Ecuador Galapagos Travels

This is a third trip with Kimkim (first to South America) and Kimkim delivered a great itinerary as usual. All I have to do is tell Kimkim what we'd like to do and they setup everything, suggesting adventures that often prove the highlight of our trip. Hotels were always nice and within walking distance of town centers, both on the Islands and in Quito. We also requested a 4-day island-hopping cruise where we were meters from free roving animals such as giant tortoises, sea lions, iguanas, blue-footed boobies doing a mating dance right on our trail, and other wildlife. In the water we, swam with countless colorful fish, sea lions, sea turtles, marine iguanas, sea snakes, sharks and penguins. We were offered and tried traditional cuisine: fish-head soup and guinea pig. Some of our favorite memories came from swimming in a hidden beach with large waves. At night, sharks would circle our boat, sometimes having a feeding frenzy for all the flying fish attracted to lights. Sea Lions sometimes hopped on the back of our boat. Un unforgettable adventure.

I was not involved in the planning of the trip but felt that things could not have gone better. I am just beginning the travel portion of my life so I don’t have much to compare this trip to but I thoroughly enjoyed each and every hotel, meal and excursion we did. David set the standard for guides and it will be hard for any other guide to equal his efforts with our group. His communication and coordination of things with such a large group was fabulous. His love and knowledge of Ecuador shone through in everything we did.

David was amazing and explained everything and was very knowledgeable and informative. I would highly recommend him to everyone. Saul was an amazing guide in the rain forest. Everything in the Galapagos was also great.

I started planning my trip to Ecuador and Galapagos about 18 months before our travel date. I organized the trip for myself and 15 other people ended up coming too. I started with 4-5 different companies and ended up picking Alvaro at KimKim because he worked quickly, efficiently, and listened to what I wanted. I was extremely happy with the final itinerary and price.

There were a few tweaks that needed to be made, and once initial down payments were made, he didn’t respond as quickly as before. I was very worried, and others who had signed up were getting worried as well, but the trip was amazing.

Our guide throughout Ecuador was David. He was the best guide we could have asked for. He explained so much about his country, history, and culture. He was enthusiastic, passionate, and helpful. He made sure all activities were organized and enjoyable for all.

When we went to Mindo, two parts of the itinerary were left out, a coffee experience and ziplining. Alvaro made sure to add those items later in the itinerary.

Saul was an amazing guide in the Amazon rainforest. He was so knowledgeable about natural remedies and the forest. We all enjoyed the hiking, cave exploration, and indigenous experience.

We were sad to leave David, as he was not going with us to Galapagos, and we got a new guide. As wonderful as David was, our new guide was the opposite. Although she was very nice, this was her first tour ever, and it showed. She didn’t give us any information about the places we visited. Anytime I asked a question, she either didn’t know the answer or gave an incorrect answer. The group felt that she was just on vacation herself as she let the local guides do all of the work and just participated in the activities. We didn’t really need her on the trip at all since we had local guides. In addition, she was sick, and a few people on the trip also started to show symptoms of the cold that she had.

We went to Santa Cruz, Isabela, and San Cristobal and loved the islands. Our guide in San Cristobal even gave the group an autographed copy of his book! Thanks, Ian! I can’t wait to read it!

Overall, the trip was wonderful and everything went very smoothly. We did so many different activities and I appreciate the work Alvaro and David and the rest of the guides put in to make this a fabulous experience.

We booked a one-week trip to Ecuador for 2 people through Kimkim, including Quito, a guided city tour, and 3 days in the Galápagos — and the entire experience was fantastic from start to finish.

Our trip planner was Alvaro, and honestly, working with him was probably one of the best parts of the whole planning process. At the beginning, we only had a very rough idea of what we wanted to do. We were still unsure about the itinerary, duration, budget, and how to combine mainland Ecuador with the Galápagos. Based on that very vague starting point, Alvaro created an excellent first proposal with a concrete itinerary and transparent pricing, which immediately helped us visualize the trip.

What impressed us most was how easy and pleasant communication was. Every question and every requested change was answered incredibly quickly and always very professionally. For example, our first proposal was above our budget, and almost immediately Alvaro sent us an adapted version together with clear explanations of what had been changed and why. It never felt pushy — instead, it felt collaborative and genuinely personalized.

The payment process was also very straightforward and reassuring (30% deposit first, remaining balance later before the trip).

Another thing we really appreciated was that Alvaro kept checking in with us before the trip started, asking whether we still had questions and making sure we felt prepared. He also introduced us in advance to the local Ecuadorian partner responsible for the on-the-ground coordination (Sebastian from Responsible Travel South America).

This was honestly what made the whole experience feel so special: everything was incredibly easy and digital, but still deeply personal at the same time. Even though everything was organized online, we always felt like we had real people taking care of us.

I can 100% recommend Kimkim, and especially Alvaro, for anyone planning a trip to Ecuador.

Our trip to Ecuador was truly the experience of a lifetime, and so much of that is thanks to the incredible care, planning, and support from Maria and Kim.

From the very beginning, Maria went above and beyond to help create an itinerary that somehow captured everything Ecuador has to offer. The trip was seamless, thoughtful, adventurous, and incredibly well organized across multiple regions, flights, boats, lodges, and experiences. Every detail felt intentional.

And Kim was simply exceptional. Knowledgeable, patient, kind, adaptable, and deeply passionate about Ecuador, its culture, wildlife, and people. She made every experience richer and more meaningful, whether we were exploring Quito, hiking near Cotopaxi, traveling the Napo River in the Amazon, or snorkeling in the Galápagos Islands. We always felt cared for, informed, safe, and genuinely welcomed.

This was not just a vacation. It was a beautifully curated experience full of adventure, perspective, learning, and unforgettable moments.

We are leaving Ecuador with full hearts and immense gratitude. Thank you, Maria and Kim, for helping create memories we will carry for the rest of our lives.

The entire vacation was very planned, ensuring that we covered all the sights at a decent pace. The local guides on each island were superb, helping us get the most of our trip. and giving us great insights That we had local support 24X7 was an added bonus! All in all, a great vacation and we look forward to our next vacation with Kimkim.

Our father daughter trip was fantastic. Alvaro was great to work with. He was so responsive and helpful to our individual wants and needs during the trip planning process. Yael greeted us with a welcome gift upon arrival in Quito and made sure everything was going well before our departure across the country.

Our itinerary was perfect and we feel very lucky to have had the guides we did. We had David for our tour around Quito. He was knowledgeable, helpful & paced the day perfectly. For the remainder of the trip we had Chris and he was so amazing. We would not have wanted to do the trip without a driver and Chris was exceptional in this realm. He was a very defensive and great driver on the chaotic roads. He was always one step ahead of the weather & road closures which made our trip so much more seamless than we could have hoped for considering we traveled during the peak rainy season. We had such a good time and kimkim made it an easy & relaxing process. Our itinerary was jam packed and we saw so much but we didn’t feel rushed at all. We feel like the trip was a bargain for all it included. Would definitely use kimkim again & we are hoping to do a Galapagos trip in the future!

Hotel Reviews

Swissotel Quito

Quito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Sangay

Baños de Agua Santa

I would note, especially for American travelers, that this hotel has no air conditioning and no screens in the windows so getting airflow without getting bugs in the room was difficult.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Inti Sisa

Guamote

This was our favorite stay of the trip. The cultural experience and community outreach this hotel does are wonderful. My Dad and I bought so many gifts here from the shop & wish we could have gone to the local market! We just stayed on the wrong day.

Authenticity & Character

Location

I

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Victoria

Cuenca

The river view and getting to sleep with the sound of the water right outside our hotel room was a wonderful surprise.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Holiday Inn Guayaquil Airport

Guayaquil

Authenticity & Character

We don’t book airport hotels for authenticity or culture! Just practicality

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Immersive Cultural Exploration: From Riobamba to Guamote

Ecuador

The night before we got to wander around Baños and had a delicious dinner at the Italian restaurant in town. We started the day with a tour of waterfalls around the Baños area and then continued onto Guamote. Our only wish is that we could have gone to the market in Guamote but we were ther a day early!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Discovering Cuenca's Charms: A Journey Through History and Culture

Cuenca

We loved Cuenca. It is such a beautiful town and we see why a bunch of expats have moved here! The tour was great and we got to see a lot in our day here. This is also where we did our cooking class instead of having it in Quito like the itinerary stated. It was a private cooking class at a very fancy hotel with a beautiful view of the blue domes! We could tell Chris had a good relationship with many of the vendors at the market & wish we had more time to sample things here but we didn’t want to eat anything right before our cooking class!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cuenca - Cajas National Park - Cacao & Mango Hacienda - Guayaquil

Cuenca

Unfortunately, due to weather & road closures, we didn’t get to do Cajas but that was in no way our guide or KimKim’s fault. We loved the mango & chocolate hacienda. I would note that it isn’t mango season so we just did the chocolate experience which was wonderful. The family that ran it was so great. Jamil & Estefano were very knowledgeable and we loved making our own cacao drink & chocolate bars.

Quality of Experience

Food

The lunch we had at the hacienda made by the family was one of our favorite meals of the trip. It was delicious.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Connect with your flight to Galapagos

Ecuador

The airport hotel was extremely convenient. The shuttle was efficient and got us to the airport quickly. Guayaquil airport was small and easy to navigate & security lines were quick.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Ecuador: Let Your Adventure Begin! (Transportation Service)

Galapagos Islands

Our flights got in too late to do anything in the city this day. Our driver picked me up because my flight got in 5 hrs before my Dad’s and then he went back for my Dad which was greatly appreciated and gave me time to settle into the hotel & grab dinner instead of sitting at the airport for 5 hrs.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Colonial City Tour, Cooking Class & the Middle of the World Monument

Quito

We got to see a ton for only being in the city one day.

Quality of Experience

We did a ton in one day but it didn’t feel rushed. We truly feel like we got to see the highlights of Quito!

Food

The breakfast that was included at the hotel was fantastic & David chose a wonderful lunch spot with a view with great local fare for us to try.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

David was great! Extremely knowledgeable, friendly & kind. He was also friends with so many people at the different stops that it made our day even easier than expected!

Transport

David’s car was very clean & he was a very good driver who tailored our day around the traffic.

Quilotoa Lagoon - Baños

Ecuador

This was a beautiful stop & we are very happy we got to see it!

Quality of Experience

Food

Chris chose a great restaurant by the lagoon for us to have lunch.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

A Full-Day Amazon Experience from Baños!

Ecuador

We broke up our waterfall tour & our Amazon tour to the local community. This day we visited the local indigenous community & got to go on a waterfall hike. Michaela was our face painter as well as our waterfall hiking guide and she was great. The lunch they made for us was delicious and we even had their pet monkey make an appearance! We then got to go to Yanacocha which is an animal sanctuary for animals rescued from the black market or who were orphaned and aren’t able to be released back into the wild. It was great to see them all treated so well!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guamote - Palmira - Ingapirca - Cuenca

Guamote

We loved Ingapirca and are very glad we got to go. It is a beautiful ruin!

Quality of Experience

Food

We loved our lunch near Ingapirca at Posada Ingapirca.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Alvaro was very helpful in planning our trip and connecting us with in-country people who managed our itinerary and made sure we got to each stop. Transportation was seamless and someone was always waiting for us with our name on a sign so we could quickly negotiate airports and hotel stops. We also had knowledgeable and English-speaking guides at key points of interest. Our favorites were the tours of El Cajas National Park near Quito, Ecuador and Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain in Peru. Highly recommend

Activity Reviews

Hiking El Cajas National Park (self drive)

Ecuador

Amazing trip and our guide was fantastic

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Trip to Rainbow Mountain - Vinicunca

Peru

Exhilarating trip to Rainbow Mountain. Highly recommend taking the optional motorcycle trip up the mountain

Quality of Experience

Food

The stop for breakfast and lunch was great. Well equipped for travelers and great food.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport