Authentic Ecuador

I contacted kimkim to help craft a custom itinerary with a guide spend almost a week hiking in the Ecuadorian Andes. The kimkim staff was professional and responsive. Most importantly, they contracted an independent local guide who spoke excellent english and specialized in hiking trips.

During the trip we had to adjust the itinerary based on road conditions after a very strong storm closed the road to one of our our planned overnight stay locations. Alternative accommodations were made seamlessly, and it was great to see that the kimkim folks and our local guide were on the same page and kept us in the loop.

My one change would probably be to find a location closer to Chimborazo outside of Riobamba instead of staying in town. The town is not terribly clean and fairly noisy. While our time there was completely fine, l would suggest this improvement for the next group interested in doing a trip similar to ours.

Lastly, I can't say enough good things about our local guide Milton. He really made our trip special and we will treasure our time together for a long time.

Hotel Reviews

Mansion Santa Isabella

Riobamba

While the Andalusian style is nice, the staff was only moderately helpful and the room overlooking the street was very noisy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

The weekend staff was not terribly friendly or helpful. It didn't seem like they enjoyed their job very much.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Santa Lucia House - Forum

Cuenca

Wonderful staff, great location, and a lovely interior. Our room was situated at the front of the hotel, so we heard som street noise, but the large sitting room just outside our room more than made up for it. Breakfast was good. We really appreciated they adjusted their breakfast schedule to accommodate us leaving early in AM on two different occasions.

Authenticity & Character

Lovely traditional Andalusian style.

Location

Less than 5 minutes to the town center.

Staff

Everyone we met was friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Cotopaxi National Park

Ecuador

We totally lucked out to see the mountain. Great hikes to the Rifugio and around the lake.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We used a local driver for the last part of the drive.

Explore the Quilotoa Lagoon

Ecuador

The hike around the crater is terrific. There is some steep vertical in the first quarter of the hike going counterclockwise, so be ready for that.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Milton recommended going counterclockwise, which was totally the right call.

Transport

We made a decision the night before to stay in Chugchilan instead of Isnilivi. Not only were we closer to the lake the next day, but we luckily avoided a major landslide that would have kept us from getting to Quilatoa at all.

Cuenca City Tour

Ecuador

Cuenca is a special town. We were fortunate that our guide Milton was from there, so we totally benefitted from having a local experience.

Quality of Experience

Meeting our guides family.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Milton's family was awesome.

Transport

Cajas National Park

Ecuador

Who knew Scotland was in Ecuador. This is a very special place to hike.

Quality of Experience

We lucked out on the weather. Go early!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thank you, Paola, for helping us with our amazing trip to Galapagos and Quito!
Some highlights:
- Cooking class in Quito
- Quito city tour with Christian - terrific guide! As was his uncle ;)!
- Santa Cruz highland tour with visit to tortoises!
- Trip to Bartolomé island
- Isabella snorkeling at Los Túneles - Luis was a terrific guide. We learned a lot from him
- Biking in National Park on Isabella - Thank you to John!

The hotel accommodations were all wonderful
- La Casona de La Ronda in Quito
- Ikala Galapagos on Santa Cruz
- La Casita de la Playa on Isabella

Only hiccup was not knowing we needed to pay the National Park Fee when we landed in Baltra Airport in Santa Cruz. Would recommend making that clear to future travelers! Thank you!

Chris

Hotel Reviews

La Casona de La Ronda

Quito

Friendly staff, good breakfast, great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ikala Galapagos Hotel

Puerto Ayora

Beautiful pool and rooms! Wonderful restaurant view!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

La Casita de la Playa

Puerto Villamil

BEAUTIFUL Location and view.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Quito City Tour - Middle of the World

Quito

Christian was a wonderful guide. Loved our day in Quito.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Quito Cooking Class

Galapagos Islands

One of our highlights! Really fun - chef is passionate about Ecuadorian food. Excellent dinner

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayaking & Snorkeling at Las Tintoreras

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Snorkeling/kayaking guide struggled with English - would have liked more information about the animals

Transport

Excursion to an uninhabited island

Galapagos Islands

Beautiful day - long boat ride

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hiking Sierra Negra Volcano

Galapagos Islands

We had a rainy day, so we couldn't hike past the first view point.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide struggled a bit with English - would have like a bit more information.

Transport

Snorkel at Los Túneles

Galapagos Islands

Best experience on our trip!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Luis was the best!

Transport

Planning with Kimkim and the local agency in Ecuador was a great choice. It made our life super easy and everything was immaculately planned for and organized. Paola was super responsive and kind in her communications. Her local team did their best to make our stay memorable and we especially enjoyed our local tour guide, Jose, in Quito. The activites we did and places we visited were well selected for our family and we enjoyed them very much.

would do again, Paola was very informative and made the trip easy

Hotel Reviews

Ibis Styles El Malecón

Guayaquil

excellent service and room perfect great restaurants near by and boardwalk

Authenticity & Character

Location

location was perfect

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa de Nelly

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

not the best

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Cally Galapagos

Puerto Villamil

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lava House Galapagos

Puerto Ayora

this was a beautiful place clean great breakfast and staff were amazing

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Galapaguera Tortoise Reserve

Galapagos Islands

The service that we received from Mathias, our local specialist was nothing short of spectacular. We had to abort a previous trip due to illness. Mathias worked with us for 2 years, assisting us in getting our travel insurance money and rebooking our trip. He stayed in contact with us over the course of the booking process and also once we were in country. He even made a special trip to take us for dinner at the airport during a long layover. I would strongly recommend him for any travel you are considering!

Very well-planned trip. KimKim allows you to easily tailor your holidays to your tastes. We have done three trips with KimKim, and we have been very satisfied with each of them. Also, they seem to have a knack for finding very good guides.

Ecuador has so much to offer- from the sights of Quito- with amazing walking tours and dining experiences, to hiking Cotopaxi volcano, trekking through Diablo waterfall and the beauty of the cloud and rainforests…..and then topped off with the Galápagos Islands. Paola at Authentic Ecuador executed our 2 weeks flawlessly choosing wonderful hotels (GO Hotel and Kuyana Lodge were particular highlights) and paired us with an exceptional guide (Danny was attentive, knowledgable, friendly and anticipated our every need). They ensured that we were well prepared for our upcoming activities and were intuitive about the cadence of our day, ensuring the itinerary fit our needs and preferences perfectly. We experienced great dining, stunning photo ops, and activities that spanned breathtaking hikes, soaks in hot mineral springs and heart stopping swinging out over rocky cliffs! Many thanks to Paola…… From the initial planning process to our last day (where she quickly adjusted to changes in our departure plans) we felt well informed and supported. I will cherish this Ecuadorian experience for years to come!

The trip was absolutely amazing! The cooking class in Quito with Denis was delicious and fun. We enjoyed visiting the markets with Denis and he is so knowledgeable and fun.
Once aboard My Angel, the service was incredible ( as were all the smooth transfers). I loved the hot chocolate and towels when we got back from snorkeling.
The amount of wild life we saw was amazing! Sea lions, penguins, sharks, rays, turtles, tortoises, frigate birds, iguanas and blue footed boobies!!!!
Andre our guide was incredible. So funny, knowledge and just a pleasure to be around!
Paula did a fabulous job with dining room, bar etc. Housekeeping was fabulous. You take a nap, come back to room and beds been made again! So clean.
The food was very delicious! The entire staff was so responsive and helpful.
My only suggestion would be to organize the bar tab in a better way than writing down in paper and handing you the bill right before departing. Luckily I noticed that we were charged for 3 bottles of champagne instead of 2 and adjustments were made.

Otherwise, it was an incredible trip of life time. Thanks so much