife and we were safe in the water. Super engaging and made the trip enjoyable and time go so fast!

Quality of Experience

Food

Transport