Trips SouthAmerica

An unforgettable journey. Every destination had its highlight, but Machu Picchu, Torres del Paine and the glaciers of Puerto Natales were truly breathtaking. The guides made a huge difference: Cindy in Lima and Ica, Gustavo at Machu Picchu, Daniel in Patagonia and Stefanie in Rio were knowledgeable, warm and always attentive to the group. Highlights also included the wine dinner at Bocanáriz in Santiago and our farewell dinner in Rio. A long trip with early starts and plenty of flights, but beautifully organized and worth every moment.

Both Caroline and Gabriela is very helpful, they are well coordinated and doing good job. Your tour guide Jobathan also excellent and very help full in every situation, young and energetic, care to all of us. It's an amazing trip,

Everyone we met as guides and drivers were great In particular want to commend Fernando in Buenos Aires and Maria and driver in Mendoza.

Hotel Reviews

Amérian Executive Mendoza Hotel

Mendoza

This was just an overnight stay

Authenticity & Character

Location

Near some very nice restaurants

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Club Tapiz

Maipú - Mendoza

Nice place, staff was very friendly and helpful. It is outside Mendoza.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Was a cool spring and the room was cold

L'Hôtel Palermo

Buenos Aires

Great location very helpful friendly staff

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dinner Tango Show at Café de los Angelitos 🍷🎶

Buenos Aires

We did this on the first evening and it was great.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everyone at the Cafe were very professional

Transport

Fire at Height - Full Day with lunch included

Mendoza

This was true highlight.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Maria was great! Everyone we interacted with were wonderful

Transport

Our driver was great

Uco Valley Experience - PRIVATE

Mendoza

This was fun experience and the lunch was nice. This a packaged selection of wineries

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Maria was the best!

Transport

Our driver was great

Half day tour Tigre & Delta with time to Lunch

Buenos Aires

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

🥩🍷 Traditional Argentine Food Tour

Buenos Aires

We had already had done some higher end tasting of food before the tour. The best part was a bit of walking and best was visiting with the guide and sharing her story

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

City tour + Colon Theatre on private service

Buenos Aires

Frenando and driver was great very informative and did some tailoring to our interests

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This tour met all my expectations. It rates a 5 star, my agent Solana also gets a 5 star, She was helpful and informative in every aspect of the tour. Buenos Aires was the number 1 highlight of the tour. The Dinner Tango Show, The City Tour,The Sherpa Food Tour and the Ombu de Areco Ranch with the asado and dancers,were very good. Number 2 on the tour for me was The Puerto Iguazu Falls. This was much more impressive than Niagara Falls. I loved The location of La Reserva Virgin Lodge which is in the heart of the forest, that was very nice. Number 3 on the tour was Salta. Driving 2.5 miles up the mountain to the Salinas Grandes salt flats was interesting but not very exciting. Number 4 on the tour was the Cafayate Excursion a drive in the country side looking at prehistoric rock formations and then going to a winery for some wine tasting. It's unfortunate that I do not remember the names of the guides but if this is any consolation, they were all excellent!

The places I visited in Patagonia were great. The tours that I booked were average. I searched out a few additional tours that were with smaller groups and more unusual excursions. I wish I had been offered more choices from the start.

Hotel Reviews

Rochester Calafate

El Calafate

Authenticity & Character

Location

Not in city center

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Naranjos

Ushuaia

Great location

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

🔎 General Information about Ushuaia 🔎

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Train of the End of the World 🚂

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Todo Glaciares Navigation

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Navigation: Sea Lions, Birds and Lighthouse 🦭(On Catamarán)

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tierra del Fuego National Park (Half day visit) 🌲🌿

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gabriela did an amazing job creating the perfect vacation for our 41st wedding anniversary in South America. We requested a skiing and great food itinerary and she delivered! We started in Buenos Aires with a day to explore and a tango experience. In the morning, we flew to Ushuaia, also known as the end of the world, where we skied and had an awesome Fuegian dining experience at the Rincon Gourmet where Chef Ariel prepared us an incredible dinner for 2. The town of Ushuaia was great to explore with many culinary surprises. The skiing was great and the transportation was perfect.

From Ushuaia we flew to Bariloche where we skied for three days at Cerro Catedral, (thank you for the snow storm). We were treated to a very unique dinner with Lucas Mallmann. We participated and learned about fire cooking techniques on a chapa. The food was delicious.

We spent the remainder of the trip at Valle Nevado. The skiing was amazing and the hotel staff catered to our every need.
Thank you Gabriela and Kim Kim for a very memorable experience.

Wow, what a wonderful time we had in Chile and Argentina! Gabriela did a fantastic job working with me to put together the perfect trip for my husband and me. We had so much fun and never had to worry about transportation as everything was smoothly coordinated.
In Santiago, CL Mundo did a wonderful job keeping us informed and our driver to the ski resort, Orlando was exceptional We loved having him for 2 days in a row. Victor, our guide to Valpariaso was "the best." We couldn't have asked for a more fun and engaging guide.
I think Ushuaia was our favorite place we stayed. Loved the Tolkeyen Hotel. Cerro Castor was one of the prettiest ski resorts I've ever been to, and that says a lot. Latitud Ushuaia did a superb job coordinating everything and even made a few small but flexible changes for us. This allowed us to sneak in a quick 3 hour island/lighthouse cruise which I also recommend.
Our glacier excursion in El Calafate was probably my personal highlight and we scored with great weather. Our guide, Nikolas and the driver were awesome and they were fantastic about spotting wild animals and giving us picture time as well (we saw rheas, condors, and guanacos). Nikolas also gave us some fun ideas to do during our free time in El Calafate the next day.
Finally, our lakes and caves tour with Melina was lovely. She gave us special attention so we wouldn't miss anything with our lack of Spanish. Dinner in the cave was lovely and the setting was magical.
Thanks for a fun but smooth trip, Gabriela and KimKim.
BTW, this is my second time using Kim Kim due to the great coordination and flexibility they've given us.

Hotel Reviews

Sent Hotel Calafate

El Calafate

Good and quiet location. Easy 15 minute walk to downtown. Clean.

Authenticity & Character

Needs some updating and the bed was OK, but not great.

Location

quiet area and walkable

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tolkeyen Hotel

Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego

Excellent location and quietly placed away from town. Clean, updated, and good beds. Good breakfast and great restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

great job refreshing the hotel. I saw pictures online of it outdated.

Location

Loved being away from the busyness of town and the setting by the water and mountains was awesome. There was a shuttle that went to town so that took care of the remoteness.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

beds were comfy and all was clean

MR Apart

Santiago

Good location, breakfast and clean rooms. There is a bit outdated and needing attentinon to in the rooms and hallways. Unfortunately the beds were really soft and not comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

needs updating and the beds were not great

Location

good area and lots to walk to

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

beds needed updating

Activity Reviews

Ski Day Pass in Valle Nevado - 1 DAY ⛷️ (ski equipment rental and passes not included)

Santiago

We had a blast snowboarding up at Valle Nevado but we recommend getting rentals in Santiago as the resort was packed. Our driver, Orlando made this suggestion and we greatly appreciated it. He went out of his way to accommodate us and he was EXCELLENT! We appreciated getting him both days we went up the mountain.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nautical Safari - Brazo Sur

El Calafate

I highly recommend this trek! We spent lots of time up close to the glacier getting great vantage points and pictures. The blues of the glacier seemed to change with each angle or alteration of sunlight. The glacier is amazing from the distance, but nothing compares to seeing it up close.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Lakes & Caves tour

El Calafate

Great time with Melina, our guide. She was super sweet and fun. We appreciated her taking extra time with us as my Spanish lacks. Dinner was lovely and the setting was excellent.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Perito Moreno Glacier Excursion 🗻

El Calafate

Probably the highlight our my trip! Stunning scenery and the glacier was magnificent! Highly recommended as long as visibility is good. Our guide Nikolas was excellent and was very helpful with a few suggestions for other excursions in town.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Ski Experience at Castor⛷️❄️☃️ (ski rental not included)

Ushuaia

We LOVED Cerro Castor! Absolutely one of the most beautiful ski destinations we've ever been to. The resort was fabulous and low key at the same time. Our driver directed us to the best spot for ski rentals as we never would have known it was there.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

🔎 General Information about Ushuaia 🔎

Ushuaia

Our guide from the airport and to the ski resort, Josefina, was great. She was so helpful with suggestions and helped us get settled.

Quality of Experience

Transport

Full Day Valparaíso with Visit to Vineyard in Casablanca Valley - Lunch & tasting included

Chile

Excellent trip and we had such a great time! Victor, our guide was the best. He was fun, friendly, and super informative. We loved Valparaiso and had an exceptional winter day there. Our lunch was fabulous and we had an ocean view from the restaurant. The vineyard we stopped at was gorgeous and we had a lovely tasting and tour. Highly recommended:)

Quality of Experience

Food

Fabulous seafood and wine!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Victor was awesome. Couldn't have asked for better.

Transport

Timely and clean!

The coordination of everything was so efficient. I really appreciated the booking of my in country flights.
RIO
The city highlights tour was very good. Sugarloaf Mountain was absolutely beautiful!
Buzios boat and beach trip. - This was the one big disappointment. The description leads you believe you will go onto several beaches when in reality you just boat to a view of the different beaches and swim. Also, the 3 hour bus ride after the full hour of picking people up all around town, was just too much. Lastly the lunch was the poorest meal I had on the trip. I would not recommend this trip. If one wants to see Buzios, I would recommend staying there for a few days to enjoy the beautiful beaches. It is just too much time on a bus.
The cooking class with Chef Simone Almeida was the highlight of my time in Rio. She is such a firecracker! I thoroughly enjoyed her stories and loved all the cooking tips I gained from her. I cannot recommend this highly enough! Obrigada, Simone!
My Rio guide Christiano Gentil was organized and very helpful.
The Martinique Copacabana was nice. The staff was very kind.
SALVADOR
Both tours on this trip - the town history, and the trip outside the city, were great! I loved the market in Santa Amaro! I would recommend having some Brazilian money so that you can buy some fruit to try. As a foodie, the market blew my mind! The lunch at the farm was very good and it was beautiful to be in such a peaceful place. The only I can say is that the description of this day says that we would meet locals from the Quilomblas community, which did not happen. I thoroughly enjoyed all that we did, but was a bit disappointed not to meet anyone from the Quilombolas community and hear of their stories.
My local guide, I’m sorry that I have forgotten his name and can’t find him in my contacts, was wonderful! He had so much knowledge of the area. I really enjoyed him. He also recommended a meal at Casa Teresa, which was by far the best meal I had in Brazil. Highly recommend the Moquecas!
The Mercure Hotel Rio Velmeho was very nice.
IGUAÇU
Met every expectation! I have been wanting to see the falls for at least 30 years. Was not disappointed.
The Hotel Via Cataratas was ok. Food was only buffet style. Bar food was pretty much just fried. Pool was beautiful. The Internet was awful. Didn’t work in the restaurant.
My local guide, Francisco, was beyond the pale!! We bonded over Italian ancestry, he was kind, gracious, and very knowledgeable. I was so spoiled by his tours. He even added a last day tour of the dam for me. And at the very end, walked me from the check in desk at the airport to the boarding area.
I learned some things on this trip and really enjoyed the kimkim specialist’s help. I have booked another trip with kimkim in August.
Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Viale Cataratas

Foz do Iguaçu

Hotel was nice enough. It is far out of town so that one cannot walk to any other restaurants and the hotel only served buffet style food. The bar food was mostly fried. Staff was very friendly. Rooms were noisy. Internet was spotty at best. Couldn’t get reception in the restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

I appreciated that they were training young people.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mercure Salvador Rio Vermelho Hotel

Salvador

Staff were kind and helpful. Pool was wonderful!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Windsor Martinique Copacabana

Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

Staff was exceptional. Location was great. A bit noisy

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Cooking and Tasting Rio 🌴🍴✨

Rio de Janeiro

The evening with Chef Simone was the highlight of my trip! She is so energetic and delightful!! Highly recommend this experience. I would do it again!

Quality of Experience

Food

Everything about the experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Foz do Iguaçu: FD Argentinean Falls Excursion

Foz do Iguaçu

Met all expectations. Guide was amazing

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Parque Das Aves 🐦

Foz do Iguaçu

Lovely experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

I

A visit to Foz de Iguacu Falls - Brazilian Side

Foz do Iguaçu

Met all of my expectations! Iguaçu has been on my bucket list for over 30 years! I enjoyed this visit!!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Guide Francisco was stellar!!!

Transport

Guide Francisco was absolutely stellar!!

FD Flavors of the Recôncavo with lunch🥣

Salvador

I enjoyed my journey! The market in Santa Amaro was fabulous!! The lunch at the ranch was very good and so peaceful. I was disappointed that we did not meet anyone of the Quilombolas community. I loved the market and the Cachoeira town, but I would change the tour description, or include a Quilombolas visit

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Salvador de Bahía: HD Historical Tour

Salvador

Loved this! The guide was so knowledgeable. I learned so much++++

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full day Buzios Tour & Lunch

Rio de Janeiro

Pick up in town and bus ride to and fro is simply too long. Would not recommend this tour at all. Either go to Buzios for several days, or do something else in Rio.

Quality of Experience

Better info in the description of the adventure

Food

Buffet was sub par

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Was told that English was spoken by the driver, but his English was about as prolific as my Portuguese. While it is my bad to not know Portuguese, it should not be advertised as English available when it is not

Transport

Rio de Janeiro: FD Corcovado and Sugar Loaf Excursion

Rio de Janeiro

Great tour. Beautiful views. Guide was very knowledgeable. I was the only English speaker but have a fair knowledge of Spanish and he always made sure that I understood what he was saying. Appreciated him

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Roxy dinner show ✨

Rio de Janeiro

I thoroughly enjoyed the show! The dancing was spectacular! People told me that the food was ‘meh’ but I had the fish and it was great! Service was good

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Flor is the best!! Kind, helpful, efficient!
She made everything so easy, so patient with all my questions and changes!! Our trip was amazing!!

The trip was a lifelong memorable event for us especially Penguin tours, Glacier tours and Torres del Paine. Kimkim travel partners 'TripsSouthAmerica' organized the program very well and made us comfortable. I wish to thank Travel specialist Carolina. She understood our needs and worked out a perfect trip plan.
We had a wonderful & memorable Penguin excursion. We could see penguins very close and also Whales and Dolphins on our catamaran trip. Visit to Torres del Paine was another great experience. It was a fantastic feeling, witnessing Glaciers both at Perito Moreno and Grey Glaciers from very close range.
We had no issue with hotel logistics.
All the travel partners picked us on time and they spoke good English. Thank you once again for a wonderful experience in Argentina and chile.

Hotel Reviews

Rochester Classic

Buenos Aires

Good Breakfast. But, small rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Albatros Hotel

Ushuaia

Excellent Rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Destino Sur Hotel

El Chalten

Excellent rooms & good vegetarian options.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mirador del Lago Hotel

El Calafate

Excellent rooms, The chef made special vegetarian food. Great views.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel DoubleTree by Hilton Santiago Kennedy

Santiago

Very very comfortable hotel. Location is amazing. Rooms are clean and very comfortable.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Altiplanico Puerto Natales

Natales

The hotel is with traditional setting but very comfortable stay. Great vegetarian food.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Dinner Tango Show at Café de los Angelitos 🍷🎶

Buenos Aires

The Tango show was good.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Traditional City Tour 🏛️

Buenos Aires

The Guide was good in English. The trip mainly covered historic sites.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

🔎 General Information about Ushuaia 🔎

Ushuaia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tierra del Fuego National Park (Half day visit) 🌲🌿

Ushuaia

End of the The world train Journey was enjoyable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Train of the End of the World 🚂

Ushuaia

We enjoyed End of the world train journey.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Navigation to the Penguins in Catamaran

Ushuaia

We had a memorable Navigation to the Penguins. We saw Penguins, Whales, Dolphins, Sea Lions.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Perito Moreno Glacier Excursion 🗻

El Calafate

The glacier was amazing standing very close to it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic private city tour around Santiago de Chile - Half day

Santiago

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Nautical Safari - Brazo Rico

El Calafate

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Panoramic excursion to the Torres del Paine National Park (with Box Lunch)

Puerto Natales

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half day Maipo Vineyards - Undurraga Winery: Sibaris Tour

Santiago

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport