The Eco-Travel Boutique

Liz and Esther planned an amazing, once in a lifetime trip for me. I worked with them for many months to perfect the itinerary and they were very accommodating to my requests. Throughout the entire trip, the ladies were in contact with me via Whatsapp groupchat, whether it was a check in or to resolve any minor issues. I appreciated the constant communciation as I am female solo traveler. Angelique was also very helpful in making sure my South Africa portion of the trip ran smoothly with reservations and coordinating driver pick up/drop off. All in all, I had an unforgettable trip that exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend booking with these ladies for any future African destinations in East/Southern Africa.

The trip, our vacation and the celebration of my birthday, was planned together with Nokuthula and Lucy from KimKim. It started in Cape Town by the harbour. Very good accommodation and of course cake and bubbles from our SA specialist. We visited Robin Islands and Cape of Good Hope. We moved a lot and stayed at several hotels during our 15 days stay in SA. All the hotels were very good and several of them excellence. From Cape Town we drove south and stayed in Hermanus for two nights. Hermanus seemed very British and we liked it. Nice and quiet and a beautiful sunset. We went on whale safari, which was wonderful. We spent New Year’s Eve in Cape Town at a vineyard with long table setting. Nice people and beautiful surroundings. We connected with our local specialists via WhatsApp and received all relevant information prior to pick-ups, check-ins, etc. The second week we moved to the northern part of SA. During our stay in White River, we went sightseeing through beautiful landscape and scenic route. We had the joy of experiencing really bad weather during our first night with thunder and lightning like we have never experienced before. Then we went on safari for three days. We had heard that December was not the best time to go safari, but that is not true. The Savanah was green and beautiful. Birds were singing and all the animals had calf’s og young. It was beautiful. We saw all of them, from the small turtle, to Pumba and the lion. So many elephants, zebras and giraffes, they were all there, together on the Savanah. We ended our trip with sightseeing in Johannesburg, the New York of Africa. Beautiful and complicated. We visited Soweto and Mandela's house. And we met our local specialist, whom we now call our friend in SA, Nokuthula. She came to the airport when we arrived. Very nice gesture and it did something to our otherwise online communication. We will always remember you.
South Africa is a beautiful country. Very friendly people and very good food. We felt safe and secure all the time, even if we know SA has challenges. This is a country worth visiting and please use our local specialists in SA, Nokuthula and Lucy, they will give you a trip to remember.
Maria, Denmark

Thanks to excellent planning from Nokuthula and Lucy we were able to enjoy a very active and enjoyable trip to South Africa. We met countless animals- both in Cape Point, Hermanus and in Kruger national park, and learned a lot about the country. The Graskop Lift was one of the highlights.

From the planning stage with Liz to the on the ground experience everything was fantastic.
Liz included all our requirements including a last minute request for an additional member. She and Estha always replied very promptly to all our queries before and during the safari.
A special mention of our guides Rafael in Kenya and George in Tanzania.Rafael saw to it that we saw all the big five in Kenya. He already had a roadmap in his brains about what animals to see everyday ,we had to just sit and wait for the surprise.It was an awesome experience. George did not believe in listening to the chatter of the radio but looking out for the animals himself, I suppose that was his Masai background but that was fun too and we landed up seeing two groups of about 18 tiger cubs each ,one with no other jeeps around in Serengeti .A big Thankyou to all the above people for making our first trip to Africa memorable and now we are looking forward to going back again.

Booking our 2 week Tanzanian honeymoon with KimKim was an absolute breeze! Our local specialist, Liz, was such a delight to work with! She was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, easy to communicate with and made everything about booking a big, overseas trip so much easier than we could have imagined. The hotels were incredible - beautiful, clean and everything we could have imagined and the transports were all seamless and everything was on time. She fine tuned all our requests and feedback throughout the booking process and everything came out perfectly - plus, she was checking in throughout the trip and the communication was greatly appreciated. Our guide (through KimKim partner Sense of Africa) was Freddy and he was also incredible. He was extremely friendly, polite, helpful and he made our safari trip one that we'll remember forever. He was so knowledgeable about everything we did, knew all of the best spots to go and we simply cannot say enough good things about him and how great he was. I would HIGHLY recommend booking a trip through KimKim, especially an African safari (specifically to the beautiful country of Tanzania) as it was so simple to do and ended up being the best honeymoon vacation we could ever dream of.

Hotel Reviews

Kahawa House

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Farm House Valley

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Ang'Ata Serengeti camp

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bluebay Beach Resort & Spa

Zanzibar

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Maasai Village Visit

Ngorongoro

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Ngorongoro Crater Tour

Ngorongoro

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Afternoon game viewing drive

Serengeti

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day game viewing drive in the vast Serengeti National Park

Serengeti

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My husband and I had the most wonderful time in South Africa and did not want to leave, each place we visited was amazing in its own unique way! In many ways this trip has changed our lives, it was the perfect start to our 6th decade on earth. It gave us an opportunity to experience wonderful people and new things, reflect, reset, get clarity on what is important to us and envision new paths moving forward.

Our experience with kimkim has been excellent! We love the model and the platform, we will use kimkim again for future trips and recommend it to our friends and family.

We were matched with the lovely Tshepo as our travel planner, she listened closely to our ideas and we collaborated to put together a trip that was just right for us. She is very kind, thoughtful and understanding, she makes very helpful suggestions and recommendations. We give her our highest recommendation!

The highlight of our trip was 4 days on safari at Sabi Sands Game reserve, staying at the incredible Umkumbe Lodge Riverside and celebrating my birthday. Our guide Michaela and tracker Moses were the best we could have hoped for. We were privileged to see lions and leopards every day, along with so many other animals up close, we have some amazing photos to share with our friends and family. On my birthday, we saw a pangolin, the best gift I have ever received! I cried happy tears. Back at the lodge, my room was beautifully decorated, the staff made me a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to me in two languages at dinner. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

We experienced a high level of excellent service at all of our hotels and on our tours. Many thanks to the following:

Greeted warmly at the airport by Nokuthala and driven to our hotel by driver Roy. 5 stars

Tuk tuk tour of Soweto in Johannesburg - our driver Isaac and guide Luguile of Lebdo’s Backpackers shared their experiences of life in the township with us. They gifted us with a real experience and connection with the history of Johannesburg and the ongoing impact of the Apartheid system. We enjoyed the delicious food and hospitality of the backpacker lodge after the journey. 6 stars!

Private tour of Johannesburg with guide Andrees from Drifters- Andrews was fun and knowledgeable, he took us to all the places we wanted to see, provided a lot of information and context. We visited The Apartheid Museum, Constitutional Hill and the Maboneg neighborhood. I had been reading Nelson Mandela’s autobiography Long Walk to Freedom so I was able to connect more closely with the history of South Africa. I think it is important to learn about the countries we travel to and I felt that we got a good understanding. However, I would have preferred a Black guide and Andrees didn’t know much about Maboneneg, 4 stars.

Panorama tour from Unembeza, Hoesdpruit - our guide David was one of the best private guides I have ever had, so knowledgeable and open-minded. We had some wonderful conversations and shared information about our home as well. We visited the stunning Blyde River Canyon, Lisbon Falls, Bourke's Luck Potholes, God's Window, the Three Rondavels and had a fun lunch at the Chubby Pig. 5 stars.

Morning walk from Unembeza - our guide Jeramiah took us on an early morning walk in the vicinity of the lodge. We learned about the “Big 5 Trees” of the Kruger area: Baobab, Fever Tree, Knob Thorn, Marula and Mopane. It was refreshing to learn about some of the plant life instead of just animals. We also got some great pictures of zebras and 2 large kudu and learned how to identify different kinds of dung. Awesome, 5 stars.

Drivers Laurence and Vusi of Echo Africa Safaris transported us to and from Sabi Sands, very engaging conversations, 5 stars.

Visit Table Mountain by Cable Car tour in Cape Town - Our guide was Garreth from AWOL Tours and he was a great source of history and tips for enjoying the area. 5 stars.

Nokothula did a fantastic job of designing our adventure and then assisting in ensuring it went smoothly and was most enjoyable. I can certainly say the same thing for Lucy who was always available if we had questions or issues. I can definitely recommend Kimkim to my family and friends as a trusted travel coordinator.

Hotel Review

Mjejane River Lodge

Hectorspruit

Very attentive staff ensured a most enjoyable stay and our excellent game guide gave us an unforgettable wildlife experience. Highly recommend Mjejane River Lodge.

Authenticity & Character

Location

The natural scenery and wildlife right on the Lodge's grounds were outstanding.

Staff

Very attentive care to our needs. Cannot say too much about the staff and their service!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

A Day on Safari

South Africa

Amazing wildlife experience!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Staff and guide were excellent!

Transport