Kimkim Trip Reviews

Fantastic trek! Our guides Gulu and Thombo were great and our two porters did an amazing job! So kind and all the tea houses hosts were lovely also. As this trek is less travelled some of the tea houses are more basic but I think it provided us with a true Nepali experience and we loved it!! Pikey peak base camp is absolutely freezing but great fun, dancing to keep warm! Definately recommend!!

We were looking for an adventure in the Himalayas. We had a fabulous one! From the very beginning, Kunchok made sure that everything was planned and organized the right way. He took all our needs into consideration and was extremely patient and helpful. In Nepal, he treated us like royalty. Once in Nepal, Sonam turned out to be much more than a very resourceful guide. He became a brother whose company we will miss. Both Kunchok and Sonam are top-notched individuals. Too bad Nepal and our new friends are so far away.

As far as Kimkim is concerned, it would be better to think client happiness first, not information systems. Please get rid of these annoying cold-hearted computer-generated messages. You can do better on that front. Thank you for recommending Kunchok and his company to us. We are extremely grateful!

While the planning process was quite smooth initially, at the last minute there appeared to be a rush to assemble information from us. Further, we did not received an updated itinerary to include hotel changes before we left on our trip.

But, those details aside, we had a great experience overall and an especially memorable experience with two of our local guides; namely Maria and Vivi. Their attention to detail, promptness and professionalism was outstanding.

Men and Ny were awesome :)

It was a really great experience, our guide Pema was super attentive as for our driver, both super nice and took really good care of us. Beyond that, the knowledge and experience was very important for us and we enjoyed every sightseeing and spot we visited.
Would totally recommend it to our friends and family.
Thank you!

It was a great trip and experience
Lucia Berrios did a great job and I was extremely happy with her services. She even provided me with a phone number that I could call. I called that number and received immediate response.

Working with Brian and his colleagues was truly a great experience. Brian was very responsive from the start and provided great input. After my initial contact, Brian suggested a call to learn more about what we were looking for and to share with us what his company was about. We travel quite a bit and have used local guides for tours, but this was the first time that someone suggested a call to better understand the travel experience we were looking for. We wanted a more cultural experience vs just the usual tourist sites and we are so grateful for the experience we had with Brian and his colleagues. Brian and his team handled the logistics from start to finish.
We were a family of 11, including 4 children, traveling on a family vacation. We couldn't get enough of the delicious fruits at the local market with our lovely guide Ana and her husband Freddy. We then cooked dinner with Brian and his fiance at their place...what a treat. Added bonus was Freddy playing his cello after dinner. We were lucky enough to visit a couple of private homes and meet the amazing owner and her family in Santa Fe de Antioquia and visit a coffee farm that does not do public tours and can only be visited with Brian and his team. On our last day, we visited communa 1, which was led by the local artists in the neighborhood and had lunch at one of the local artist's home cooked by his mom. It was truly a special moment to have met these amazing people with their inspiring stories. We very much enjoyed talking to our guide Diego as well as his story started off in a neighborhood similar to communa 1 and his journey that took him from Medellin to US and now back to Medellin.

From reading the review, one would think our trip went without any glitches. However, on our 2nd day in Medellin, the glass shower door broke while my niece was in the shower and cut her right foot deep enough to cut a couple of tendons requiring an emergency surgery in Medellin. As unfortunate as this situation was, we were very grateful that if it had to happen, it happened in Medellin where there was good medical care and Brian and his team along with the staff at the hotel were just amazing in the care they gave us. The hotel had someone Spanish/English speaking with my niece and brother-in-law the whole time at the hospital and must have pulled some strings as they were able to operate on my niece's foot the same day.

Overall, we feel very lucky to have visited this very special place and very lucky to have found Brian and his team for our journey.

Our trip to Peru is one of our top 5 trips ever taken (and we have done a lot of traveling). In large part the reason this trip was so good is because of the excellent itinerary, seamless transitions and transportation to each of our destinations, and wonderful accommodations. We started our trip in Lima - we arrived in the morning after an evening flight from the states. We were picked up from the airport and taken to our hotel. From there we were on our own to explore the city which was easy to do. We stayed in the Miraflores neighborhood and explored that region on foot. We took a taxi to the historical part of the city. Taxis were easy to hail. On day 2 we flew from Lima to Puerto Maldonado where we explored the Amazon basin. We were met at the airport by our hotel greeting party and were taken by boat to our lodge - Inkaterra. Here we stayed in delightful cabins equipped with hamocks (as well as beds of course) where we could lay down and relax and watch the river flow by. From the hotel we were able to do several excursions led by our excellent guide, Michel. We saw all kinds of rainforest flora and fauna, walked across rope bridges in the rainforest canopy and learned about the food and medicinal gifts of the rainforest. We spent about 2 full days in the rainforest and one more would have been good but we were on a tight 9 day schedule. From the rainforest we headed to the mountains. We landed in Cuzco and then were taken down to our hotel in Urumbamba - lower elevation to help with adjusting to the altitude. The whole family took Diamox before getting to Cuzco and we all avoided altitude sickness. We stayed in a fabulous hotel called Sol y Luna. On our second day in the sacred valley we took part in the Llama pack project. This involved trekking and herding llamas up the side of a mountain. After a breathless but beautiful hike, we stopped for lunch with the llamas which was delightful and then trekked back down the mountain. This experience was incredible and I would highly recommend it to any travelers to the Sacred Valley. The local llama herders who were with us have some llama/alpaca wool souvenirs to sell. If you are interested, make sure you have plenty of cash for the larger items (the prices are a bit high). The next day was spent exploring the other wonders of the sacred valley to include Inka farming site at Moray and the salt flats of Maras. Our guide Danny did a fantastic job teaching us the history of the Inkas as well as modern Peruvian culture. From the sacred valley we took the trip to Machu Picchu. The train ride to Ollantaytambo was very scenic and a small snack and drink were served. After a night in the hotel we boarded a bus and headed up the death defying road to Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu itself is indescribable and even more beautiful than pictures suggest. Danny again served as our guide through the site and let us take our time to take it all in all the while explaining to us one of the most amazing and mysterious civilizations of the world - the Inkas. That afternoon we made the trek back to Cuzco and spent the last day of our trip exploring this beautiful and culturally enchanting city. We were sad to leave this amazing country. All ground transportation was planned by Jesus. I bought the intra-country airline tickets (cheap) but Jesus helped me determine which flights to choose so the itinerary would work well. Reading the guide books, I found a trip to Peru intimidating but Kimkim and Peruvian Soul made it easy. The hardest part was deciding what we wanted to see - with only 9 days to see it.

We had a great time booking with Kimkim, and will definitely use them again. We would also recommend them to others, and in particular others doing the trip we did.

We had some really great calls with our specialist Martin, who did an amazing job, and helped us plan the trip that we wanted. I was very particular about our accommodation, but Martin listened to what I wanted and (patiently) found the perfect options. He also helped us maximise our time in Patagonia e.g by thinking outside the box and finding other flight options when we discovered that all the domestic flights were booked out due to the G20 (we had booked our international flights by ourselves and didn't realise). He was also so helpful with all the logistics of moving round so much in such a short time, and planning the best trip possible so we could see everything we wanted to in the time we had.

When circumstances changed (e.g unpredictable closures in Buenos Aires during our stay due to the G20) Martin was on hand to help out in person (he even came to our hotel) with other options for us - very quick thinking!

He also put small touches on our trip which were both lovely and personal and absolute lifesavers (such as arranging for us to have a shower after a hike and before a plane ride when we had checked out of our hotel) which allowed us to be comfortable and make the best use of our time.

It is one of the best trips we have ever been on (if we planned it again we would change nothing) and all the individual tours we did as part of it were amazing, in particular all the day trips and accommodation in el calafate. Special shout out as well to Hotel Lago Grey and our guide Carlos, which were absolute highlights of the trip.

We would only mention a couple of other points as feedback:
1) I would generally allow plenty of response time to queries during the planning phase (as this could sometimes take a few days or so)
2) to double check the schedules and bus tickets etc have the correct dates and hotels on them (we had to get some errors corrected to match our itinerary, but once pointed out these were speedily corrected by the travel team)
3) one transfer showed up half an hour early and then left without us, but as it was only a cab ride to the nearby bus station we were able to run there to make the bus, and
4) when we were dropped off in Torres del Paine it was later than scheduled and there was no one there to meet us, and the phone in the cafe wasn't working - luckily we found someone who spoke English who took us to talk to a ranger who was able to radio base to call our hotel, who then came to collect us.

These are all however minor points (which happen when you have so many things booked), and did not detract from how pleased we were with this absolute trip of a lifetime, and the hard work put in by Martin to help us realize this. Thank you so much Martin! 11 out of 10! We would recommend to anyone visiting Argentina and Chile.

We had the time of our lives on this trip. From start to finish, Ingrid and KimKim was amazing. Ingrid Skyped and emailed with my husband to plan the perfect trip. She worked hard to get the things we wanted, the places we wanted to visit, and then made wonderful suggestions. We were able to travel from south to north with ease and see so much of Norway and the different cities and towns. Ingrid even took us on a personal tour in Bergen which was a perfect way to start our trip.

We visited Bergen, Flam, Oslo, Tromso, Svolvaer, and Alta. We did a beer tour (wonderful!), snowmobiling, dog sledding, took the Hurtigruten ship, a fjord tour, a northern lights chase and basic sight seeing on our own in each city. The favorite thing was the dog sledding with TrastiogTrine. Wonderful time and the highlight of the trip (for me). My husband loved the snowmobiling best. The majesty of the country cannot be described!

We highly recommend KimKim and will definitely be using them again. They made the whole process easy and stress free. And Ingrid was amazing! Thanks guys!

Graham Hyder

Enjoyed Sri Lanka immensely. Beautiful country with charming, friendly, courteous people. Very scenic country with diverse landscapes, interesting cultural experiences. Sandun was very responsive to our requests, very informative about trip planning and willing to adjust the itinerary numerous times as we decided on a final agenda.

Jan 19: Marrakech, Skoura, Merzouga, (with overnight stay in desert via Camel Ride), Ouarzazate.
Thank you so much Kim Kim for assessing my family group needs and linking me with such a wonderful travel consultant: Brahim (from Orion Trek Voyages) who worked closely with me via email/message frequently to ensure we had a plan for our holiday that met the needs for all of our group. He arranged wonderful accommodation in each place we stayed (especially Riad Villa el Arsa in Marrakech medina and Chez Talout in Skoura) and provided us with the best driver (Rashid from EMS - Essaouira Multiservice) who was so much more than a driver. He had completed a degree in tourism and made the 4 day trip out to Erg Chebbi and back such a memorable experience. He went out of his way to show us sites not on our itinerary, took many photos of our group and sent them to us and ensured we were all safe and well cared for whilst travelling and at each stop. Travelling with my grown up children and parents could have been a challenge but Rashid was continually happy, polite and accommodating. It felt as if he was part of the family and it was a sad farewell on return to Marrakech. A truly fantastic holiday, thanks so much to all involved. A very memorable experience. Would highly recommend all mentioned to ensure a wonderful holiday. Michele and John Gambrill (John & Robyn Gambrill, Jade Gambrill & Antony Dickenson)

We booked Amizmis valley 3 dazs tour and it was verg nice. Great walk through the day, perfect nature, nice people all around. The only thing that was not perfect was accommodation in first house. When they say "simple accommodation" nowdays people think about bed and shower without aditional fascilities. It was without bed, but that was probably our fault for not reading it carefully. At the other house was much better because of the family that has been so nice to us. Fatima and her family were very welcoming, trying to teach us how to make bread and cuscus. Although they do not speak english they were trying to explain us everything. Our guide Mohamed was perfect. On this trip we made one friend more

Alex at Kimkim was very helpful with the initial enquiry, putting me in touch with Kunchok Nima of Responsible Treks.

Kunchok dealt very patiently with my many questions and several changes of plan and dates. All the arrangements he made for me worked out very smoothly.

On the trek I was guided by Gyaljan Lama and Keshab Magar. They were patient, kind and helpful, and spoke excellent English. Hopefully they will remember 'undulating' and 'clearing', which I suggested they add to their already amazing vocabulary! Their help and encouragement got me up to Khayer Tal, an exhausting but spectacular 11 hour round trip from Kopra Danda lodge.

My favourite village? Swanta, where I spent a rest day!

Thank you Alex, Kuncholk, Gyaljan and Keshab. Maybe see you again one day, for Humla or Kanchengjunga...

Overall it was a fantastic trip.
I take at least 2 and sometimes 3 vacations a year and I am very particular. I had been using a particular agency for many adventures and decided to give Kim Kim a try.
I will give a concise but honest evaluation if you permit and at the end some suggestions that may help Kim Kim and future travelers.
Day 1, All day walking tour A , that night was the Argentine Experience A+.
Day 2, Navigation to Tigre C
Although interesting, I found it to be a long boat ride followed by a long and boring train ride. Guide for both days was the same. Although very knowledgeable he had no communication skills and was very boring.
Day 3, Mendoza , Wine tour and lunch. A+. This guide was A+ with good communication skills and a sense of humor.
Day 4 White water rafting A+ and I followed it up with a canopy adventure. A+. Guides overall with the expedition we're great.
Day 5 High Mountain Full day tour.
Although very scenic it was just way too long a drive. Guides stopped at MANDATORY spots for pictures, tiny walk, lunch and site for pictures. C
Day 6 Travel Day
Day 7 P Morena and National Park and boat ride. D
This was the most disappointing day of my trip. Bus was 1 hour late for pick up and I was on a bus with 37 other people. Took 45 minutes for everyone to get off and then back on bus for a picture . Boat ride was cancelled due to the weather (wind). We walked down steps to view glacier and then spend 3 1/2 hours at the refreshment house . This was absurd, watching bus load after busload of tourists coming and going. Unbelievable and touristy.
Fortunately, the guide was able to get a different boat trip to save some part of the day.
Day 8 Estancia Discovery Cristina B+
Great views and scenery. 4X4 trip was very exhilarating. B+
D
Do away with the boring museum tour and garden visit.
Ugh.
Day 8 Travel Day
Day 9 Beagle Channel boat ride and Penguin Island A+. Great overall experience.
Day 10 Trek and Rafting trip. Great guide (Pedro) A+.
Day 11 Travel Day , Flight, USA.
Here are my suggestions, take or leave them. I think they make your company a little more personal.
1. Warn your clients that they should be aware of counterfeit $ being used all over BA (taxi drivers are notorious).
2. Forworn your clients that some adventures (national park, lunches, etc.) must be paid in cash and pesos only.
3. Forworn your clients that they should make dinner reservations before they arrive in the next destination. Suggest restaurants to clients . They will appreciate it rather then go there blind.
4. Advise clients to bring their passport to trekking in Ushuaia so they can get them stampted at the end of the world.
This little item may mean something to a person.
5. Suggest places to shop and places not to shop. Do some research and it will pay dividends. Maybe even get a discount for clients at certain places.
6. Double check all info to clients as my reservations were incorrect the first night and my flight info was also incorrect. (Very confusing).

So I have exhausted my time and you are probably tired of reading all of this but I wanted to make sure you really knew my thoughts.
Hope this info may help someone in the future.
Having said all this I would consider using KimKim in the future.
All the best Billy Gluck

We enjoyed the trip very much. Marie-Lou was very attentive to our needs, and was very helpful. One complaint was we basically lost a day in Santiago because all the museums were closed on Monday. We should have done Valspario on Monday instead of Tuesday.
Anyway, Easter Island and the Atacoma desert were a lot of fun and we enjoyed our stay in Chile.
Thanks.
Steve & Julie

Dan did an amazing job planning my trip. When I encountered an issue with my first hotel. Dan took care of it immediately. I loved all of the destinations he chose for me. The trip was very well organized. I would definitely book future travel with Dan. I would definitely HIGHLY reomeend him to my friends. I would rate my experience a full 10/10. Thanks so much.

Elina and Gareth did a great job of putting together a nice itinerary for us. We really loved the snowmobile excursion and the boys loved riding the mini snowmobiles. Rovaniemi is just a magical place and I'm so glad we got to see it. There is really so much more to do than I expected so if I ever get the chance to go back I'll know! (Like the amethyst mine!)

The Scandic hotel was just OK. Our friends ended up in the Arctic Light hotel and that is a really lovely place! I loved our night in the glass igloos.

Generally the trip went very smoothly. There was one minor miscommunication but I think that was in part due to our friends that joined us on the trip joined the planning late so getting both itineraries synced up was a little challenging.

Christchurch accommodation was awesome. All accommodation was clean and comfortable. Really helpful at the Geraldine place. Loved the Vintners retreat as well.

Great trip Kimkim a big thank you

Maria was wonderful from start to finish. She picked a terrific itinerary and gave great advice on where to go and how many days to spend. All the arrangements she made went off without a hitch. She helped with changes and a traveler who had to change plans last minute due to illness. We all had a wonderful time and I would use Maria again in a heartbeat!