Chaska Tours Colombia

I am usually not one to use the help of a travel agency. We had a few trips this summer and I was especially nervous about taking kids age 9 and 6 to a developing country where we not speak the language very well. Michael from KimKim was responsive and helped me secure hotel stays with suites so our family of 4 could comfortably enjoy our stay. Michael helped pick out specific activities (and then rearrange when kids and my husband had new ideas) that were fun, educational and unique to Colombia. One of our favorites was making coconut crafts with the Damartes, an organization of women that receives micro-finance loans from the government to lift families out of poverty. The actual workshop was fairly limited on the number of items that could be made but the concept really opened the eyes of my privileged kids. Although Cartagena and Medellin (especially where the tourists stay) are now fairly safe, it was nice not to have one adult constantly have their phone out and tracking an uber. The car transfers were safe and efficient. Michael also booked a local one way flight from Cartagena and to Medellin, which was a breeze. Our guides Eddie (in Cartagena) and Pablo (in Medellin) were fantastic with children motivating them with ice cream breaks and keeping our conversation interesting to little minds. We truly enjoyed the help of KimKim to help curate and organize an incredible family trip to Colombia we could not have planned ourselves!

Hotel Reviews

Estelar Cartagena de Indias

Cartagena

Great pool, in Bocagrande away from the old city but only a few min away.

Authenticity & Character

Fairly standard hotel, not authentic to Colombia

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sites

Medellin

Great location, loved the 2 bedroom apartments for the family.

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Street Art & Graffiti Tour

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coconut Workshop

Cartagena

Rosario Islands Day Trip

Cartagena

Salsa Dance Class in Medellín

Medellín

Medellín Transformation Tour (Public Transportation)

Medellín

Tour Peñol & Guatapé

Medellín

I recently returned from a trip to Colombia organized by Michael, and I truly cannot find the words to encapsulate how wonderful the experience was and how grateful I am to the kimkim team and all of the guides they coordinated with to make this trip so meaningful and memorable. They were able to get my friend and I connected with staff from Tayrona Birding for a tour of Tayrona National Park, and each of the staff we interacted with were kind, professional, knowledgable, and warm. The lodging at the Senda Koguiwa hotel in Santa Marta was also so wonderful. The food was phenomenal, the grounds were beautiful, and the staff was so kind. I truly hope this review helps encourage anyone who is on the fence about booking with kimkim to move forward with it. I am already looking forward to booking future experiences with kimkim!

Hotel Review

Senda Koguiwa

Santa Marta

Friendly staff, delicious food, beautiful grounds, and comfortable rooms that kept us cool and safe.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Conveniently close to Tayrona National Park.

Staff

The staff were so kind and helpful, and they seemed to genuinely care about making the experience special.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean and kept at a comfortable temperature.

Activity Review

Hike Tayrona National Park

Colombia

The park itself is gorgeous with lots of breathtaking views and diverse wildlife housed within, but the thing that made it even more wonderful was the hiking guide and the experience he created based on his own knowledge of the park.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Comfortable, on-time, and felt safe the entirety of the nearly 3-hour long transfer from Barranquilla to Santa Marta.

I just returned from an absolutely incredible 10-day trip to Colombia, and I cannot praise this travel company enough for organizing such a seamless and memorable experience. From the moment I arrived in Bogotá to my final day in Cartagena, every detail was perfectly coordinated. The guides were exceptional - particularly Jose in Bogotá, who was incredibly knowledgeable and made the walking tour of Montserrat and the Gold Museum truly fascinating, and Roberto in Cartagena, whose perfect English and animated personality made exploring the city an absolute joy. The accommodations were outstanding, especially the stunning resort in Tayrona Park with its gorgeous cabañas and that amazing lighthouse room at the Rosario Islands with breathtaking ocean views. The variety of experiences was perfect - from hiking through Tayrona's beautiful beaches to the unique river tubing adventure, the fascinating cultural immersion in Palenque, and even the unforgettable mud volcano experience. The drivers, particularly Carlos, Emerson, and Jose, were not only professional but helped me practice my Spanish and made the long drives enjoyable. Every aspect of the trip exceeded my expectations, and I'm already planning my return visit next year. This company truly knows how to create magical travel experiences in Colombia! Many thanks to Michael especially, who worked tirelessly to make this one of my best trips ever! He really went above and beyond for months with me as we went through and tweaked my itinerary and made changes and additions. He and the team were also there every step of the way when I ran into problems (my first hotel was not able to host me, and another hotel had no water for 3 days!) It is at times like these when you really appreciate Michael and the folks at Kimkim/Chaska stepping in and advocating for you. It would not have been as wonderful a trip without Michael and all his expertise with planning. 11 out of 10 stars! :)

Hotel Reviews

Hotel De La Opera

Bogotá

I love this hotel just sadly did not get to stay there because of plumbing issues.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Senda Koguiwa

Santa Marta

Loved this hotel! So peaceful and quiet. Great staff and food, great services, amazing pool. Very clean (despite the 3 cockroaches I found!)

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

GHL Hotel Armería Real

Cartagena

Despite having no water most of the week, I still loved this hotel. :) Great staff, and the first 3 nights I had a beautiful room.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Fragata Island House

I really loved especially my lighthouse room at the Fragata house. I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Santa Marta City Tour

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cartagena City Tour

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Bogotá Museums Tour

Bogotá

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monserrate Hill Tour

Bogotá

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hike Tayrona National Park

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit to San Basilio de Palenque

Cartagena

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Tayronaka Natural Reserve

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nueva Venecia and the stilt villages of the Ciénaga Grande (On the Way to Cartagena)

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Visit the National Aviary of Colombia

Colombia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour to Totumo Volcano

Cartagena

My only negative comment would be that it's swarmed with people begging to make money off of your experience. I did not need to pay someone to take my picture.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tour exceeded our high expectations. We had seen a small slice of Colombia on a prior trip and were eager to see more.

The country is so beautiful and the Chaska Team and their tour guides and drivers provided a wonderful experience with lifetime memories . Arrangements practices and drivers and guides routinely waiting for us.

Great activities and sights. Tour guides had great knowledge and were attentive and helpful. The kimkim/Chaska Team was a pleasure to work with during the planning period and delivered on the plan.

Well done!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel y Spa Getsemani

Villa de Leyva

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Misión Santa Bárbara

Authenticity & Character

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Staff

Aura Hotel Barú By Sport Barú

Cartagena, Bolivar

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

BH Bicentenario

Bogotá

Good location andjace t to Old Town. Modern and nice restaurant. Great rooftop pool.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Sonesta Hotel Bucaramanga

Bucaramanga

Superb world class new hotel adjacent t to an amazing shopping mall with some great stores and good restaurants.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Salento Real Eje Cafetero

Salento

Authenticity & Character

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Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Bogota Highlights Tour

Bogotá

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Visit the Salt Cathedral at Zipaquira

Colombia

Amazing to see. What a creation 400 feet below the surface. And so expansive and grand, that there is no feeling of claustrophobia.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking Tour of Villa de Leyva

Villa de Leyva

Tour to Ráquira pottery town & La Candelaria Monastery

Villa de Leyva

Wonderful experience with the lead priest who shared deep knowledge of history and traditions with a wry smile and sense of humor. Ráquira has what must be the world’s largest pottery shop with an amazing diversity of items.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guide Manuel had to chastise the driver for starting g out like a race car driver on the typically twisty mountain roads. After that he was fine.

Barichara Walking Tour

Barichara

Our guide Oscar seemed to know everyone in Town and knew just where to take us on an abbreviated tour due to a late arrival because of weather issues on roads.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit Chicamocha Park

Colombia

Fun to hike to the view at the top and see the sculpture paying tribute to peasant heroes of the revolution to establish independence. Cable car ride to the bottom of one of the world’s deepest canyons was a thrill.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Smooth driving on a crazy road with twists and turns and sheer cliffs.

Charming Villages and Special Coffees

Colombia

Great scenery coupled with understanding and appreciation great coffee snd the challenges in producing it.

Quality of Experience

Packed a lot of fun and I for stop. And scenery in one day.

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The he Jeep visit on narrow roads to remote villages with incredible views and quaint towns.

Visit of Cocora Valley, Filandia & Salento

Salento

East see why Disney filmed scenes for e Encanto here in this other world setting. What lush growth and scenery with the world’s tallest palms . Nice ecological success story.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Thank you Cristina and team for a well organised trip.

We had an amazing trip and wish we had more time in Colombia! Thank you for all your help during the trip.

I would highly recommend Chaska Tours to anyone visiting Colombia.

Activity Reviews

Fruits of Colombia Food Tour

Bogotá

It was an ok tour. Nice to see the local market but not essential.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Bogota's Essentials (City Tour & Monserrate)

Bogotá

Unfortunately the Church was closed, therefore we could not enter. It was a shame.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cocora Valley & Salento

Colombia

Amazing place to visit and Carlos the guide was great too. Beautiful scenery and very serene.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Panoramic Tour of Nevado del Ruiz

Manizales

The place was amazing to visit but unfortunately it was a bit cloudy (unlucky for us) and visibility was low but it was a great tour which ended up in the hot spring and seeing the hummingbirds.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the indigenous community of Katanzama

Tayrona National Park

Great experience. Martin, the tour guide was great and the visit was very eye opening. Nice lunch by the beach at the end of the tour.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wildlife Observation Tour

Colombia

Unfortunately we did not spot any wildlife.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Michael was amazing and his communication and trip guidance were on point. I will suggest the company to others and use again in the future.

My husband and I had a very memorable vacation in Colombia .

All our excursions and meals were carefully arranged and we were pleased at the very high standards that Michael and his team adhered to.

My favorite spot was the Cocora Valley and the majestic palm trees. A must see for everyone.

Driving in the antique Willy ( jeep) was perhaps my husband’s favorite for sure.

Do give Micheal and his team a chance to plan a trip for you , you won’t be disappointed.

Munir and Tarannum

We spent 2 weeks in Medellin and the coffee growing region of Colombia. Michael helped us create the itinerary based on our interests. With his excellent planning were were able to visit a variety of places and have many different kinds of experiences and learned a lot about Colombia, it's people and history. We especially liked our private tours with Paula in Jardin and with Carlos in Salento.

We loved out trip to Colomba and Michael was always very responsive to accomodating with all my questions and adusting our preferences during the planning process to custmoize it for our famliy of 4. We enjoyed all our guides who were very informative and passionate and our drivers were super nice and drove very safely! When one activity could not be accomodated per our itinerary, Micahel was very responsive and added another actvity we also wanted to do to replace it, and for that we were grateful. Our only regert is that we wished we had more time - another day in the Salento coffee farm area (our faborite) and another day on Isla Mucaro to extend the relaxation would have been perfect - but we did and saw a lot while we were there in the time we had! I have been raving about the country and our experience to our friends and highly recommend (and I am often hard to please and am used to planning trips all on my own) but I'm glad we booked through KimKim and Chaska Tours espeically since we were travelng with kids, as they helped to make our vacation seamless and turnkey. Thank you again and we hope to be back! Cara

Hotel Reviews

BH Bicentenario

Bogotá

Clean and good breakfast in a good location near Monserate! Just wished their was temperature control or AC in the rooms as we were a little hot and opening the window at night can be noisy with street traffic

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rancho San Antonio

Loved this place outside Salento -and the staff are amzing and welcomnig! Jeffrey prepared an early homecooked breakfast just for us the mornnig we had an early flight! He also pre-arranged cabs for us in town

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Wished we could open up windows for cool air but there were no screens and mosquitos so we couldn't

Bastión Luxury Hotel

Cartagena

Beautiful hotel and room with rooftop bar in the heart of the city. AC stopped working at night but we called the next morning and they fixed.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

beds were comfy and bathroom spacious

Hotel Punta Faro

Isla Mucura

Beautiful grounds and beach; lovely room; AC had some issues working and some tours were not in English so this was difficult for us (plankton and bicycle) so my family did not benefit from the information as much. Also would love a pool but understand why they probably can't put one in being a national park but that would bring it more next level. Food was hearty but not gourmet so a tad pricey for that compared to other resorts

Authenticity & Character

Loved the setting; wish we could have had dinner on beach

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

GHL Hotel Armería Real

Cartagena

Great duplex room, good location; nice pool and rooftop bar/couryard - good value for $$! One of the AC units was leaking a bit on the bed

Authenticity & Character

Location

A little outside city

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Walking Tour & Street Food

Cartagena

We loved our guide and the food - he was informative and passionate and great with the kids! Thak you!!

Traditional Dinner - Top Chef Private Dining

Bogotá

Loved this experience - food was great, people warm and inviting and it was unique - thank you! Only lasted 2 hrs though but this was totally fine and we wanted to get to bed earlier :)

Fruits of Colombia at a Local Market

Bogotá

Loved it! Not really though it wasn't as long as advertised it was great

Horseback-Riding in the Coffee Region

Colombia

Gorgeous scenery and relaxing! Horses well behaved!

Bogota's Essentials (City Tour & Monserrate)

Bogotá

Loved it but we would have liked to have lunch sooner as we were a little starved and tired - ate around 4-5;30pm and then we didn't have energy to see the last square however we did squeeze this in and see it the next day so we were satistfied with that

Visit the Guatavita Lagoon

Bogotá

Beautiful hike and scenery and made us understand the culture better and our visit to the Gold museum more meaningful!

Coffee Farm Tour in Finca Buenos Aires

Salento

Another fun and unique experience not to be missed!

Cocora Valley & Salento

Colombia

Just amzing scenery and guide was great and informative!!!

Filandia & Basketry Workshop

Colombia

really NA because we didnt get to to this - wasnt sure why bt Michael offered us a Casillo Tour in Cartegena instead which was very good to see and informative! The shop we visited though was lovely and we bought souveniers

Sunset Drum & Dance Safari at the Beach of La Boquilla

Colombia

A unique experience that the kids loved!

Chocolate Workshop

Cartagena

Another amaznig time - they made it so special for my son's bday and we loved makng the cake and chocolate figurines - perfect bday celebration and end to our trip!