Ecuador Galapagos Travels

Majo was extremely responsive and provided excellent advice while planning our Mother-in-Law/ Daughters-in-Law trip for 4. She revised the itinerary until we had exactly what we wanted and to fit within our budget. A few highlights to note/share: El Barranco hotel was wonderful, couldn't recommend enough, will stay there when I return. Great location right by the pier near tons of shops and restaurants, wonderful staff, great food and drinks too! North Seymour Island on the Finch Bay yacht was probably my favorite day. The yacht was gorgeous, our guide was great, we saw so much wildlife and it welcomed us with a wow day for sure! The morning bay tour was pretty good, less fancy, but still a wonderful day, and it allowed us to splurge a few other days/times. The walk down to Las Grietas was on lava rocks so comfortable shoes are necessary. Trapiche and Garrapatero Beach with kayak was another awesome day. Our guide for the day, Erickita, was my favorite guide of the trip. She was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. Trapiche was a cool stop and the owner of the farm, Adriano, was kind and funny! Garrapatero Beach was beautiful and we kayaked a bit there. The snorkel experience in Punta Cormorant/ Champions Islet on Floreana was amazing. A sea lion was swimming in circles around and with us. This wasn't as fancy of a yacht but I was told only certain boats/yachts had permits for specific places. It was fine, just not as luxurious. It was a rough 2.5 hour ride there then also back. My party did fine with it but numerous others on the boat did get sea sick so while the destination was definitely worth it for our group, don't add it if someone in your group easily gets sea sick. The best place to sit is the middle of the boat so you can get some fresh air and don't smell the bathrooms or kitchen but also so you're not in the back baking in the sun getting sprayed by water. We spent our final day doing the Santa Cruz Highlands, an artisan woodworking visit, and a cooking class. Our family always adds some kind of art/craft and also some kind of cooking class on our trips so I'm glad they were added but the cooking class did go rather long (numerous hours) and the craft class wasn't really a full class and I don't think they're setup to accommodate that. Majo did deliver on all of our requests and planned a wonderful farewell dinner at Eloise, a cool waterfront restaurant you take a brief water taxi to and see lots of little white tip Galapagos sharks at the dock and along the journey. A few of my favorite restaurants were Bahia Mar, Midori, and Art Coffee. Darwin + Wolf was my favorite shop. We went to the Darwin Research Station on our own and I suggest doing the same because they have their own tour guides anyway. The wildlife was amazing and the animals get so close to you because they're protected so nobody bothers them and they aren't scared of us. It was beyond crazy how much we saw and how common it was. I'll definitely go back when my son is old enough to snorkel because he would love the wildlife. We also visited Siluet Derm Spa on our own and if you like massages, you should definitely fit that into your Santa Cruz visit! Our guides were all wonderful. The communication was immediate. Thoughtful extras were included like assistance in airports, etc. HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU BOOK THIS!

Majo was so amazing, patient and helpful with our trip. It was an incredible trip !

Hotel Review

El Barranco

Santa Cruz

Incredible hotel and staff. Best location. We almost chose a more expensive hotel, but when we got to the area we realized we made the better choice. 10 out of 10. Walkable to shops, the main pier for water taxis, restaurants. Honestly you could eat and drink at the hotel because the food was incredible. Gorgeous view and pool!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Central to EVERYTHING

Staff

Garamija makes the best drinks and brings the fun

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Free day to explore

Isla Santa Cruz

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Morning Bay Tour & Afternoon at leisure in Santa Cruz

Puerto Ayora

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Snorkel Experince in Punta Cormorant / Champions Islet - Floreana Island

Puerto Ayora

Ericka was such a wonderful guide!! She made this whole day even more special!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santa Cruz Highlands & Artisan Experience with Coocking Class

Puerto Ayora

The chef was wonderful! The food was so good, and more than we could possibly eat. There were turtles all over the area. We got fresh food from the farm before we made our food.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trapiche & Garrapatero Relax Tour with Kayak

Ecuador

The owner of trapiche and his son made the day! They were so fun, and welcoming. A true highlight

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Yacht Cruise to North Seymour Island

Puerto Ayora

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Delicious Dinner by the Sea

Ecuador

Beyond food and drinks being some of the best I've had...we saw four baby sharks, sting rays, turtles all from our table. A true highlight

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The trip was great. Last day in Santa Cruz was almost a waste but we worked with Deigo to give us some free time to walk around rather than just sit at the airport. The Break and Breakfast in GYE was good but the location was not good. We had one night there and left to go walk but there was nothing we could get to, including bars.

We wanted to go to South America and initially they wanted to have us work with a rep in each country. Luckily Maria Jose (MaJo) stepped up and coordinated everyghing for us. We changed countries and group size and what we wanted to do several times. MaJo was so patient and had great suggestions for activites and just get updating our custom trip until we were all happy with what we were doing. During the trip, MaJo messaged us everyday to ensure everything was going well and addressing any questions we had. This was my second trip with KimKim and would definitely use them again.

Hotel Reviews

Windsor California Copacabana Hotel

Rio de Janeiro

Great Location. Service was good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right on the beach

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Foz Plaza Hotel

Foz do Iguaçu

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

City Falls Iguazú

Puerto Iguazú, Misiones

Authenticity & Character

Location

A little out of the way

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ramada by Wyndham Buenos Aires Centro

Buenos Aires

Great Location. Easy to walk to most venues from here.

Authenticity & Character

A little dated.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

ICON Hotel

Santiago

Beautiful hotel. Fantastic service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

We were on vacation so located in financial district away from where we were touring.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore Rio de Janeiro – City Tour – Shared Experience

Rio de Janeiro

This tour was perfect. We saw everyghing you would want to see in Rio. We had an amazing day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Palaces & Mountains: Discover the Imperial Charm of Petrópolis

Rio de Janeiro

Interesting but not a ton to do. We also ended up going on a very raining day which impacted the experience.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Rio Adventure: Morning Bike Tour & Guanabara Bay Cruise

Rio de Janeiro

We didn't get to do the bike ride because it was cancelled 2 days before due to weather but the weather improved and we could have done it. The Bay Cruise was nice but nothing exceptional.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Brazilian Side of Iguazu Falls – Small Group Shared Tour

Foz do Iguaçu

Our tour gude was excellent. The falls were breathtaking.

Quality of Experience

Food

We just ate ate the cafeteria. The food was marginal. Food not part of the tour.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kayak on the Iguazu & Paraná Rivers – Shared Experience

Puerto Iguazú

River was beautiful. Great way to see it in a kayak. It was a small group which was very nice.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to Buenos Aires – Hotel Transfer & La Ventana Tango Dinner

Buenos Aires

You have to see a Tango in Buenos Aires. I was skeptical but MaJo talked us into it and it turned out to be very fun. There are numerous Tango venues. This one was excellent. Small venue, beautiful atmoshpere, they picked us up and dropped us off after the show, excellent dinner (one of the best we had on the trip, not a buffet you ordered from a menu and they served some great wines) and the show was very fun.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Buenos Aires City Tour: Culture & Landmarks

Buenos Aires

Pretty basic city tour. Gave you the lay of the land so you could walk around later. Big bus so many people on the tour. Repeated everything in 3 languages which got a little annoying.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tigre Delta Canal & River Navigation Tour

Buenos Aires

Very interesting community. Worth going out to Tigre and seeing the delta.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Guided Hiking Adventure in Costanera Sur

Buenos Aires

This tour was basically a city tour with a walk in the eco area of the river. Very flat walk. Our tour guide was great and customized everything for us on the fly so we could see some new things since we had already been on a city tour.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Not part of the original tour but our tour guide changed it up so we could see new things. Stopped at a market and had empanadas that wer awesome.

Arrival in Santiago & Private Chilean Cooking Class Experience

Brazil

Jenifer who runs the cooking class is absolutely adorable and made the experience so fun. I would definitely recommend this.

Quality of Experience

Food

The venue was very cute. We drank pisco sours while we cooked. The served white wine with the ceviche and red wine with the beef empanadas. It was all very cute and fun.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Santiago City & Cultural Highlights Tour with Private Driver

Santiago

We had split this into 2 days to fit better into our travel schedule. It was the right amout of time to see the highlights of Santiago.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cajón del Maipo Horseback Riding Adventure – Shared Tour

Santiago

I was nervous about this since had no experience with houses. It was a pretty technical ride up the mountain but our tour guides were amazing and ensured everyone was comfortable and enjoying the ride. The scenery was breathtaking. It was a great experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Food was not part of the tour but our driver found a very cute restraunt for us to try and the way back to the city.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was about 1.5 hours out of Santiago. On the way back our driver found a very cute restraunt for us to stop at for lunch. Was a fun day.

Santiago Food Tour & Picnic – Departure Day

Brazil

We really like Angel the tour guide but the food tour was not what we expected. Stopped at couple places but did not love the food. One place they didn't even have seating. We went to a market and purchased fruits and cheese and breads and then made a picnic from it. Picnic was supposed to be up in the mountains but raining that day so we went to the mall for a picnic. Not a traditional food tour where you went from restraunt to restraunt tasting the food and learning about the local area.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arrival in Rio de Janeiro & Pedra Bonita Hike – Private Experience

Rio de Janeiro

Perfect thing to do the day we traveled so we could do something active and get use to the time change. The view at the top of the hike was beautiful. Great way to get to Rio and see the city from a high vantage point.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our driver so a little lost while trying to find the trail head.

Transfer to Foz do Iguaçu & Rafain Show Dinner

Foz do Iguaçu

Traditional buffet and show. It was a little cheezy and the food was fine but not great. Not a ton to do in the city besides visit the falls so a reasonable activity while you are there.

Quality of Experience

Food

I don't eat a lot of meat and I guess that is the highlight of the buffet. If you like eating tons of meat you may like the dinner more than I did.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Argentinian Side of Iguazu Falls – Private & Shared Adventure

Puerto Iguazú

Our guide was fantastic. I loved the falls. You could not get enough of the views. I would go back again and see them since they are so amazing.

Quality of Experience

Food

Food was not part of the tour. The cafeteria food at the falls is marginal.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

As an experienced and very demanding travelers we had high expectations of hotels and activities on this trip.
Our travel specialist Maria Jose Jaramillo set the trip up as we asked and then helped us to tweak on the fly to make our experience even better.
She was friendly and constantly available for any of our concerns and I would highly recommend her to anyone.
Ray

The guide and ariquipa
And Erica was exallent

Hotel Reviews

Tierra Viva Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Good location

Authenticity & Character

Nothing special

Location

Center

Staff

Ok

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ok

San Agustin Urubamba

Urubamba

Nice garden and atmosphere at night with fire pits

Authenticity & Character

Nice atmosphere

Location

We need taxi

Staff

Ok

Jose Antonio Cusco Hotel

Cusco

Nothing unique

Authenticity & Character

Style

Location

Could be better

Staff

Ok

Cleanliness & Comfort

Maintenance

Taypikala Lago

Puno

Far away from center every time we needed a tax time and money.

Authenticity & Character

Nothing

Location

Far from city

Staff

Nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ok

Killawasi Lodge

Yanque

Nice ,empty

Authenticity & Character

Nothing unique

Location

Far a way from hot springs

Staff

Nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nothing to do there

Casona Plaza Hotel AQP

Arequipa

Amazing ,style,atmosphere

Authenticity & Character

Amazing,bring you back to history

Location

Middle of town

Staff

Perfect

Cleanliness & Comfort

Unique

Casa Andina Select Paracas

Paracas

Nothing to do

Authenticity & Character

Like a club

Location

Nothing around

Staff

Ok

Cleanliness & Comfort

Gim room

Las Dunas

Ica

Amazing,pools ,gardens,horses,perfect breakfast

Authenticity & Character

Gardens,style

Location

After dunas a cool 🏊

Staff

Helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Vacation atmosphere

Del Pilar Miraflores Hotel

Lima

Simple, I prefer to take hotel in the old town

Authenticity & Character

Not a botic ik very simple

Location

I prefer the old town

Staff

Poor ebpnhkush

Cleanliness & Comfort

Location,style

Activity Reviews

Arequipa City Tour & Santa Catalina Monastery

Arequipa

Very good interesting

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Ok

Food

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Transport

Transport

Arequipa City Tour & Santa Catalina Monastery

Arequipa

Very good interesting

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From Paracas to Lima - Afternoon at leisure

Peru

Nothing special

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ica to Nazca: Scenic Flight over the Nazca Lines - Return to Paracas

Peru

To long drive for the experience

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Lima – Paracas – Ica

Peru

Very nice

Quality of Experience

Amazing

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The dunes experience

Transport

Long

Lima City Tour; The Colonial & The Modern

Lima

Not proffecinal

My trip to Ecuador was a fabulous excursion. The sights and sounds that I experienced will forever be remembered. Even when a pivot from the itinerary was necessitated by my health issues, it was executed flawlessly. What made the trip so successful was my driver/guide Daniel. He helped me physically get around, but his overall knowledge, his driving skill, his hidden gems to explore, and his other worldly personality combined to make this an unforgettable tour. Beyond that, the accommodations and the restaurants were top notch. From the beaches to the Andes, to the jungle, to the volcanos, there is no other country like Ecuador. The people are friendly, the weather was perfect, the sky was pure blue. I wish I could stop there, but I had an issue with the transportation that was never resolved. I was told by KIMKIM to quote, “anticipate the arrival of a comfortable private transportation service”. What I got was an uncomfortable cramped regular automobile that the guide told me that he borrowed from a friend. Really? This is how your company operates? You don’t operate with a fleet of vans with easy ingress and egress and large viewing windows? This car had a faulty passenger seat which made things very challenging every time I had to get in or out. So, this situation and the fact that it was never addressed and resolved is the reason for the three stars. In conclusion, I would say to potential travelers to Ecuador definitely consider KIMKIM, but be sure of your ride before you commit.

Dani was amazing! Checking in with us throughout the trip, making sure we arrived and got to where we needed to go and had information and were prepared for the next day and any changes that came up. We had so much fun with so many of our guides. Christian who we first met when we were picked up at the Quito to go to our hotel gave us some good recommendations for food and it didn't seem to matter how early he then had to come back and pick us up for airport always had a smile and was phenomenal at getting us through lines with paperwork with ease. We saw others struggling and he got us right through with everything in hand on our way to Baltra where we met Ruben who was just so much fun. He had a ton of energy and knowledge and love for his island. His entire team (and there was an entire team of folks) who were part of the bike riding activity were just amazing. My son is an avid rider, my daughter not so much. But we all had a great time and the views were amazing and so were the encounters with all the tortoise and wildlife. Ruben was using an app on his phone to call birds as we walked thru portions and were able to see so many. The double decker lava tunnel was really something else. The ice cream shop he recommended at the end became a daily stop while we stayed on Santa Cruz. Conrad and crew on the Sebastian for our day to Santa Fe were also amazing! My kids and I have been fortunate to snorkel in several destinations but we've never seen so many fish until that day. And then there were the sea lion surprises and one decided to come play and show us how well it can swim. We had great dinners from restaurant recommendations from Ruben (FRA FRE, went there twice) and reservation help from Dani to go to The Point by Midori. Tortuga Bay was beautiful and the kayaking was so much fun. Alexander tried really hard to find baby sharks for my son in the mangroves and he took us to his favorite spots which were so pretty to see.... that's just the first island we went to Isabela and San Cristobal... I originally booked this trip to see penguins (which I did get to see multiple days in Isabela) and to have an activity filled trip with my kids who had a blast. First trip I haven't had to "plan" which made things much easier for me. I do have to mention Gabriela on Isabela as well. She was fantastic! She was our guide on a couple excursions including the tunnels and wall of tears. We got to meet so many incredible people along the way.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about Valentina and the trip she was able to curate for my parents and I. She was very helpful with making sure that activities were not beyond their physical limitations in their older age, took great care to arrange fantastic accommodations for us, guides were some of the friendliest people we’ve ever met anywhere on earth, and were always ready for us whenever we were to be on our way. If we had any questions, she was quick to answer ie helping when we lost a passport and when our guide had a flat tire. The hike to the sulfur mine was a great trek, we absolutely loved the kayaking experience, and I cannot say enough how much I personally loved all of the snorkeling. I intend to book with her again when we come back for a much longer adventure next time!

We had an amazing time in Quito and the Galapagos this summer. All the arrangements for pick up, drop off tours were planned and executed by the guides and drivers to perfection. We feasted on local seafood fusion delights, went swimming with sea lions and sea turtles and met kind Ecuadorian people at every turn.

Our guides, especially Viviana in Santa Cruz and Ian in San Cristobal were wonderful and gracious. They had all the local knowledge and presented it with enthusiasm!!

Special thanks to Nichole for welcoming, planning and rearranging accommodations when needed.

Hotel Reviews

Mercure Alameda Quito

Quito

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Lava House Galapagos

Puerto Ayora

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa de Nelly

Puerto Baquerizo Moreno

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

We were initially placed in a very small room which was not to our satisfaction, but the hostess very graciously moved us to a room with an ocean view which made all the difference.

Activity Review

Galapagos Cooking Class by the Sea

Galapagos Islands

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport