Marine Guérin

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.

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

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.

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.

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 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!

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.