Kimkim Trip Reviews

Driver Azzam was very good and informative and punctual. However on a couple of occasions he suggested pick-up times different to those on our itinerary, most notably at Petra where he did not know about our back-door hike to the Monastery on the morning following our day at Petra, and he suggested a pick-up time from the Dead Sea of 1:00pm rather than the previous booked 5:00pm (this was important as we were meeting the family at the Dead sea). However everything worked out all right in the end and he did show as some amazing views both driving into Petra and on the old road from Petra to the Dead sea.
Our guide Ibrahim for the hike to the Monastery was excellent, as was the hike itself.
Petra is of course amazing and our day and a half there was just about right.
Jerash, Ajloun, Karak and Showback are all impressive and enlightening.
The Dead Sea experience was enjoyable but really only because we could play with our grandchildren in the swimming pool.
A well organised itinerary with sufficient time to see our family in Amman. A trip we will not forget.
Lena deserves thanks for putting together the programme combining touring and spending time with our family.

Linda and her team were terrific. They put together a custom itinerary that took into account the varied interests of a family with teenagers and made everything easy. The trip was very fun and educational and, coming from someone that hasn't used a travel agent in years, it wouldn't have been possible without their help. I highly recommend Linda and her team for a Norway adventure.

Excellent service provided by my KimKim representative Ingrid. She let me know everything down to bus times and numbers, and even went above and beyond finding me a ride home one night after I missed the last bus and the only taxi company in Aurland was fully booked. Really great help overall!

Guide - Mario - excellent - great guy, very knowledgeable about the area and culture, excellent language skills, friendly, considerate - perfect !
Operator - Chris - very professional in organizing the trip. But, I expected him to come by at the hotel after arrival to review the trip and get to know each other. Again very well organized but a bit missing that personal touch.
Trip was great:
Day 1 Antigua - excellent
Day 2 Pacaya volcano - excellent
Day 3 Lake Atitlan - lake and boat ride as well as the visit to the first Mayan city were super nice (visited local crafts such as herb thee growing and textile weaving). Second city on the lake was boring and from my point of view even annoying to be dragged around town to see the local beliefs and religion.
Day 4 Kayaking and Hiking on//along lake Atitlan was great.
Day 5 Mayan ruins at Ixemtche - super nice but we spend a lot of time that day in the car.
All in all it was a great trip especially taking into account the very short notice we had to get it organized. Many Thanks. We're definitely planning on going back to Guatemala when we have a bit more time to stay longer.

Robi did a wonderful job coordinating a half-day boating trip for us near Split, Croatia. When I inquired about the trip, he was able to find a trip at a price and schedule that fit our family's needs. His turnaround time was great and he had excellent communication with us from the trip planning to following up with us after the trip. Our skipper on the boat, Sime, made the day so fun and relaxing! He took care of everything we needed, was very flexible and kind. I would highly recommend this trip!

Just returned from a totally epic trip to Norway, planned with great care by our awesome specialist Linda. Linda service was nothing short of perfect. She listened to what we wanted to do during our visit, understood and respected our budget and planned a trip for us that maximized our dollars and used our travel days very efficiently. Without Linda's help I am certain that we would not have been able to see so much of the country in such a smooth and logical manner and would never have found the interesting, charming and cost efficient accommodations that she did. In addition that tours she planned were spot-on and unique to our family. I was really impressed with Linda's ability really get a sense of what we truly wanted out of the trip (i.e. to experience the "real" Norway, not a tourist version). We had so many wonderful experiences, but I would say the best was probably our stay in Aurland. Our accommodations were amazing (cabin overlooking the fjord) and our tour of the area with Mathilda was just amazing, and included a hike to a beautiful lookout and glassblowing with a local artist. Our tour through Bergen with David was equally awesome. He gave us a local's view of the "scene" in Bergen and had so many great recommendations for restaurants, kafe's, shop's etc. that were off the tourist-path. I think the best part of the tours were that both guides were lovely and engaging and happy to chat and share about what life is like in Norway. We also took the Hurtigurten which was really interesting and fun and ended our trip in Trondheim which is a simply beautiful, young, fun city. I think it is worth mentioning two very important things: 1) Linda really did a great job ensuring all of our booking and travel transitions were smooth and easy to follow, including arranging taxis and pick/ drop off and being considerate of train/boat/travel times to ensure we were not wasting time waiting or were stuck in one place with hours to kill and nowhere to go. 2) When there were a couple of (very minor) hiccups with hotel bookings, Linda was accessible, available to help and dealt with the issues immediately. It was very comforting to know that she was available to help during our travel. Well done Linda! Truly was a trip of a lifetime and my mother was so impressed and happy. Best, Katie

A fantastic day with a local guide - great hiking with some cool, secret canyons and waterfalls. Lunch was amazing. Best of all were Jon’s Saga stores and personal love for the region. More than we expected!

Sylvia is amazing! She is pleasant and easy to work with. We missed our flight and Sylvia rearranged pick-up and transfers from the airport with no fuss. She surprised us with a last minutes city tour of San Jose and dinner at Tiquicia Restaurant. The view of central valley from Tiquicia Restaurant was spectacular! It is truly a million-dollar view. The food was delicious and the traditional dance was fantastic.

Tabacon Resort , all I can I say is " Wow, wow, and wow " It is a thermal paradise! All of the staffs at the resort were wonderful. Do not miss this place.

Monteverde Cloud Forest - what an incredible place. I felt like I was in the movie Avatar. I saw so many wildlife - incredible experience. The sky walk, sky tram , and the zip lining was unbelievable. We had so much fun!

Manuel Antonio Nation Park - stunning park with amazing beaches. I'm so happy we did a guided tour of the park; otherwise, we would have missed out on the beautiful wildlife like the Sloth, rainbow grasshopper, and the colorful birds.

My daughter and I had an amazing time in Costa Rica. Thank you Sylvia .

XOXO
Seng

My trip to Sri Lanka was a true pleasure. I wish to thank my guide, Mark, for his expert care. I felt at ease and well cared for throughout my 10 day stay.

I can't say which region was my favorite to be honest. I traveled in the North and through the cultural triangle. I loved all of it but ,Jaffna, perhaps, stole my heart. I think, because of how much the people have had to endure and have come so far in rebuilding life there.

The beauty of the island is truly amazing. I was greeted so warmly by the people there and I met some forever true friends. Lovely. Thank you.

Sharif was a real gentleman. We fell in love with him. Always on time, polite, attentive, full of useful suggestions, discreet.
He helped to make our two birthdays special.
Petra and Wadi Rum amazing. So much history. Bilal was a great story teller. Camel ride fantastic. Lying on the sand looking up at the stars beautiful. Sharif suggested snorkeling in Aqaba - just right.

Chris and team provided my family with the best vacation we have ever shared together.
This was the first trip to Guatemala for my 2 biological children, as well as the first trip to Guatemala for my youngest daughter that we adopted from Guatemala 13 years ago. It was also our first opportunity visit with Telma, a 9 yr old girl that we sponsor from Guatemala through the organization, Unbound.

When I first reached-out to Chris, I didn't know what to expect. I had very little knowledge about Guatemala, but wanted to provide my family a very special experience. With just a few suggestions for sights we wanted to see and activities that we wanted to experience, Chris created a complete 7 day itinerary, that included, hotel accommodations, guides, ride transfers, necessary equipment, etc.. no details left out. It was a completely seamless experience which made our trip so enjoyable and stress free. Chris immediately responded to all my requests and questions.

I also can not say enough about his staff. We had the pleasure to spend 4 days with Alex, our guide, who lead us through mountain biking, volcano hiking, village tours, kayaking, and who shared with us his culture and country's history. Along the way he introduced us to many locals that added to our experience. We had "Monkey" guide us up Pacaya, and make us Smores from active volcanic ash and rock. We met Mary a local villager from Santiago, who taught us how create a traditional Mayan headdress, We met Delphina and her sister, who belong to a local textile cooperative in San Juan who shared with us their family craft of making textile goods by hand. While stopping for lunch at a restaurant we were invited to make our own tortillas. Lastly, we had the opportunity to hike the ancient city of Tikal and experience the ruins with our guide Andres. He was very knowledgeable about Mayan history and was able to share the history of Tikal with our family.

Never would we have experienced so much in such a short time without the help of Chris and KimKim. Thank you guys for the trip of a life time!!!

Mads was really helpful from the outset and helped me work out a fantastic itinerary for myself and my family. We thoroughly enjoyed it all from the trekking with our lovely guide chheering, the white water rafting expedition and our luxurious stay at Chitwan. Our adventure to lumbini and across the border was fun but would maybe fly from Kathmandu next time! Amanda, our contact in Kathmandu was faultless- giving us excellent recommendations for meals and providing us with a phone so we could contact her if we had any problems and then resolving any issues with incredible speed. We loved Nepal as much as when we last visited it nearly 20 years ago and now our 3 children love it as well. Thank you all so much.

We really enjoyed the itinerary and the hotels that were selected. Would have appreciated a bit more detail and tips. For example the day trip to the waterfall, where there was no opportunity to get lunch, a note suggesting to take a picnic lunch would have been helpful. Also some detail on the timing of activities would help plan the day better - seal colony viewing duration, whale watching duration etc.

Sajith was great with organising our Sri Lanka trip, his attention to detail was very high. Although we didn't end up going on our trip we would highly recommend using Sajith for organising a trip.

This is an incredible service, and I can’t express how much I appreciate being able to visit a new place — new cultures, new languages, contested histories — and feel like I left it with something more than a superficial layer of tourist-appropriate experience.

Deborah (with help from Tara - of Elgin Africa) provided us with an incredibly thoughtful and perfectly paced itinerary for our 22-day holiday. Deborah’s understanding of us — she really listened to us — and of the options before us, given our interests and length of stay allowed her to guide us to choices we wouldn’t have considered or known about. The process of working with Deborah was easy — we emailed several times, and spoke on the phone once — and each ‘visit’ with her left us more and more excited about our trip.

Deborah has worked in tourism for many years, and not only knows places and people, but has an encyclopedic knowledge of how businesses are run, what their values are, and how accommodations, tours, and even key local people will suit her clients.

We loved (LOVED) this trip. We would trust KimKim with any future travel based on our experience with Deborah. She heard our desire to travel according to our values, even though it might mean risking new experiences with accommodation, local tour guides, or wildlife (!). We asked for a non-Disney version of South Africa, and that’s exactly what we got. We’ve been home for two weeks, and already we’re saving for our next holiday (with Deborah at the helm).

My husband’s primary interest was in tracing the lives and contributions of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Deborah ensured that we visited each significant location in that ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ — including the various branches of the Apartheid Museum. More than that, Deborah identified several contacts for us over the course of our holiday who we would meet and speak with to help us understand personal stories of activism during the struggle for a Democratic South Africa.

In Johannesburg, we stayed in the arts district Maboneng, and toured the city with “King,” a Soweto-born tour guide whose vibrancy and realistic portrait of the city challenged the ‘victory’ narrative. It was wonderful to have a more complex portrait of the country immediately — and with personal experiences and explanations to make that portrait more concerning.

In Qunu, the place of Mandela’s birth, Deborah paired us with an incredible local guide we’re still talking about. His activism during the struggle to end apartheid forced him out of university and into prison. Still an activist, and finished with his formal education, “Zim” allowed us to question him about his current work (defining and re-defining masculinity, and leading groups of people to experience their own power). Deborah had arranged for us to have lunch at his home, where we met his wife and ate a beautiful meal prepared with fresh vegetables grow in their garden. This sort of encounter is simply not possible without current connections and deep interest in one’s work. Wow, Deborah!

Deborah’s care throughout the trip created opportunities and connections like this for us. In Cape Town, for example, tickets to Robben Island were scarce because of ferry trouble and unforeseen closures of the museum. Deborah to the rescue. Robben Island may sound like a trip only for tourists, but I found it to be remarkably organized, insightful, and deeply moving. Need I mention that our tour of the prison/museum was led by a former political prisoner?

My primary interest in the trip was to see and experience the vast expanse of South Africa — its open skies, its languages, its people, and expressions of its cultures. Deborah consistently steered us toward places and encounters we wouldn’t have been able to have on our own. The range of people she put us in touch with ranged from shops selling the work of local people (sometimes co-owned and operated by those people), or informal locations where she was sure we would encounter local artisans selling their work. Our accommodations provided us with not just a white South African holiday. (On our flight home, we noticed that the cosmopolitan artsy 12 Decades Hotel in Johannesburg was written up as a ‘must-go’ location in the in-flight magazine!) Even before we left home, Deborah’s itinerary for us included descriptions of accommodations like this one, describing a beautifully designed backpacker lodge: “Hopefully you’ll meet one of the owners, Sal, who basically grew up at the lodge and is very knowledgeable about all the community projects in the area.” Intersperced with backpacker accommodations, Deborah planned luxurious nights for us. In another part of the itinerary she writes: “It’s 5-star accommodation at 4-star rates and includes breakfast.” She failed to mention that the staff at Falcon’s View Manor (“high above the town of Knysna”) would wash our car (!) while it was parked overnight in their covered carport. At this hotel, we got to our room and discovered that Deborah, who had passed through the area days before, left a beautiful bottle of wine for us. (Need I mention that the adjustment to routine life at home has been difficult!?)

Deborah arranged for several game drives during our holiday, including photographic safaris in Chobe National Park in Botswana. She had personally experienced these safaris, and although such an excursion wasn’t on our radar, our stay at Pangolin Lodge and experiences with drivers and our photography ‘teacher’ couldn’t have been better.

Our trip covered a true range of natural environments, cultural locations, and physical activities. Everywhere we were safe and cared for with attention to detail. Deborah put us in the path of people and encounters that moved us and enlarged our personal and political worldviews. This is the best of travel.

Deborah’s deep knowledge of her client’s desires (we wanted to support family-owned and community-supportive businesses), coupled with her vast knowledge of opportunities for tourism in South Africa, and even Zambia and Botswana, made this a trip our friends simply can’t believe we were able to take. Deborah’s itinerary for us included details about the businesses we patronized, what we should expect for food, even what to pack for day hikes in specific regions... I can’t tell you how grateful I am for her knowledge. Impressed, and grateful.

I can’t thank you enough for referring us to Deborah and to her collegue Tara at Elgin Africa. Although we’ll need to save for a bit before we travel again, I’d reach out to Deborah without hesitation. KimKim was a terrific way to get us started. I’m grateful for your expertise and for the thoughtfulness of your method in pairing travelers with local experts like Deborah.

Cheers!

Johnas was WONDERFUL. Thank you for a wonderful trip. Everything was handled expertly.

Tasos went out of his way to accommodate my unique request. Everything went according to plan. Panagiota was a GREAT guide to Philippi. She adjusted the amount of information provided based on our level of interest and it was fantastic!!!

We had a fabulous trip to Norway, orchestrated by Ingrid.
She was patient, kind, responsive and so extremely helpful!
We would definitely do this again!

What a great trip! Loved Myanmar. The first time I visited was as a backpacker in my mid 20s in 1986. That as a remarkable time to visit what was then Burma but I certainly travelled rough.
This time I requested higher end accommodation for my wife and I. Anne excelled with her selection. For instance, the Sanctum Inn and Bagan Lodge were modern suites in 5 Star accommodation. But we loved every choice she made for us, plus she saved us some money by recommending we stay at the Savoy in Yangon rather than the Strand.
As well the selected itinerary suited our preferred pace of travel. Every morning we were busy site seeing until after lunch and then most days we were free to swim and lounge around our hotel pool. We are in our late 50s so, for us, this was ideal. However, if we made the request our fantastic guides were only too willing to show us more. So to Nay, Arwar, NeeNee and Cherry, our guides, thank you. So too to the drivers.
We had lots of highlights but I think the pagoda strewn hills surrounding Mandalay, the railway journey to the viaduct, the cooking class in Bagan and the visit to the Elephant Camp near Kalaw will stay in my memory the longest.
Thank you kimkim.

To be honest, I’d never heard of Kimkim, coast to coast adventures, or Randall. This made me a little bit wary of sending over a few thousand pounds and just assuming it would all be ok. Randall seemed very nice over email and we were keen to support local business in the country were visiting rather than some massive tour company, so we took the plunge.

I really didn’t need to worry at all.

We’ve had a stunning time in Costa Rica - truly the trip of a lifetime. Whatever words or photos just don’t do it justice so I won’t even try. What can be said for definite is that I’d totally trust Kimkim again and, above all Randall is a total legend who sorted everything out to perfection. All the cogs and wheels that needed to turn at the same time did like clockwork and it’s all gone without a hitch. We were met at the chaotic airport after a gruelling 10 hr flight with 2 tired kids, by a lovely friendly guy who got us to our hotel. The next day we started the 3 day tour of a lifetime to Tortuguero National Park, just as Randall had recommended, it was one of those life moments to never be forgotten - the moment lasted 3 days though.

Everywhere Randall has booked for us was expecting us and we just had to get ourselves to the agreed place to find everything ready, and taken care of for us. We found ourselves on the best trips with the best guides while others struggled in the heat.

It’s hard to know what else to say, other than Randall totally made this holiday, I can’t recommend him highly enough and if we come back, and we’d very much like to, I know who to get in touch with.