Nathalie Clavel

We had a fantastic trip to Colombia over the 2018 winter holiday break. For a family of four, Nathalie Clavet helped personalize and customize our Colombia trip experience and provided a multitude of options for us to select from as we were in the planning stages. While in Colombia, Nathalie and her colleague, Mathilde, took care of us, checking in and were available to help us with any additional questions. Thank you Nathalie! My family and I really had a memorable time in Colombia and we can't wait to visit again!

Nathalie was incredible, she knew exactly what my husband and I were looking for and designed the perfect trip for us in Colombia! She passed the "baton" to Mathilde during the holidays and it was totally flawless. The tour guides were all different in their own ways which gave us an interesting flavor of the culture and the hotels were perfectly located, in the heart of the city and in safe neighborhoods. The people we met during our journey were very kind and very sweet and I believe that a big part comes back to Nathalie, Mathilde and her organization. Bravo!

Sharon in Bogota was amazing, as was David in Perreira.
Lovato in Medellin did a great job.
Dency in Cartagena lived up to her name (meaning "Dignified , explorer, powerful, happy, beautiful.")

We learned so much from each of the guides and enjoyed the various day trips and tours.

The wax palms hike and Penon of Guatape got us out into the countryside and were good physical challenges for me.
Loved the Cathedral of Salt, which was my "add" to the itinerary.
The coffee plantation visit was... read more

Sharon in Bogota was amazing, as was David in Perreira.
Lovato in Medellin did a great job.
Dency in Cartagena lived up to her name (meaning "Dignified , explorer, powerful, happy, beautiful.")

We learned so much from each of the guides and enjoyed the various day trips and tours.

The wax palms hike and Penon of Guatape got us out into the countryside and were good physical challenges for me.
Loved the Cathedral of Salt, which was my "add" to the itinerary.
The coffee plantation visit was amazing.
Really, a great trip and filled with surprises for me, since my daughter did most of the itinerary planning with Nathalie.

Nathalie organised a wonderful trip for us. She was very responsive and everything was organised perfectly. We were very happy with all of the hotels, guides and activities. Nathalie called us at the beginning and end of the trip to make sure everything was ok so it was a very personalised experience. We loved Colombia, especially our time in the Amazon and will definitely go back.

This was an incredibly well planned trip that was so enjoyable and excellent. Our guides were so knowledgeable and went at our own pace. Never rushed and each one was early every morning so no stress! Tatiana took us to the gold museum in bogota and her in depth knowledge made the next days trip to guaatavita very meaningful. We also went with her to la calenderlaria and the botero museum. The salt cathedral and guatavita are a must see. A highlight was the days we spent with David in the... read more

This was an incredibly well planned trip that was so enjoyable and excellent. Our guides were so knowledgeable and went at our own pace. Never rushed and each one was early every morning so no stress! Tatiana took us to the gold museum in bogota and her in depth knowledge made the next days trip to guaatavita very meaningful. We also went with her to la calenderlaria and the botero museum. The salt cathedral and guatavita are a must see. A highlight was the days we spent with David in the Corcora valley. We had an intimate coffee experience and amazing hike in the unique Corcora wax palm valley. David is so warm and enthused about his country and made the experience very personal with a coffee experience in pihao with a local farmer. In Cartagena the two best tours was a day trip to the sport baru hotel in the Rosario islands and the fishing with locals in la boquilla. Nathalie checked in on us was very responsive and definitely partnered with first class locals for the tours. It exceeded our expectations in every way!

I would 100% recommend KimKim. Our local specialist Nathalie was quick to respond and answer our questions. She put together an amazing trip for myself and friend. She took care of arranging our tours, hotels and flights. Nathalie stayed in touched with us while in Colombia and ensured our trip was going as planned.

Colombia is one of the most beautiful, diverse places I have ever visited. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to experience city life, nature life, and island life all in one place!! Our trip started in Bogota - a huge city, thankfully our guide Tatiana showed us the way, and helped make lasting memories hiking up the Monserrate pathway! Would highly recommend the graffiti bike tour as well! Next stop - the coffee reason, the most stunning place with beautiful mountains and... read more

Colombia is one of the most beautiful, diverse places I have ever visited. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to experience city life, nature life, and island life all in one place!! Our trip started in Bogota - a huge city, thankfully our guide Tatiana showed us the way, and helped make lasting memories hiking up the Monserrate pathway! Would highly recommend the graffiti bike tour as well! Next stop - the coffee reason, the most stunning place with beautiful mountains and a jungle feel! The people are very kind, although I would recommend knowing some Spanish! We tried the best coffee in a Salento village!! We had the most wonderful guide to show us the way through Cocora Valley - a once in a lifetime hike!! Additionally our guide David, showed us the quainte Quindio villages, another unique beautiful area of Colombia. To end our trip we stopped in Cartagena, and the Rosario Islands - this place is magical! The town of Cartagena has great vibes and friendly people, and the islands have their own feel of a tropical paradise!! Every hotel we stayed in was well kept, clean and absolutely amazing! I would highly recommend using KimKim to help you plan your next adventure!!

Nathalia was awsome. Very responsive to my particular requests, available for issues, great suggestions, knowledgeable about Colombia, and planned a trip that was very easy.

My Guide in Bogota, Tatiana, my guide in the coffee region, Alejandro, my guide in Medellin,Joachim, were all fantastic. The guides in Cartagena,were Old School, Boring and not cool.-dont remember their names. All hotels were excellent Opera,Diez,Bantu, except the Hacienda in the coffee region.Bosques del Saman-the food was really mediocre and the front desk guy didnt speak English well and didnt communicate well. I was freezing at night and had to walk thru a big field to get to my room. The... read more

My Guide in Bogota, Tatiana, my guide in the coffee region, Alejandro, my guide in Medellin,Joachim, were all fantastic. The guides in Cartagena,were Old School, Boring and not cool.-dont remember their names. All hotels were excellent Opera,Diez,Bantu, except the Hacienda in the coffee region.Bosques del Saman-the food was really mediocre and the front desk guy didnt speak English well and didnt communicate well. I was freezing at night and had to walk thru a big field to get to my room. The swimming pool area was not great. It was really a 3-31/2 star place- not 4-41/2 as requested. Setting was pretty.

All the drivers were great.
The cooking class and salsa classes were fun.
I went on a trip on my own -with a group to Guatape- from Medellin- that should be a must do-which was fantastic.
I hired a guide to take me out at night in Medellin to dance clubs - that was really fun.

I probably travelled a bit too much-for the period of time- next time I would cut out one place- but that was my request.

You need to emphasis to bring clothing for cold and rain- it rained everywhere except Cartagena.

On the whole I loved Colombia- the people, the country side and the cities so well organized and beautiful. I will definitely be back!!

Trip to Colombia was fantastic. Guides were terrific, car services were prompt, which made this trip run very smoothly.

We booked our Columbia trip using Kimkim. This was the first time we used Kimkim. What a great company. We will use them again. Nathalie, our specialist, was awesome. She was very helpful in tailoring the trip to what we like. The ideas and suggestions she had were great for us and our kids. We did things that even books such as lonely planet did not even list as activities. Everything we did in Columbia was great. Nathalie even called us several times during the trip to make sure everything... read more

We booked our Columbia trip using Kimkim. This was the first time we used Kimkim. What a great company. We will use them again. Nathalie, our specialist, was awesome. She was very helpful in tailoring the trip to what we like. The ideas and suggestions she had were great for us and our kids. We did things that even books such as lonely planet did not even list as activities. Everything we did in Columbia was great. Nathalie even called us several times during the trip to make sure everything was going smoothly.

The people Kimkim used in Columbia, from drivers to guides, were all very nice, always on time, very helpful and knowledgeable. We loved everything we did, from the beautiful Spanish colonial towns of Barichara and Villa de Leyva to the beautiful beaches of Tayrona and around Cartagena. We loved the lush coffee region and the Valle de Cocora. We all enjoyed a private coffee tasting that even our 10 and 11-year-old daughters loved and asked for more coffee! Best coffee ever. As outdoor lovers, we especially enjoyed hiking, zip lining, white water rafting, tubing on a river and mountain biking.

The trip was great! Nathalie was very responsive and tried to accommodate our requests for the trip. Everything from the hotel to the events for la Feria went extremely well and I would recommend travelers use this service. Especially first time travelers.

All the arrangements were great and professional. Medellin was the highlight. All tour guides were knowledgeable and professional.

12/20 our driver is very nice and did a good job driving us to our destination.
12/22 our driver came with a very old pick up truck, for the price we contract and discription from our agent we should have professional driver with Duster car brand, the driver not only driving super fast on winding road also passing car frequently, we were so worry all the way, the car does not come with air condition, we were suffer from the bad air, dust plus very hot, it was a very uncomfortable trip. We... read more

12/20 our driver is very nice and did a good job driving us to our destination.
12/22 our driver came with a very old pick up truck, for the price we contract and discription from our agent we should have professional driver with Duster car brand, the driver not only driving super fast on winding road also passing car frequently, we were so worry all the way, the car does not come with air condition, we were suffer from the bad air, dust plus very hot, it was a very uncomfortable trip. We will not recommend this car company for future customer.
12/24 our pick and hotel pick are ok.
12/26 our tour with driver and guide are good.
12/27 airport pick up is good
12/31 we were waiting for airport pick up , when the time passed hotel front desk call Nathalie and found out there was no pick up , we paid and schedule for the pick up, Nathalie didn’t confirm for us and kept us waiting , luckily front desk checked for us and hurry arrange a taxi for us, so far I have not receiving any explanation from Nathalie, iwouldliketo request refund and apology for almost missed our flight.
Fran lee

We wanted an Amazon Jungle experience and Nathalie recommended Calanoa Reserve.
We booked a 2 night 3 day trip. We were very unsure as to what to expect.
Before the trip Nathalie was very helpful and answered all our questions very promptly.
The trip itself was absolutely amazing! And exceeded all our expectations- it was as Nathalie had described- but we didn’t expect it to be so good!!
The accommodation was beautiful - we had a double bed in the ground floor and twin beds on first floor... read more

We wanted an Amazon Jungle experience and Nathalie recommended Calanoa Reserve.
We booked a 2 night 3 day trip. We were very unsure as to what to expect.
Before the trip Nathalie was very helpful and answered all our questions very promptly.
The trip itself was absolutely amazing! And exceeded all our expectations- it was as Nathalie had described- but we didn’t expect it to be so good!!
The accommodation was beautiful - we had a double bed in the ground floor and twin beds on first floor and a private bathroom.
The staff were amazing - the cooks, the organisers and the guides - all so helpful and couldn’t do enough for us.
It was easy to swap activities around and add extras. The whole 3 days worked like clockwork - such a slick operation- very impressive.
We saw pink river dolphins (and grey), went pirhana fishing, went to a monkey orphanage, indigenous village, forest walk in day and night, early morning bird watching and watched the sun set over the Amazon...... incredible!!
Food was good (lots of fish!).
We would highly recommend Calanoa Reserve and the services of Nathalie at KimKim. Nothing went wrong so we didn’t need to contact her during the trip - but it was reassuring to have her number just in case.
Thank you Nathalie for your recommendation and help with the booking.

We had an excellent trip!! Great local guides, amazing eco-lodges everything flowed well. We especially like Jorge, the guide who took us to Tayrona (and hope he passed his exam on tourism). the whole journey in the Tayrona was spectacular, as was tubing down the river in Palomino and the expertise on birds from our guide David in Minca. The only caveat was that the arrangement was to have our baggage brought to Palomino while we were trekking in Tayrona, and there was no info on that -... read more

We had an excellent trip!! Great local guides, amazing eco-lodges everything flowed well. We especially like Jorge, the guide who took us to Tayrona (and hope he passed his exam on tourism). the whole journey in the Tayrona was spectacular, as was tubing down the river in Palomino and the expertise on birds from our guide David in Minca. The only caveat was that the arrangement was to have our baggage brought to Palomino while we were trekking in Tayrona, and there was no info on that - no guidance given to myself and the driver was also unaware. So instead we made our own arrangements to leave the bags at Finca Barlovento. It would have been better if this piece of info on the trip had been communicated to me so we knew what the arrangement was instead of improvising along the way. All in all the trip was exactly the adventure we were looking for - thanks!!

1. Driver on time - great
2. Jeannine checked to be sure we were aboard - BETTER THAN GREAT
3. Rony Perez- excellent guide - good English , really good with my husband who walks (little) and Slow! Good information - will definitely recommend in the future
4. Meal great - so very fresh
5. experience overall - exactly what we were looking for - thank you Nathalie for suggesting
6. interacting with the local people very good experience - they were very kind to us

Nathalie was extremely responsive and our holiday went incredibly smoothly. The guides and activities we did were really high quality and we had a fantastic trip, in large part because of the well organized trip and recommendations we got from Nathalie. The only thing I would have changed is the booking of our flights, which had to be changed due to the strike. These were not booked immediately and therefore the price went up again. However, this is fairly minor as we appreciate that those... read more

Nathalie was extremely responsive and our holiday went incredibly smoothly. The guides and activities we did were really high quality and we had a fantastic trip, in large part because of the well organized trip and recommendations we got from Nathalie. The only thing I would have changed is the booking of our flights, which had to be changed due to the strike. These were not booked immediately and therefore the price went up again. However, this is fairly minor as we appreciate that those were unusual circumstances. We otherwise found the service to be very responsive and easily facilitated through Kimkim.

Nathalie was great to work with. It might've been nice to have a "menu" of activities to choose from in each city. It would also be nice for the pricing to be broken down by activity/accommodation to better understand how the total was calculated.

Nathalie was very accommodating in the planning process, and checking in with us at the beginning and end of our trip was a nice touch. There were a couple of times that we would've liked to call her but couldn't because we didn't want to incur... read more

Nathalie was great to work with. It might've been nice to have a "menu" of activities to choose from in each city. It would also be nice for the pricing to be broken down by activity/accommodation to better understand how the total was calculated.

Nathalie was very accommodating in the planning process, and checking in with us at the beginning and end of our trip was a nice touch. There were a couple of times that we would've liked to call her but couldn't because we didn't want to incur expensive international cell phone charges. It would've been nice to have been provided a cheap cell phone that we could've used to reach her if necessary - this is something we have had from other agencies for other trips.

Planning (with Nathalie) was excellent and everything that had been arranged went off really well.

Excellent service and always on-hand and attentive

We enjoyed our activities. However, on two occasions our guide/driver arrived earlier than listed so they had to wait for us a bit. I hope they didn't mind! Also, the hotel for our beach excursion was not aware that we were to have access to a room for changing and leaving out items as described in our outline (so we were unable to do so). No big deal though.

Nathalie was very helpful and patient during the planning stages. She listed to what we wanted and was flexible with our requests. We enjoyed working with her!

Nathalie was awesome and she gave us everything we asked for and the price was perfect!!! We had an awesome time and a lot of that was KimKim making all our arrangements!! It is so nice to get off a plane tired and just see s sign with your name on it!!! Love it!! And even my friends said we will use KimKim again for future travels!! Thank you so much for a great trip!!!

Suggest that the trip summary include the start times of tours.

Nathalie was great

The events and activities we did were amazing and highly enjoyable. We were sad that Natalie was not available to help us or answer our questions while we were here. No one picked us up at the airport in Cali and the Calanoa transport was told the wrong time for our flight. Otherwise, Natalie was very helpful and we have had a great trip.

It was fantastic and planned very well. We had a great time. My only comment would be more detail in the overall itinerary so we don't have to bounce around kimkim trying to find different pieces of information about each activity.

The hotel we stayed at in Santa Marta was not great. The lack of air conditioning was a big problem. Also our guide for the hike in Tayrona did not speak much English and was therefore not very helpful. Other than that, the trip was great!

It was weird that I just got one travel agent, and that there was no choice at all -- an agent that ended up being good, if not perfect. I felt there was no particular reason I got this agent as opposed to any other--why this person? What was so great about them? What was special about who they were, or why I they were the person who should plan my trip?

Communication could have been better. We went 3 days without hearing anything, and then found out that our itinerary needed changes. Trip was still amazing, but going through that was nerve racking.

We were very pleased with our experience in Cartagena and Isla Mucura. We did not appreciate the difficulty of the 13.3-mile hike planned for our second day in Colombia. (For example, we did not know how long the hike would be. We had an estimate of how many hours in would last, but not of the difficulty.) We are in good shape, but this was a daunting scramble though and over boulders and with a 300-meter plus gain in altitude in a tropical jungle.
We were disappointed in the Casa Lina... read more

We were very pleased with our experience in Cartagena and Isla Mucura. We did not appreciate the difficulty of the 13.3-mile hike planned for our second day in Colombia. (For example, we did not know how long the hike would be. We had an estimate of how many hours in would last, but not of the difficulty.) We are in good shape, but this was a daunting scramble though and over boulders and with a 300-meter plus gain in altitude in a tropical jungle.
We were disappointed in the Casa Lina Hotel in Palominos and in the Casa Amarilla Hotel in Mompox. The language barrier was high in both locations, the beds were uncomfortable and the staff were correct but not friendly.

We seemed to have difficulty understanding each other. When we needed help with a billing dispute (in Mompox) and in adjusting our itinerary (in Palominos), she was not readily available.
As in other aspects of the trip, we were to blame for some of this. We should have pursued more subjects before we left, regarding temperatures, hiking difficulties, sunscreen, etc. I was also disappointed when we were asked for full payment earlier than I expected.

I can't say enough what a pleasure it was working with these folks for our trip into the Amazon for our honeymoon. From the time I made the initial contact with KimKim until the end of our adventure, we felt like we were the only concern they had. We worked with Nathalie on the front end for lining the trip up and making sure we had everything we needed. She was very thorough and polite, and kept in excellent contact with me prior to the trip.
Once we arrived at the airport in Leticia we... read more

I can't say enough what a pleasure it was working with these folks for our trip into the Amazon for our honeymoon. From the time I made the initial contact with KimKim until the end of our adventure, we felt like we were the only concern they had. We worked with Nathalie on the front end for lining the trip up and making sure we had everything we needed. She was very thorough and polite, and kept in excellent contact with me prior to the trip.
Once we arrived at the airport in Leticia we waited a few minutes for our ride to show up and then were taken straight down to the office to get ready for our 4 day trek into the Amazon jungle! Thats where we met with our guide Ramiro, were promptly issued some rubber muck boots, and went over some necessities for our trip. We didn't bring enough mosquito repellent or rain ponchos, so we made a quick stop at the store to grab some and then had a nice lunch with our guide at a restaurant there in town. Once we were ready to roll, we hopped in a cab and were driven about 20 minutes outta town, where we got out and the 3 of us began walking through the jungle. Immediately I was feeling grateful that they gave us the rubber boots and told us to grab more Deet!! We eventually started fondly calling the bug repellent "Amazonian Cologne". It worked great though and really as long as we kept some on, the mosquitoes really didn't bother us that much.
We walked for maybe a couple hours into the jungle to a Maloka and met with some of the native people there working on the plantation. Our guide Ramiro knew the people well and immediately introduced us and explained what they were working on. We had some supper and just hung out for a little bit until it got dark. Then we went for a hike into the jungle to look at the nocturnal wildlife, which was really awesome to see everything!! We saw all kinds of cool stuff! That night we met with the Shaman and shared his Mumbai. We had a good talk with him and learned a bit about their culture, which we found very interesting!
The next day we woke up & had breakfast & then hiked for several hours through the jungle to a remote Lodge where we showered & relaxed for awhile. After supper we hiked for about 15 minutes to a huge tree where we repelled UP about 100 feet to a big platform just above the jungle canopy. Ramiro was given instructions by the company to leave us alone in the tree house for a few hours, since it was our honeymoon, so he set us up with some rose petals, grapes & chocolates, and a bottle of champagne, and then they went back to the lodge for a few hours so we could have some privacy ;) The next morning we woke up to see the sun rise over the jungle, zip lined out of that tree into another tree platform, and repelled down to the ground. What an experience! We hiked for a couple hours to the river and boarded some kayaks and took off paddling. It was high water season so the river was swollen up and into the jungle so we had a lot to look at from the kayaks. We paddled a couple hours and finally made it across a big lake to another Lodge where we ate lunch and met our boat captain. The last leg of our journey was in a small boat where we got to see a bunch more wildlife, including sloths, toucans, monkeys, pink dolphins, grey dolphins, green parrots, and piranhas! We fished for and caught piranhas and took them back to the lodge where they cooked them for us! They were great! We drank some cachacas with the folks who run the lodge and then went off to bed. The next day we boarded the boat again and made our way back to Leticia to conclude our trip.
All in all I would say our Amazon jungle experience was truly amazing! The people that we met were all so nice, courteous, and respectful, and you could tell they sincerely appreciated our business. We feel that we made lifelong friends with our guide Ramiro, and hope to stay in contact with him through Facebook. He had everything lined out perfectly and even cooked most of the food we ate on the trip! What seemed like an amazing trip to us was literally just another day to him. He has done hundreds if not thousands of those trips and we felt safe the entire time.
I would highly recommend this company for your trip into the Amazon. They did a great job for us and was worth every dollar we spent on it!!! A+

The overall experience and final results were good but communication was frustrating. You do everything by internet which is fine for a young generation but for a senior generation this impersonal approach is difficult and when in transit usually without wi-fi availability it becomes challenging. Unfortunately our contact left your company at a critical time although both girls were excellent.

The overall plan was generic but the notification of pickups was and van drivers were last minute.... read more

The overall experience and final results were good but communication was frustrating. You do everything by internet which is fine for a young generation but for a senior generation this impersonal approach is difficult and when in transit usually without wi-fi availability it becomes challenging. Unfortunately our contact left your company at a critical time although both girls were excellent.

The overall plan was generic but the notification of pickups was and van drivers were last minute. The local transport companies and drivers you contracted were outstanding punctual and polite. In our party, 3 did not speak any Spanish and I fluent in both ended doing all the translating and acting as a guide not a big deal but if you are going to expand tourists from North America you should try to get ones with a little English.

From Pasto to Cali travel company Tierra y Cielo as well as driver Henry Patoja and guide in Medellin Maria Elena Marín were A1. Travel companies Cali Salento and salento Medellin I give a A. English guide in Salento was charming but English very limited. Your hotel choices Le park in Medellin was good and ideally situated and Hacienda Cairo was excellent and highly recommended. As a born Colombian living in Canada I was happy to show my wife and friends Colombia in a positive way and very happy with your arrangements

Over Xmas, I now intend bringing my children and grandchildren for a two-week visit and hope we can work together again.

Pick up info at each point was last minute, all else was well. Nathalie and Katheryn were good.

Nathalie was the best. We had her redo our itinerary maybe a dozen times and consistently received prompt responses and a ton of help. Nathalie even helped us with arrangements not booked through her, like finding tickets for a football game in Medellin. Within the first ten minutes of arriving to our first destination, Nathalie called us to make sure we were okay. Everything about her service exceeded our expectations.

It was chaotic from the get go

she was really lovely, however a few things could have more clear

Nathalie was fantastic in helping me plan my trip in such short notice (4 days prior to travel). All of my accommodations were in the heart of each city, and had an authentic local feel to them (Just what I asked for). Nathalie also sent me plenty of restaurant recommendations, and additional activities we could take advantage of on our free time. She kept in touch with me throughout the trip and she went above and beyond to quickly resolve a minor issue I had.
Overall great, despite one of... read more

Nathalie was fantastic in helping me plan my trip in such short notice (4 days prior to travel). All of my accommodations were in the heart of each city, and had an authentic local feel to them (Just what I asked for). Nathalie also sent me plenty of restaurant recommendations, and additional activities we could take advantage of on our free time. She kept in touch with me throughout the trip and she went above and beyond to quickly resolve a minor issue I had.
Overall great, despite one of the guides not showing up (he had the times switched), but that was resolved by Nathalie, the guides that showed up were awesome, their historical knowledge in Bogota, and the 2 in Villa de Leyva, was phenomenal. The people (guides, drivers, and locals) were extraordinarily friendly, and open to sharing their customs.

If I could change one thing it would have been longer planning time (not on you), because I would have altered my itinerary slightly to avoid a lot of movement from town to town, probably returned from Villa de Leyva to Bogota rather than go to Barichara just to avoid the transportation time, and likely headed to Cartagena a day earlier since it was a place I needed more time at. Nothing major, overall great support by Nathalie, and a fantastic trip.

Thanks, looking forward to using your services again.

Regards,

Howard

She was very helpful in such short notice and provided great recommendations. She resolved a minor issue and compensated the hiccup with a great dinner in Cartagena. Fantastic service, and fully recommend her.