Kimkim Trip Reviews

The trip we experienced had some wonderful highlights. However, the hiking on the second and third days, was not properly described. This created a dangerous situation in which my wife was hurt. She had to stop hiking. The only way she got out was on horseback. Luckily, she has experience riding and the farmer who owns Jordan finca was skilled at guiding the horse down 10k of extremely steep, rocky paths and then through 5k more of just wet, slippery paths to safety.
Specifically, the description of the second day: from Petosi to Jordan is very misleading. The description says: "you will arrive at Jordan farm by "mid-afternoon." The hike is 22K! The second half starts with slippery, muddy trails and quickly turns into steep rocky pathway for about 5 miles. It took us 11.5 hours to complete. A group of younger hikers did it in 10 hours. What's so crazy is that the third day continues with 6.2 more miles of steep, slippery rocky paths. So no way could Carol, who twisted her knee on the 22k leg complete the hike back to the road.I have hiked 100s of miles. Really (Wonderland Trail completely in 8 days, the Superior Hiking Trail, Pukasqua, etc.) If this trail had an accurate description I would not have taken my wife (who I clearly described as 73 years old and normal fitness) on this trail. I'm not asking for a refund, but days 3 and 4 were a frightening and extremely unpleasant experience for me and bad for Carol too, because the safety of my wife was at risk.
If you do not change the descriptions of these days, I will spend time and effort to expose the carelessness of your agency. Check with the guide Freddy if you think any of this is innacurate.
GOOD STUFF: Our guide Freddie Cardona (I will check on his last name) was excellent and was invaluable in getting Carol through this dangerous situation. The bike riding day was great fun. The Cocorra valey was beautiful. The packaging lists were accurately and helpful. Both hotels were nice, with Quo in Manizales having an excellent room and exceptionally helpful staff.
The score for Cami is based on the description of the hike, not on her being helpful.
I guess the bottom line is that what could have been a great trip was ruined by an innacurate description of the risks. Fortunately Carol got by with a very sore knee. Take the hike yourself, then write the description. Explain that this hike is appropriate for experienced hikers who can handle 22K of steep, rocky, muddy pathways that can be trecherously slick, at altitudes over 10000 feet.
Finca Jordan is lovely. Finca Petosi is a pit. Dirty, toilets withot seats that are barely clean. The owners of both fincas were friendly but Mary Luz at Jordan is an exceptional host, as was her husband Mario.

We had a great 4-day trip the Amazon region of Colombia. Our full-time guide for our trip was Odin and he was simply amazing. He was very attentive to our bilingual needs, since half our group only spoke English and the other part spoke mostly Spanish. Odin and every other guide was extremely professional and punctual for both the walking tours and the tours that required a boat ride. The Calanoa lodges where amazingly comfortable and well surpassed our expectations. The food was delicious, we tried a variety of local fruits and dishes that would compete with anything served from a high end restaurant. Booking with Jess from kimkim.com was smooth sailing. We simply gave her our information and the activities we where interested in doing and she booked everything from the pickup at the airport till the drop off at our final destination. Will definitely be using this service too book future trips.

Planning, execution and communication was perfect. Guides and drivers were the best. I cannot give one suggestion for improvement . For any future trips I will go to KimKim first for booking.

We used KimKim to arrange our first trip to Costa Rica and we were very, very happy how the trip was planned and coordinated through our awesome travel agent, Randall! We had such a great time hiking, biking, zip-lining, touring and had spa time as well and it was due to Randall who is amazingly knowledgeable and very nice and helped us to maximize our time in the country. He made us feel very comfortable with the planning from beginning to end. He was so responsive always- and even while we were in Costa Rica. Quite simply Randall made this trip easy to plan and fun, fun, fun!! We knew what we wanted to do and he planned it and he was very professional all the way through as well answering and handling all of our questions and needs. I now will use KimKim for all our travel needs!! Thanks again Randall for making our trip so much fun! I highly recommend him!!

Deidre Collins

Great job by all but best from Emilia for Machu Pichu Least impress with service provided for Rainbow
Overall great experience

Carmen has been very helpful ! Although There is a little "hiccup " in the beginning of the planning, but at the end was great!
The guide: Eddie was not being helpful. I think he is not good for the line of work in the hospitality / service works. He might be good for other kind of works. He is impatient, he is annoyed when he has to wait, he doesn't like to take our group picture, he walked all the way in the front while we were enjoying the view , he gave some wrong information about the thing that we saw: There is a big box made in stone , he told us. It was a jewelery box, instead it was a casket, etc.
Luckily, Jordan is an incredible place to see, so with our disappointment w our guide , we still had amazing time.
I still will recommend Kim Kim travel team to arrange my next travel adventures !

Tamara and WhyJordan? gave us a magnificent vacation in Jordan. It's hard to know where to start because everything from planning to our trip was so seamless, and beyond our expectations.

As the 6 of us requested, this was a truly 5* trip from airport pick-up, to hotels, to excursions & experiences. Tamara chose 3 top hotels and we loved them all. Mohamed our driver throughout the trip listened and reacted to us, and made sure we had fun and learned. When my husband fell ill, Mohamed's care and actions felt like family and one night's adjustments went smoothly - he then got us back on track by morning and we didn't miss anything. The next day, Mohamed from WhyJordan? headquarters made a special visit, meeting us at the hotel, spending 1/2 an hour checking up on us and making sure our journey would be perfect, and it was.

By the way, not only is Tamara's choice of the Movinpick Petra a lovely hotel, but it's literally at the entrance to Petra- like just across the street!!

With just 6 days to spend in Jordan, we got to do everything we hoped we would. A day relaxing in the Intercontinental Amman was followed by an amazing private tour of Jerash, followed by a trip along the King's Highway. WhyJordan's guide in Jerash was excellent - such an important element.

It's hard to pick a highlight, but it would likely be the day that WhyJordan's hand picked guide, Moa'th took us on a journey in Petra. I'm not exaggerating when I say that Moa'th will always have a place in my husband & my hearts. We off-roaded to the back entrance of Petra. A freak spring hale and thunder storm made conditions rough. Their driver loaned me his own coat (3rd layer for me), and with Moa'th's quiet confidence, we took off. Dave and I learned so much about Bedouins and the long history of Petra. Moa'th helped us climb and climb to heights we never would have imagined, but his demeanor and fascinating anecdotes gave us confidence. We met lovely people along the way, and learned a lot. The weather challenges became fun- a 2nd thunder & hale storm actually caused Petra to close (nobody could enter), so, Moa'th helped us secure a camel caravan, he jumped on the front camel, and we rode through the flood, through the gorgeous rock formations and had yet another unique experience.

We are not roughing-it people, and when Tamara 1st suggested camping in Wade Rum, I thought she was crazy, until she gently suggested I check out Memories Aicha Luxury Camp . Wow-oh-wow. Do it! We all stayed in "Martian" tents (full in-tent bathrooms, view of stars and mountains, etc). As soon as we checked in, the 6 of us were in the "cave bar" sipping tea and enjoying a fire. Dinner was delicious in the pleasant dining room (note, go to JR The Wine Experience wine bar when you're in Amman and pick up Jordanian wine to enjoy with your dinner at Aicha).

The next day's 1/2 day across Wade Rum was a lot of fun. Our driver was not the best communicator, so we had to guess what many stops were, but that didn't stop us from climbing and scrambling and joyfully enjoying a place we'd never imagined before.

Once again, driver Mohamed was at the ready, responding to our early call to get going. He made a special stop for us on the way to the Dead Sea, and we're still talking about standing in Acaba where we viewed the Red Sea, Egypt and Israel, while standing in Jordan.

The Dead Sea, ahhhhh. The Movinpick Dead Sea is a lovely resort with multiple pools and a private beach where staff helps you get in and out of the Dead Sea. Rooms are large and well equipped. If you're able to do 2 nights here, we certainly wish we could have, as it would have been a restful end to a lovely vacation.

I can't recommend WhyJordan (through KimKim) and a Jordan vacation enough. We are grateful to Tamara, Moath, and the 2 Mohamed's for a vacation we'll always remember fondly.

Jordan was very beautiful, enjoyed it very much.
Wish our guide Eddy was more helpful .
He was very knowledgeable, but rather moody.
He gets upset when we were late enjoying Petra.

Brahim arranged for us to stay in beautiful little riads in the medinas which was perfect for us. Our driver, Mohammed, looked after us very well and was always prompt and courteous. We had local guides in Chefchaouen, Volubilis and Fez who were extremely knowledgeable about the history and local life of these very different areas of Morocco. The guide we had in Marrakech was probably knowledgeable but he was much more perfunctory in his explanations and seemed a bit tired of the job, but the place is fascinating anyway. We took a camel ride into the desert (about one hour) and slept in a rather luxurious “tent” in Merzouga which was quite fun. If we had more time, I would spend it in Chefchaouen and Fez and spend some time on the coast. All in all, we had a terrific time and saw more of Morocco than we could have on our own in the amount of time we were there. We learned a lot about the country’s history and the many cultures that have become part of it over the years. The vendors in the souks were eager to sell their wares but were not really aggressive about it and we felt very safe throughout the trip. Thank you Brahim and Mohammed for a great time.

This was our first time to travel to Costa Rica and first time to try Kimkim.

We believe that our trip wouldn't have been as great if we didn't work with Adriana! She really was the hero of our trip!

Despite the short notice, Adriana delivered and amazing overall plan that made us enjoy Costa Rica to the fullest!

She was very great and fast in responding to our many requests and changes and was very accommodating of our demands.

We appreciated her help since we landed in the airport where we found the driver waiting for us outside, who later gave us a file that had all the detailed of the trip.

In summary, if you are traveling to Costa Rica, work with Adriana and you'll have a grunted fun and smooth travel.

Our driver and guide, Amine, was very friendly, knowledgeable and always on time. Since we spent all of our time with him over 8 days it was important to establish a good relationship. We had complete trust in Amine’s driving and ability to keep us safe.
He was able to explain the history and stories behind all that we saw.
Brahim was always very responsive and invited feedback on our experiences, even if it might be negative. He listened to our complaints about the Sahara camp and refunded our money.
We have already recommended KimKim to several friends.
Thank you for a wonderful trip.
Cynthia and Darrell

This trip was amazing! Linda was so helpful from the very beginning. During the whole trip, I didn't have to worry about anything. There was always someone with a sign of my name waiting for me at the airport. There were different local guides to take care of our schedule. (Although I hope the local guide in Galapagos is more professional and helpful. She didn't give us any useful information about the tours, Galapagos in general, other than taking us from the hotel to the meeting points of our tours every day) The hotels were absolutely amazing. The hotel in Quito is in the best location, and the service was so great. Both the hotel in Quito and Galapagos upgraded the room for us for free. The tours were fun overall. We had limited time so we didn't get to go deep into the Amazon, so we didn't get to see lots of animals. Nonetheless, the guide was still amazing and the experience was still great.

Our entire experience with KimKim was effortless. From the initial and follow-up planning with Yassine to the final follow-up was a great experience. We were met at the Marrakesh airport by a young man named Ismael. We could not have asked for a better person to be our driver and to spend the trip with. He was engaging, courteous, helpful and a very cautious and competent driver. Interacting with him was one of the highlights of our trip. We checked into the Riad Melhoun which was beautiful and the staff was very accommodating. The next morning we were met by our tour guide, Mohammed. He spent the entire day taking thru Marrakesh and showing us the highlights, along with some very local spots such as the community baker and community Tagine oven and caretaker. He also introduced us to local craftsman who made ironwork, leather products etc. He ended the day with us at the main square in Marrakesh awaiting sunset. The next day we headed to Ouarzazate, the drive was very scenic and kept our interest. We stopped for a pleasant lunch and then climbed to the ancient village, Ait Benhaddou. The views were spectacular from this ancient village. We stayed out Le Temple Des Arts which had “themed” suites. Once again, the staff was very kind and accommodating and we had a very nice dinner at the restaurant there. The next morning we were off to Merzouga for our camel trip into the Sahara. Along the way we stopped at Dades Gorge which was very scenic and a nice walking break. We had lunch in the local village just outside the Gorge. We arrived in Merouza around 5:15 to begin our camel ride for our overnight stay in the Sahara. The ride was about two hours and our guide into the desert was personable and he took great photos for all of us. We stopped before reaching camp so we could enjoy the sunset. We arrived at Luxury Camp Chebbi, and everything was set up for us. After a nice sit around a fire, we were ready for dinner. The dinner was amazing, and our favorite was a tomato, eggplant and goat cheese dish cooked in a tagine. We decided we wanted to take the chef, Omar, back to the USA so we could have his delicious food again. The next morning we went back to Merouza via 4 wheel drive since we had a long drive to Fes. We wanted to ride the camels back but the two hours would have made that difficult to arrive at a decent time. Along our journey, we stopped at a local weekly market that had all kinds of produce, fruit, etc. We never knew there were so many different type of dates. It was very interesting to see how the locals come to these weekly markets to get their goods. We later stopped in Ifrane which is a completely different, but was a nice stop for a coffee and a stroll around town. Later in the day we arrived in Fes and went to Dar Roumana to check in. This Dar is absolutely beautiful. Later that evening we were taken to a local restaurant, Dar Hatim. This restaurant served us perhaps the best Moroccan salad and a lamb tagine that was so tender and tasty. The next morning we met our guide, Hakim, to begin our tour of Fes. We first took a drive to see the Medina from above and then went back so we could start walking thru town. We went thru the blue gate and wandered thru the souks and stopped at the tannery (use the mint leaves), then later stopped at a weavers store. The craftsmanship was amazing to see. We later went to a tile shop/school where they make the most beautiful pottery, mosaics, vases, etc. This place was also a school that trained locals to become artisans. Our guide then took us back to Dar Roumana around 6 pm. The staff arranged for a guide to get us the Clock Cafe where they had some local music and a nice dinner on the top terrace. The alleys and streets with the Medina of Fes are overwhelming and easy to lose your way so we appreciated the assistance, otherwise we might still be wondering around Fes. The next morning we departed to head to Chefchaouen. Our first stop was at Meknes to take a look at the ancient stables where they had 12,000 horses. We then motored along to the the Roman ruins, Volubilis and walked around the area for a while looking at the layout. The area was very scenic and had great views. Our next stop was Moulay Idriss. We checked into a very charming place called Dar Mez which was very quaint and colorful and had absolute great views of the city. We then wondered around the beautiful Medina of Chefchaouen till around 10 pm. We the tried to make our way back to the Dar but were hopelessly lost. Our young local man kindly guided us back to the Dar. A tip to him was money well spent! The next day we wondered back thru the Medina and souks. The shop keepers in Chefchaouen are much more laid back then Fes and Marrakesh so that made browsing a bit easier. We had a nice lunch in town before heading back on the road again. We headed to Rabat and once we arrived we checked into Riad Ziena. We walked the area again and then headed out to eat at Dar Nani Medina. We then continued walking the markets and stopped at an outdoor pastry shop for a couple of sweet desserts to celebrate my birthday. This time we actually found our way back to the Riad without assistance. A major victory for us. The next day we headed to Casablanca to visit the Hassan II. The traffic in Casablanca was the worst we experience but as usual Ismael handled it effortlessly. The mosque is absolutely beautiful and spectacularly large. The mosaic work around the mosque was worth of many pictures. We then headed back to our final destination, Marrakesh for another night. We stopped for a nice lunch along the highway before reaching the final accommodation, Palais Khum. We immediately, left to visit the square on more time, get lost in the Souks and enjoy one more meal overlooking the square. We lingered long into the night and reluctantly headed back knowing we would be leaving the next morning. The next morning before Ismael picked us up we wondered the local alleys and shops. Ismael met us at 11:30 am for our ride to the airport. We sadly said our goodbye is Ismael.

First of all, Sophie Bonaque did an amazing job setting up our trip. In designing the trip, she answering all of our questions and made the necessary and appropriate changes to our itinerary to set up the trip exactly the way we wanted.

The trip itself was fantastic! All the arrangements she made worked out perfectly. All the tours were great and all the tour guides and drivers met us at the right place and time.

I’ll give some feedback on the hotels. The hotel in Paris (Hotel Le Basile) was only 3 stars but we liked it very much. It was a very charming hotel and the proprietor (or manager) was very helpful. It was also in a very good location. The breakfast was excellent and they also had a person to cook an omelette if you wanted it. We would definitely recommend it and think of it as a high 3 stars. As we say in the US, “it punches above its weight”!

The hotel in Marseille (Hotel Maison Montgrand ) was okay, but 3 stars is a reasonable rating. No real complaints. It was just that the service was a bit impersonal, the room was on the small side and the location was just okay. The breakfast was very good but as expected. Again, no complaints but we want to give you good feedback.

The Palais Saleya in Nice was by far our favorite! What a great hotel! The room was large and very comfortable. The location was fantastic. They don’t have their own kitchen to serve breakfast so breakfast was brought to our room every morning on trays. It was a great breakfast: fresh yogurt, fresh breads, crepes, orange juice, etc. We very highly recommend this hotel.

Finally, just to mention again, all the tour guides were great.

We loved Nice and Paris! Marseille was fine, but two days was just the right amount of time.

Overall it was a great vacation. Again, Sophie did a great job on all the arrangements.

Ha was great ! She responded fast and put together a greet trip for Thailand! We had tour guides and just drivers on our trip ! Everyone was on time and everything went as planned we had no issues , the hotels were great especially cape panwa was amazing !! The best one tour guide we had was in Chiang Mai he really went above and beyond and made the elephant day so great ! I would def book a trip with Kim Kim again!

When I was planning a trip to Norway for a mid-March Nordic ski race, my family (with two teen kids) knew we wanted to see more than the area between Rena and Lillehammer but didn't know anything about Norway or where to begin. I completely trusted the local knowledge of Vilde and Ingrid to make a recommendation for what more we should see in the time we had and without a car. The trip completely exceeded my expectations!

Several friends joined in after they heard the trip plan. We had excellent easy travel and a lot of fun. Ingrid chose super hotels and made reservations or provided directions for train and bus travel that was simple and perfect with many highlights. Stig was our excellent local guide in Oslo who told us about music, local culture, and a little history as we walked along the Akserselva River, urban art district, the fortress, and metropolitan downtown on a rainy day. The train to Flam was a magic ride the next day with blue skies and views of mountains, frozen waterfalls, plus beautiful towns, homes and farms going from snow up high down to the Naeroyfjord arm of the Sognefjord. We had a full moon that night at our both historic and modern hotel in Auerland and enjoyed a cruise on the electric Future of the Fjords sightseeing vessel. Ingrid was flexible to help us decide where to go at this point and four friends decided to ski an extra day in Geilo while my family continued on to Bergen. We were impressed by the completely different look and culture of Bergen. Our local guide David helped us know so much more about where to go and interpreted what we saw in his beautiful city as well as gave us a feel for how Norwegians live. We had so much fun with David that we went over our time more than an hour. Geilo was our last place to explore with downhill resorts on two sides of the city and lots of Nordic trails. On a sunny but windy day, we caught the ski bus, rented average quality downhill ski equipment, and bought a ski pass that worked at both Slaatta and Vestlia. Our friends enjoyed the ski tracks there for Nordic skiing.

Overall, the best things about Norway were the scenery, the breakfasts so do opt into breakfast at the hotel, interesting history and the happy people. Ingrid was our best find since she reserved the best places to go and stay and gave us detailed directions on how to get around. Her directions were so good there were only a couple occasions I messaged her with questions and she helped right away. Ingrid also was able to reschedule a hotel stay for two friends who left a bag on the train from Lillehammer and were able to retrieve it in lost and found in the morning just before our flight home. I would not have changed anything about what Ingrid planned for us except maybe staying more days! We enjoyed a "God Tur" and I am grateful.

From the moment I emailed Kimkim to our departure from Phonm Pehn , it was perfection! I've previously been a travel agent and would highly recommend Kimkim Travel & Ms Thuy. We asked for a biking/beach adventure through Cambodia with 4-5 star accommodation, Ms Thuy nailed the entire itinerary. She sent the route we should ride/drive with suggestions of accommodation. The accommodation was outstanding! The transfers were seamless which makes life so much easier. Our guide from Siem Reap down to Phonm Pehn was awesome, his English was great which helped us greatly in every aspect of travel. We were able to adjust our itinerary during the days as it was much hotter than we anticipated. We loved our four nights in Siem Reap, especially upgrading hotels for a night at the Shinta Mani Angkor, our champagne on arrival set the scene!! Ms Thuy also suggested Koh Rong Island in a Beach Bungalow at the Sok San Resort, this is a must do if you stay on the Island.
Kimkim Travel is definitely the only way to go if you want an Independent/flexible holiday that you can design around your individual needs and wants.
Thanks Ms Thuy & Kimkim for a perfect, seamless, fantastic Adventure through the beautiful country of Cambodia."
Warmest Regards
Teresa & Matt

Really fantastic experience booking my trip to Chile with KimKim. Oxana was very knowledgeable and helped me plan the perfect trip and every detail seemed to be taken care of. The transportation services were excellent and I was able to experience all the parts of Chile I had hoped to visit. I was even automatically checked in for domestic flights I had while in Chile, which was super convenient. The accommodations were also superb. My only quibble would be that some of the tours I was on were with people that were about twice my age (I’m 29 and the median age of a lot of my fellow tourists seemed to be about 60). I would have enjoyed being around those more my own age, but also realize that as a solo traveler, I am being accommodated by tour groups that are able to take me and it’s not necessarily within KimKim’s control as to what age group I end up touring with, and it didn’t negatively impact my experience- just something for others to bear in mind. And in some instances I was the only person signed up for a tour and the tours still went, which was really appreciated as I know some tours won’t go if they don’t get enough participants. Overall excellent experience and service and I will definitely consider traveling with KimKim again in the future!

Trip was wonderful. The contacts were responsive and super-helpful. Our arrival time changed and it was easy to contact both Yassine and Ali and adjust accordingly.

The trip was excellentl. The Riads were First rate, The guides were knowledgeable, professional and friendly. Our driver, Mohamed Samouk, was one of the best parts of the trip. He became our friend, part of the family!

We will recommend KimKim and Off the Beaten Path to anyone wishing to explore Morocco.