Kimkim Trip Reviews

Everyone from your agency made my trip with my 3 sons amazing! Lucinda was so accommodating by rescheduling some of our activities due to weather and a medical emergency.

I have great pleasure in giving this 5 star review to Jack and his team that were introduced to us through Kimkim. My wife, our daughter and I just completed a 9 day journey through Mynamar that was organized by Jack and his colleagues. First, I appreciated the close attention he paid to make sure that all our suggestions were meticulously follow up at the planning stage. Typically every suggestion I sent him at the end of the day was acted upon and I would have a confirmation and reply by the next morning. Jack's guides were exceptional people and had benefited from careful mentoring and coaching. They were caring and helpful beyond the call of duty in most cases.
This trip to Myanmar was an eye opener to all three of us. The experience, richness and variety that the country has to offer is unique. We found the streets and shop fronts in the areas we visited neat and tidy. The hospitality offered at the hotels we stayed in warm and memorable In the prevailing atmosphere of tension and conflict prevailing in many parts of the world we found the places we visited - Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake offered a contrast in the meditative tranquility particularly in the places of Buddhist worship that dot the countryside.
We have provided more detailed feed back and a few suggestions to Jack. We look forward to being back sometime and seeing Jack and his team doing well with their passion and commitment to excellence.

Our trip to Hanoi organized by Nga via kimkim was great. From the start, Nga was able to customize our trip to fit our schedule & needs. Accommodating our various requests, she was able to give us various options to choose from especially during this holiday peak season. We spent 5 days in Hanoi and our local guide Chris was fantastic as well. Nga and Chris from Footprint were very helpful throughout the trip and would highly recommend them!

Our guide, Patricio, was among the best parts of the trip. A native with 22 years experience as a guide, Patricio took time to ask specifically how we would like to be guided, and what we would like to do. That meant our experience was tailored to our specific expectations and abilities. Old town Quito, Cotapaxi, Qiletoa, and Banos were all unique experiences not to be missed. Although the Galapagos portion of the itinerary featured several guides, each were experts who provided deep insight into the one-of-a-kind wildlife and environment of the islands. Be sure to include snorkeling in your itinerary! The up- close encounters with sea turtles and sea lions were are among the most extraordinary portions of the experience. Truly, this was the trip of a lifetime!

Our trip to Panamà went very smoothly, due to the organization of the trip by Kim Kim. We especially appreciated that Kim Kim works with local groups. YeYe was an excellent tour guide and understood our needs and interests. Our driver, Julio (sp?) was excellent. Ankhill (sp?) was an excellent guide on our boat tour. The guide and driver for our adventure to Gulan Yala were both really good. Monique was excellent and was always available whenever we needed help and/or had questions. Delicious food, great adventures, lots of knowledge exchanged and great weather all made for a fabulous trip! Thank you for everything. I would recommend Kim Kim to everyone. Regards, Penny

I am very happy with the service KimKim provided in planning & booking our trip to Costa Rica. Randall was very friendly & knowledgeable and he was able to customize our trip to fit our schedule & needs. We had out flights to San Jose Costa Rica booked but we had not planned or booked anything further. Randall at KimKim made it very easy for us & took care of all the bookings including hotel, transportation, and activities. I highly recommend KimKim & Randall.

Our family of 6 from hot and wet tropical Singapore, had a fantastic trip to icy cold Norway! Ingrid has been very accommodating to our needs and very responsive to our numerous questions...and sh was able to allay all our concerns etc. There were a couple of slight imperfections (no fault of Ingrid). Firstly, we found the local guide from Oslo to be wanting...slipshod work despite we gave him a tip of 800 NOK while the young man in Bergen was fantastic. He might be short of knowledge (he couldnt answer a few qn) but he made it up with his dedication and enthusiasm, and walked with us for more than 3 hours through slippery terrain and windy conditions! The activities from dog sledding(Marcus) to Northern lights (Jann) were fantastic which were the highlights of the trip. The hotels were generally good as they were closed to transport...except for Zander K (no inroom telephone, no kettle and no coffee or tea were provided. Overall, thanks to Ingrid, KimKim for a job wel done!

Monique not only put together a wonderful itinerary for our visit to Panama, she met us at the airport, reviewed our plans and checked in with us daily. We saw locks in action at both the Caribbean and Pacific, took in the beauty of the rainforest and its inhabitants, and learned of the country’s diverse history.
Our guide, Jose, was friendly, knowledgeable, energetic and flexible. He made sure each day was special and tailored to our interests.
Both Monique and Jose provided good suggestions for local restaurants.
Carlos, our driver, was courteous and patient. His vans were clean and comfortable.

My wife, son, and I spent five great days touring in Jordan. The sites we saw were spectacular, from the Roman ruins in Jerash, the Citadel in Amman, Mt Nebo, Karrick Castle, Petra, Wadi Rum with its massive sandstone rocks, to a mud bath and float in the Dead Sea. Spectacular sites and great memories. The hike to the Monastery in Perta was a great day! My leftover chicken from My Mom's Recipe restaurant was the perfect treat at the top!

The accommodations organized by KimKim were very comfortable, including the glamping in Wadi Rum.

Special thanks to Raisa for organizing our route and hotels etc. She was very responsive to all our questions and put together a perfect itinerary for the time we had available.

We also want to thank our guide Mahmoud--what a friendly guy. Came to us every morning with a huge smile. He certainly knew his Jordan history and was able to give us details and answer questions about the various sites we visited.

And our driver was great too. Haithim (spelling?) was safe and speedy. He too, came everyday with a big smile.

Well done by the KimKim team.

The trip was well planned and fantastic.! We loved the rafting in La Fortuna,. The hot springs were great. The zip-line in Monteverde and suspension bridges were fun. All transfer drivers were polite and on time. Instead of the Sloth Territory tour I would probably do the waterfall hike or a different sloth place since we didn’t see much. The hotels were fine and what I expected since that was not our focus. I would recommend Beatriz!

From start to finish our trip to Nepal was an authentic, well coordinated, and memorable experience that my sister, brother and law and I will cherish for years to come. Because we were travelling in winter, and wanted to take a route less frequented by tourists, Tashi recommended the Pikey Peak trek, and it was a great choice for us! Our guide Pemba and local Sherpa accompanied us, providing local knowledge, expert guidance and companionship throughout. At each guesthouse that we stayed, we were warmly welcomed, well fed, and enjoyed spending time with fellow trekkers.

For our journey, we started out from Kathmandu and headed toward the mountains. After being dropped off, we made our way across snow covered passes and, after two nights, eventually up the Peak at sunrise, which afforded 360 views of the Annapurna range, Everest, and the lower mountains leading back to Kathmandu.

We then proceeded down through rhododendron forests, cedar groves, open paths, finally ending and the town of Junbesi, where we visited a monastery, recuperated and got a taste for local life.

This trip allowed us to experience new cultures and see a truly remarkable way of life, reconnect with the awesomeness of nature, and disconnect from the rhythm of our city lives, and we are so grateful to Tashi, Pemba and the KimKim team for making it so seamless.

Would highly recommend!

--Erika

We had a great experience with kimkim.

Shalindra was very helpful during the organising phase. He was quick to respond, adapt and had our best intentions at heart.

Our guide, Ossie was just as good. Not only did we get a personal chauffeur but a local who cared greatly about his country. He wanted us to experience Sri Lanka fully (which we did!). The experience wouldn't have been half as good without him!

Sangita was excellent from the beginning to the end of the trip. She made one of a kind memories in Nepal programs for me.
Thank you.

Both Sibila and Melina with Totonal were very helpful in putting together an excellent trip based on our interests. Aldo Flores picked us promptly at the airport, making the transition to the hotel very easy! Our tour of three interesting architectural sites in Mexico City one day with Pablo Yuichi gave us an opportunity to see various parts of the city, and eat a delicious lunch in the market of Coyoacan. Pablo is a wealth of information on many topics, and an excellent driver in heavy, big city traffic. On another day in Mexico City, our food tour included a delicious chef prepared lunch in a private home in the Condesa neighborhood and a visit to the gourmet market in the Roma neighborhood. The hospitality of the chef, Rodrigo Llanes, made for a very fun, unique experience. Leaving Mexico City, our transportation to the bus station was provided by Josue, who made sure we arrived in plenty of time to board our bus to Morelia. Our driver in Morelia, Jesus Lopez, was so friendly and resourceful. He smoothed out several small issues for us and made our car trip to see the incredible Monarch migration in the Santuario de la Sierra Chincua very comfortable. After several days of Spanish classes in Morelia, he was more than willing to let us practice with him!

It was such a fun trip and such a pleasure to meet some of the people who made it possible!
Suzanne Napier

We have travelled extensively over 30 year but just returned from our first ever visit to Morocco (its a loooooooong way from Australia).

Without doubt one of the best trips we have ever had. Megans advice was so helpful and her ability to get us some accommodation not generally available to the public was great.

The itinerary is one thing....the execution was on another level. Everything worked like a swiss watch. Simply perfect. From the airport pickup in casablanca to the drop off 2 weeks later in Marrakech the trip had no surprises and not a single let down.

The guides she arranged were all fantastic. The tours brilliant. The guides were all so knowledgeable and friendly and gave us real insights into an amazing country.

One of the highlights of our trip was our driver, ismail. His wonderful personality and a maturity beyond his 25 years made him a friend, not just a driver. He gave us real insights into the country, customs and its people. He showed us out of the way places. He knows people everywhere. Literally everywhere and they all greet him with a smile and a laugh.

He saved us a small fortune by organising to get our laundry done outside of the hotels. We will miss him.

The whole kimkim experience was fantastic and megans service and organisation was amazing.

We have no hesitation in recommending megan and kimkim to any traveler

Just returned from my first visit to Morocco with friends and family. From planning and booking to providing service on the ground during our trip, Megan was prompt, flexible, and creative. She worked with me to build a trip plan for us that fit our needs perfectly, and our tour guide Omar made sure the plan was executed flawlessly. Omar was a consummate professional from our first meeting at the airport. He shared with us his knowledge of the history and culture of Morocco and was resourceful when the unexpected happened, which we learned is often the case here. A few highlights of our trip were hiking in the Ourika Valley followed by lunch with a local Berber family; a cooking class in Marrakech, where we prepared (and ate!) our own tagine and Moroccan salads; getting a scrub and massage at a traditional hammam; touring a winery outside of Essaouira and tasting fine Moroccan wines; touring the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca; and strolling the medinas in each city we visited. With Omar as our guide, all of our needs for Moroccan coffee, mint tea, and stopping for impromptu photo ops with goats in trees were happily accommodated. He even taught me some basic Darija so I could communicate with my daughter's host family in Rabat.

We had a brilliant time in Myanmar and found the experience to be more enjoyable after researching the trip and speaking to Hsu Hlaing in the weeks and months leading up to the trip. She would respond promptly and her knowledge was everything that we needed.

The guides that were selected were mostly perfect with particular praise to our guides in Yangon and Madalay - although the area of Bagan was the highlight of our holiday. Through Hsu, we found a beautiful beach in Ngapali and had a fantastic few days there.

The service was excellent from start to finish and we found that their extensive knowledge on the ground was a price worth paying.

The hotels selected by the local specialist Shalindra were all good quality and value options. The driver organised through the local specialist was a very experienced driver and a great tour guide with good local knowledge of the history and customs of the area. The trek to the Knuckles Mountain Range was a highlight, we had the expertise of a local guide, tracker and medic all accompany us on the tour. The visit to the local village was a little unorganised, the bike tour was short and not very well explained by our guide, but we had a great lunch in the village and the food was exceptional. We were a little disappointed by the tour of Kandy, which took in a gemstone factory and wood making workshop, which were not part of our original itinerary and were not of interest to us, so felt like a bit of a waste of our time, as we had not requested these stops and would have liked more time in the city. We also were unsure around tipping throughout the trip, as we had spent a significant amount of money already on hotels and food, to then be told by the driver that tipping at least $1000 RP per tour guide was expected this was annoying as we had assumed all tours and guides had already been pre-paid. I would suggest that the tour company should be more upfront about these additional costs, other it seems like there are many hidden costs, that although the tipping is voluntary, we were not made to feel like this was the case. Overall we were happy with the itinerary and tour organizer, but more detail from them around what was covered in the costs and the tours would have been invaluable before we arrived.

This was a visit to various Canary Islands over eight days and it was incredible, thanks to my primary guide, Gilles (& his colleague for two days, Carlos Garcia). It was mostly in Spanish since I speak the language, and it added so much, culturally. Gilles arranged my lodging and land/water transportation. I spent full days immersed in learning as I visited each island via hiking, walks, talks, food, culture, art, geology, history. It’s exactly what I was yearning for and I’m so appreciative that Gilles & Carlos provided me with such richness. Everything was special. I’m sure I will return to visit the islands I missed. Thanks so much!....Linda

We scheduled a 9 day action packed trip with our two boys (9 and 12) and we could not have asked for a better experience! Chris was amazing in communicating and scheduling our itinerary. I gave him a list of things we wanted to do and he put together a trip plan that hit all of it and more. All of our hotel accommodations were great and food was wonderful.

Our guide Lucas and driver Benecio were so genuine, friendly and took such good care of us. Some of the highlights of our trip were our trip to Antigua, overnight camp on Pacaya (we roasted marshmallows over lava flows), visit to Lake Atitlan, and climbing the temples and pyramids of Tikal. We realized that having a local tour operator and guide pays off because we seemed to get some great perks (best hotel rooms, quick service, etc.) They also took care of all of the logistics of moving our luggage, transportation, etc. They were always on time and reliable. It was nice to have someone take care of this and we could just show up and enjoy our selves.

Thank you for showing us your beautiful country, taking such good care of us, and making this such an amazing experience that we will remember for a lifetime! We could never have planned a trip like this on our own and we hope to be back again!