Paul Cisneros

The Galapagos was truly an amazing adventure! Paul planned and implemented a wonderful trip! All the travel and tours were handled very professionally and the accommodations were excellent. Alex and Robert made sure we were all on the bus, boat, or airplane, as planned. Our excellent guides Javier and Karem led us on adventures every day. Snorkeling with sea lions, manta rays, turtles, sharks and schools of fish was incredible! We've never been surrounded by such an abundance of sea life. We also saw wildlife and different landscapes while exploring various islands. Daniela's tour with the giant land tortoises was another fascinating day! The Galapagos is truly a unique place that locals are working hard to preserve for all. We're thrilled we got a chance to visit!

Hotel Reviews

Acacia Galápagos Boutique Hotel

Puerto Ayora

We had a clean, modern room at the Acacia with a lovely central patio area for gathering. The staff was very friendly, honest and professional. They made sure we had a delicious breakfast with our coffee every day and provided tips on where to eat dinner. Highly recommend this hotel.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Walking distance to the Darwin Center and downtown.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Patio Andaluz

Quito

Patio Andaluz in Quito was a wonderful place to start our trip. It's located in the old historic part of the city, which was quite charming and added to the experience.

M/Y Monserrat

Quito

Our time on the M/Y Monserrat was enjoyable. The guides and staff were wonderful, and the dinner on the last night was delightful. However, the overnight journey was rough due to choppy seas, which made it uncomfortable and resulted in a sleepless night. It seems to be a known issue that it gets rough on the last night, and a little heads-up would have been appreciated.

Activity Review

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

The excursion to the uninhabited island was quite an experience, although it involved much more travel than anticipated. After spending several days on the M/Y Monserrat, this day was mostly in transit with a long bus and boat journey. It was a bit tiring, with limited time on the actual island, and we would've preferred to explore more locally around Puerto Ayora.

Trip was excellent - Paul did a great job planning the entire amazing adventure. All details were taken care of - the guides were all excellent, the crew of the Monserrat was very attentive and each step from meeting our group at the airport when we arrived to when we departed was all taken care of. This was our 4th adventure planned by KimKim and it won't be our last.

Hotel Reviews

Patio Andaluz

Quito

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Acacia Galápagos Boutique Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Great location, super friendly staff and lovely rooms

Authenticity & Character

Lovely hotel with large rooms

Location

Staff

The staff was very attentive and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

M/Y Monserrat

Quito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Sailing around was wonderful on a small ship.

Staff

Crew was friendly - the guides were able to provide so much information on what we would see, where we would travel to. They provided a wonderful video of our adventure on the Monserrat.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were rather small (but it is a small ship) recommend that suitcases be duffle bags or carry on size. Rooms were very clean

Holiday Inn Quito Airport, an IHG Hotel

Tababela

Great location close to the Airport for early morning departures

Activity Reviews

Quito City Tour

Galapagos Islands

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Quito Cooking Class

Galapagos Islands

Great experience - the chef and sous chef were wonderful and we really enjoyed "preparing our lunch"

Quality of Experience

Santa Cruz Island: Bachas Beach

Cruise Ship

Isabela Island: Vicente Roca Point

Cruise Ship

Santiago Island: Buccaneer's Cove

Cruise Ship

North Seymour Island

Cruise Ship

Highlands of Santa Cruz Island

Galapagos Islands

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

Isabela Island: Tagus Cove

Cruise Ship

Isabela Island: Urbina Bay

Cruise Ship

Fernandina Island: Espinoza Point

Cruise Ship

Santiago Island: Egas Port

Cruise Ship

We LOVED our experience with KimKim!
Paul made the planning process very easy and catered to all of our very specific requests. Our tour guide Robert was so personable and very knowledgable, which made our tours educational and fun. We felt like it was a perfect mix of adventure, culture, sight-seeing, and experiencing new things. There were also some surprises included that made our trip even more special. We would definitely recommend traveling through kimkim!

Hotel Reviews

Holiday Inn Express Quito

Quito

This hotel was perfect for us! It was clean, safe, and comfortable.

Napo Cultural Center

Quito

We loved staying here! It was such an incredible experience to be able to stay with members of the Kichwa community. We felt very well taken care of during our stay.

Activity Reviews

Quito City Tour

Ecuador

So fun to learn about the history of Quito and to get to experience the food and culture!

Otavalo Market & Cuicocha Crater Lake

Quito

Amazing!

Visit the "Middle of the World"

Ecuador

I loved how interactive this was. We learned a lot!

Hot Springs of Papallacta

Ecuador

Very relaxing, we really liked spending time here.

Arrival to Coca, transfer to rainforest lodge, rainforest hike

Ecuador

Parrot clay lick - Indigenous community - Observation Tower

Yasuni National Park

Indigenous community - Canoe ride - Night walk

Yasuni National Park

The canoe ride was incredible!! We saw so much wildlife and had so much fun.

Wayusada - Transfer to Coca - Flight to Quito

Ecuador

Day trip to Mindo

Quito

Feeding the hummingbirds and holding the butterflies was beautiful!

Kim Kim and its local partner Authentic Ecuador planned and implemented a seamless extremely well run 17- day mostly private tour of Quito, the Galapagos, Lima and Machu Picchu. The hotels they selected were top of the line and first-rate with excellent rooms and wonderful breakfasts. Most importantly, all of the guides ( and support personnel, such as drivers) were wonderful. The trip organiser Paul did an exceptional job keeping abreast of every detail. He made a special visit to our hotel in Quito to personally meet and greet us. Special mention should also go to our guide in Quito (Jose)m Jacome who was very helpful in showing us this beautiful City, to Julio Quispe in Cusco (and Machu Picchu) who was an exceptional guide in every respect and went way beyond the call of duty in assisting us with a health issue, to Bosco Villene who made sure our time in Lima and our flight to Cusco went very well, and to all of the guides and local contacts in the Falapsgos including but not limited to Astrid Freire who were both extremely knowledgeable and competent at their jobs and dedicated to their beautiful well-preserved islands.

We had an absolutely wonderful time on our trip to Ecuador and Paul was a big part of making it so special and memorable. Everything from the airport pickups/dropoff to checking in at the hotels and airports was effortless for us. They helped us pick out wonderful hotels, lodges and cruises. Our tours were fun and informative and they even suggested a cooking class which was one of the highlights.

Paul met us at our hotel in quito, gave us a welcome gift of coffee, chocolate and wine, and was always available for any questions. He even picked up the phone on a saturday morning when we thought we missed a pick up but we actually missed the time change going to the Galapagos.

I would absolutely recommend Kimkim for a trip to Ecuador. Ask for Paul!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Mama Cuchara

Quito

We loved this hotel. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful. We had a few early mornings and if we couldn't make the buffet and they gave us a to go breakfast. Although I would try to make their breakfast. It was delicious. There are treats left in your room every night. They even left gluten free versions. The bar/restaurant on the roof is wonderful with views of the city, great food and drinks, heaters and they'll bring you out a poncho if it's chilly. The hotel is beautiful with an interior covered courtyard. You can walk to old town or get a cheap uber.

Authenticity & Character

It is such a beautiful hotel. I loved the courtyard and rooftop bar.

Location

walking distance to historical center/old town

Staff

They were so great. They went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sacha Lodge Yasuní

Quito

what a beautiful place. The journey to get there is kind of crazy - flight, boat, hike and canoe, but it was absolutely worth it. Our guide, Fausto, was from the area and knew so much - plants, animals, birds, bugs and snakes. The food was delicious. They were so accommodating with our dietary restrictions (gluten free) and walked us through the buffet and dinner menus. They even made gluten free versions. The rooms and shared space were clean and inviting. Days included walks, canoe rides, chocolate making, animal spotting. There were also places to just sit and listen to the birds, watch the monkey and enjoy the experience.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Fausto was an amazing guide. The staff was friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Quito Cooking Class

Ecuador

This was one of the highlights of our trips. I'm so glad it was suggested. We met the chef in a amazing restaurant that had a side kitchen set up. The chef made the class fun. The food we cooked was amazing - coconut shrimp, soup and chocolate and fruit for dessert. All the ingredients came from the market that morning. We had a bowl of 10+ different types fruit to choose from. We only recognized the bananas and strawberries. The rest of the fruit was a tasty mystery. Do this!

My daughter and I spent two weeks making memories for a lifetime in Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. The folks at Kimkim provided a fabulous itinerary that allowed us to experience so many different aspects of this wonderful country and its people. Perhaps the best thing they did for us was to find a superb driver and guide, Cristobal Cabezas, who accompanied us throughout our journey and offered valuable historical and cultural insights along the way. He introduced us to many gastronomical specialties--such as guinea pig (cuy), and (more to our taste) local ice cream and chocolate. Cristobal took us places that most tourists would never see, and helped us appreciate the many beautiful and interesting places we went in Ecuador. Some highlights included taking a cable car up to Pichincha, one of the volcanoes that surround the capital city of Quito. The views from the top are spectacular, and it was fun to dangle over the valley on a swing that is a short way up the mountain, available to all who are willing to climb a bit in the oxygen-depleted air. Another highlight was the cooking class that was arranged for us. We tasted fruits that we didn't know existed and learned how to make some traditional--and delicious--food that we can enjoy again back at home with the recipes from our meal. One of our favorite spots was Maquipucuna Reserve, a lush, verdant, privately controlled preserve in the cloud forest that made us feel like we were in a different world. Our only regret was that we were able to spend so little time there--it would have been nice to be able to explore the maze of pathways longer and relax in the beautiful lodge. We got to bird watch in Mindo, where we caught glimpses of toucans, parrots, and many other brightly colored species of birds. In Mindo we also went on a night hike with a knowledgeable guide who pointed out numerous critters of various shapes and sizes and genuses--scorpions and fireflies and other insects, as well as nocturnal birds and mammals. After spending a couple of days in the cloud forest, we spent a morning at the vibrant, colorful market in Otavalo, which featured every indigenous handicraft imaginable of exquisite quality--blankets, scarves, jewelry, ponchos, tablecloths, clothing, and more. Again, we wished we had had more time to spend there. We easily could have spent a full day wandering the stalls and inspecting the artisanship and skill of the artists and vendors there. As wonderful as all of our excursions in Ecuador were, the Galápagos Islands offered an entirely different and even more spectacular adventure. On our various expeditions we learned about the blue-footed boobies, frigate birds, penguins, sharks, sea turtles, iguanas, sea lions, and of course, the giant tortoises that inhabit the islands. The islands abound in wildlife of countless varieties, and none of the amazing creatures that we saw seemed to be afraid of humans. We were cautioned to not touch, but they paid little attention to us as we gawked and marveled at the abundant flora and fauna on these amazing islands. Overall, we had a fabulous adventure, thanks to the excellent care of our Kimkim hosts!

Hotel Reviews

Vieja Cuba

Quito

Pleasant and clean, although the rooms were quite small (cozy). Very friendly staff.

Sisakuna Lodge

Mindo

The rooms were spacious, but the shower was not even lukewarm, and I don't think the sheets were clean.

Hotel Acoma

Otavalo

Small room and bathroom with the worst shower imaginable, alternating scalding and frigid water. One plus was that it was very quiet.

Capitan Max B&B

Puerto Ayora

Lovely rooms and host. Clean, comfortable, and great location.

Hotel La Laguna

Puerto Villamil

Located right across from a lagoon where flamingoes hang out, it is a lovely, comfortable, clean hotel with a friendly, helpful staff. Enjoyed this hotel more than any other on our trip!

Activity Reviews

Kayaking & Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

There was no kayaking, but the snorkeling was interesting, and we saw some beautiful and fascinating animals.

Papallacta Hot Springs & Spa

Ecuador

The hot springs are great, but the best part of this excursion was walking one of the beautiful paths up to a waterfall, through some of the most stunning landscape imaginable. Lovely!

Quito Cooking Class

Galapagos Islands

Our cook and teacher, Dennis, was fabulous. We loved the food, which was plentiful, and the instruction was accessible and fun. One of our favorite activities!

Ride the Cable Car to Pichincha Volcano

Quito

Wonderful view of Quito and beautiful trail up to the volcano (although we didn't go the whole way). Loved swinging on the swing at the top!

Maquipucuna Reserve

Ecuador

Paradise on Earth. Not to be missed! Such a beautiful place! The trails were delightful, the lodge was gorgeous, the food was delicious, but the best part is the story of the couple who started acquiring land for this exquisite preserve. One of the most beautiful and tranquil places we have experienced anywhere.

Transfer to Quito Airport, Arrival to Galapagos & Highlands of Santa Cruz

Galapagos Islands

Daniela, our guide, was so kind and informative. The tortoises were everything we had imagined they would be! A fascinating excursion that brought to life everything we had read about the Galápagos.

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

Nesting season for the blue-footed boobies--they were everywhere! We were able to get quite close to them, and they seemed quite unbothered by our presence. Amazing!

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Ecuador

Wow! Otherworldly terrain and extraordinary access to amazing sealife while snorkeling. Definitely a highlight of our trip!

Night Walk in the Cloud Forest

Ecuador

We had an excellent guide who could find nocturnal critters in the darkness that were absolutely amazing!

Paul checked in almost everyday and also booked a last minute tour for me. Franklin was my guide to Mitad de Mundo and was amazing. He even followed up the following day. My stay in Galapagos booked by Paul, was perfect. I has 3 guides, Astrid, Tamara, and Yuliana all very friendly. My transport driver Angel was on time and accompanied me all the way. This Ecuadorian Team is outstanding and highly recommended!!! Thanks Paul

Hotel Review

Acacia Galápagos Boutique Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Great location, fresh breakfast every day.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Located one block off the main street centralized

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

100%

Activity Reviews

Kayaking at Garrapatero Beach

Ecuador

Current was high and I chose not to Kayak as I am not experienced enough. We did other things and the guide and I went for an authentic local place and had encebollado.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Angel and Yuliana were both very accommodating. Love them

Transport

Angel prompt and interactive with me

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Ecuador

Enjoying touring with a small group. Boat staff was very accommodating

Quality of Experience

Sea life

Food

Tuna again. Delicious

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fluent in English and spanish

Transport

Shuttle

Transfer Baltra Airport - Puerto Ayora with visit to the highlands of Santa Cruz

Ecuador

These tortoises are amazing animals . I had lunch at the restaurant, the freshest albacore tuna

Quality of Experience

Loving the nature

Food

Freshness

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Astrid was very knowledgeable and answered all questions

Transport

Angel was prompt