Nara Matos

Our overall experience with kimkim in planning and booking our trip to Patagonia was a home run! A special shout-out to the local specialist (Nara), who was incredibly knowledgeable and insightful about our itinerary. The service provided by Nara was also superlative. Will definitely plan on using kimkim in the future for other bucket list trips.

Overall, we had a great time and the trip was well organized. For the most part, everything went off without a problem.
The restaurant recommendations were very much appreciated. The recommended hikes were good and we enjoyed them as well. Some tour operators provided prior night updates which we found very helpful as we knew what to expect. Our favorites from this trip were - Laguna de los Tres, Perito Moreno Glacier, Glacier Vinciguerra & Laguna de los Tempanos.

Some areas for improvement / recommendations:
1. Tours should be in English not bilingual as otherwise most time spent in Spanish
2. Clearly specify which ones are private vs group tours
3. Detailed itinerary details varied from actual - zip lining at El Chalten / street food at Buenos Aires/ warm gourmet lunch in Vinciguerra
4. Tour pickups in El Chalten and El Calafate were quite late without any communications - would be helpful to know as some were 30 mins late.
5. Private transfer FTE to El Chalten & El Chalten to El Calafate could be replaced with a rented car and us driving - may have been cheaper as the start/end point is FTE airport.
6. Hotel in El Chalten - Lunajuim was not good - definitely not 3 stars. It was very basic/old, the room not well kept up, there was no refrigerator, the soaps were subpar, walls/doors were very thin and we could hear everything from neighbors and hallway, the towel rack was coming off the wall, no headboard for bed. A positive note is that the staff were very friendly and helpful.
7. Generally speaking, the breakfasts at the hotel were lacking. Ushuaia had the best one at Alto Andino.
8. For the Laguna de Los Tres trail, I strongly recommend the alternate route of taking a bus to Rio Electrico, trek to Laguna de Los Tres from north to south, and then return via Laguna Capri to El Chalten. It makes for a less strenous hike.

Activity Reviews

Trekking to Glacier Vinciguerra & Laguna de los Tempanos

Ushuaia

One of our favorite hikes! Our guide made sure that everyone’s needs were taken into account and that all of us felt comfortable on the muddy and steep hike at the end. We were able to get up close to the glacier and the view was breathtaking. Highly recommend this one to all who can make it! FYI, this hike is rated Medium difficulty but it was quite tough at the end.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Perito Moreno Boat & Walking Tour

El Calafate

Absolutely spectacular view of this glacier! The enormity is mind blowing and seeing calving in real life is a once in a lifetime experience! No matter how many times we viewed the glacier from various lookout points, it took our breath away.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The guide spoke a great deal in Spanish. She didn’t seem to translate everything into English and it was much more abbreviated.

Transport

Overall excellent trip

Nara did an excellent job and was always present and very responsive.

The staff at the hotel patagonia pristine was excellent

the guide Armand and driver. Juan in Patagonia were excellent too.

Everything was very well planned and there were no hiccups. The accommodations were great and transportation was easy - we got from place to place with no issues. Nara and Rae were very responsive and made the trip stress free.