Kimkim Trip Reviews

Where do I begin?
My husband and I have never been to Africa and we decided to start in Morocco. From inception we knew this would be an amazing trip. Abdellah did a great job coordinating the perfect trip and was extremely responsive and listened/executed on what we requested.

We landed in Casablanca on Friday Nov 5th, 2021 with plans on hitting up Chefchaouen (Blue City), Fes, Merzouga (Sahara Desert), Boumalne Dades (1,000 Kasbahs), Marrakech and Casablanca. We covered more than 2,000 kilometers in 9 days and wrapped up on Sunday Nov 14th.

Immediately when we arrived we were greeted with a kind smile from our guide and now good friend Karim. This trip couldn’t have been so great without Karim. His knowledge, love for his culture, country and people was very clear and he took us on this journey that would ultimately change both my husband and I forever.

Karim was always there for us and treated us like his family. He shared details about his family and how he grew up in the Atlas Mountains. His work ethic was also pretty incredible and admirable. He always made sure that we were comfortable and that if we ever needed something he would go out of his way to make sure we were pleased (like I did wanting to pet every cat, lamb, sheep and donkey in Morocco:)).

As the days past we became closer and closer to Karim. He went from guide to host and good friend quickly. This journey with Karim was unique because we were able to experience sipping mint tea with the Amazigh in the Mid-Atlas Mountains, feeding monkeys in the Atlas Mountains, having the best fresh kofta in small villages as we traveled throughout Morocco, relaxing and enjoying a fabulous Moroccan dinner with a true local family, to staring at the stars in the Sahara Desert while a fire kept us warm at night.

I would also like to add that the local guides in each city were amazing as well. Many thanks to Ahmed in Tiziri Camp (Sahara Desert) for being such a great host and for the great Tuareg music around the fire pit, Hassan in Marrakech for giving us so much knowledge about the region and it’s history, Hafid in Fes for his passion about Morocco’s culture and medinas, and Majid in Volubilis for giving us such a detailed description of the Roman ruins and the Roman influence in that part of the country.

For those of you looking at this I would HIGHLY recommend working with this company and amazing group of people, especially Karim our dear friend. One day both my husband and I plan on returning to this beautiful country and it’s people, inshallah!!

Anita (NYC)

Mohamed was a wonderful tour guide and he made our trip truly memorable. We visited so much of Morocco during our tour, and he was very knowledgeable and kind. We would not have been able to do everything that we did without his guidance and expertise.

Ahmed was great at organizing our trip to Morocco on short notice. We only had a week in the country and were travelling with an 8 month old infant but he was great at advising us and working with us on an itinerary that ensured we did everything that we wanted to. From the driver to each tour guide everyone that was organized was very easy to work with and extremely flexible and hospitable. Our driver Simo, from original travels, was excellent and accompanied us everywhere for the entire trip. The guides that took us around the imperial cities were very knowledgeable and also were friendly and accommodating with our little child. Overall would definitely recommend this company and group to family and friends.

We had the PERFECT honeymoon trip. It was a long one- 16 days/15 nights- so Emilce was absolutely instrumental in helping us craft the trip and making sure everything was organized and stress free for us. She was patient and responsive, and all of her suggestions for excursions were spot on for what we wanted to do- from a tango show, to hikes in Patagonia and Iguazu, to wine tours in Mendoza. It was amazing how hassle-free it all was- people were there to pick us up and drop us off at each airport and take us to all of our activities- we didn’t even really have to think! Plus, every guide we had was so knowledgeable and friendly- and so excited to use their English as we were the first Americans they’d had since the pandemic restrictions lifted. I absolutely recommend working with Emi- and visiting Argentina!!

Every place we visited had its own special memories. The very first, Guachipelin, interesting as a working farm, complete with oxen team. We loved the freedom of walking to the beautiful waterfall onsite, made unforgettable partly because of the blue morpho flitting about!
Our driver Roy was very well spoken and knowledgeable, answering all our questions en route from Rincón de la Vieja to La Fortuna. Super food stop at Café y Macadamia.
Wildlife tours, especially the night one, were eye openers! Our night tour guide was so excited it was contagious. Finding a tiny hidden rufous-eyed green frog by its sound blew me away! The pit vipers were very cool too.
Canal Négra tour guide, Joe, was super keen and full of info.
Tabacón Hot Springs on a cool evening - heaven!
My personal fave was The Monteverdi Eco Lodge. We were offered a complimentary upgrade with a second floor balcony. Staff was super friendly and professional. Food was exceptionally fresh and tasty! The pool was beautiful and private and not busy at all during our stay.
Having a driver take us to and from La Fortuna made for a nice change of scenery and gave us lots of time to eat at Viquez Soda and walk around the town. ( check out the chocolate shop!)
The final five days at Tulemar and Manuel Antonio Park, were unforgettable! Beautiful gardens, old growth tree forest, hanging bridges, a glorious beach, and enough stairs and hills to get anyone in shape! Raúl, the concierge at our villa studio, was invaluable.
Almost forgot - The cooking class afternoon with Stephanie and our guide Henry, was great fun - and a whole new area for beautiful scenery!
Also, the coffee plantation tour with Andrès (at Don Juan)kept us engaged and laughing the whole while. Can he bring out the fun in everyone!
All in all,
Olman did a terrific job getting us prime accommodations in every location. The balance of tours, travel and chill time was good for us. Our first trip to Costa Rica! Hopefully not our last!
Many thanks to the Ticos and Ticas who made this trip so special!
PURA VIDA!

We had an amazing experience. We went to three different areas in Egypt (Cairo, Nile River Cruise, Hurghada) and our guides at each spot were amazing. Answered all our questions, made sure we had everything we needed (Water, stops at the ATM for cash, PCR test, etc.). It made it so easy to relax and just enjoy each day of our vacation. Our guide Mohammad in Cairo, Mo with Farah Nile cruise and Hesham in Hurghada were all amazing. Any hiccup we had, they handled it. On time too!

This was my first time personally using KimKim and I have to say that this trip would have been near impossible without the help of Margarita. Due to Covid we had tons of flight changes (adding and removing days in our plans) and needed to wait until the last minute to confirm things. She was incredibly helpful and patient through all of the changes back and forth.

In the end my flight was delayed due to weather and she needed to see what could be re-arranged on other days. No matter when we messaged her she responded (I don't know when she slept!) and even met up with us a few days to see us in and out of St Petersburg.

Due to the delays it was a quick, tightly packed schedule. I feel like I was able to see everything I wanted to and was able to make the most of my time there with her help. We had a few issues with the drivers but overall the guides were great. I really enjoyed our time in St. Petersburg and the Red Square in Moscow was definitely a highlight. I didn't find the temperature cold personally but I felt the heat in some buildings was up quite high so I should have planned on removable layers.

All in all, I am glad I went and hope to go again in the future. Thanks Maragarita!

We had a wonderful tour of Ecuador.
It all occurred without a single glitch.
Daniel met us as soon as we arrived at our hotel to go over details.
He did his best to make us happy in every regard.
Our guide and driver, Christian, was knowledgeable and engaging as well as being a most excellent driver.
We most enjoyed the zipline and our hike to the lagoons. We loved the charming towns of Banos and Cuenca. I had the best Chinese food ever in Banos. The trucha (trout) was exceptional at the lagoons. Had the best roast pork ever at the market in Cuenca. My mouth is watering recalling all the fabulous meals we had.
Thank you for your excellent service.

Our trip to Iceland was phenomenal! Emanuela designed a fantastic itinerary that allowed us to make the most of our 5 days. From our first glimpse of the spectacular waterfalls at Seljalandsfoss, every stop she planned revealed amazing wonders! The glacier lagoon was a highlight for us all! We loved dinner at Lava at the Blue Lagoon and lunch at Fridheimer. They were both delicious!

Emanuela was so helpful not only in planning, but to support us during our travels! She provided a number and was easily reachable during our trip to help with anything we needed. She rearranged dinner and lunch reservations when our schedule changed and was very responsive to all our questions.

I highly recommend a trip to Iceland with Emanuela’s help!! We can’t wait to go back!

All of our guides were incredible, most notably our driver, Faisal, who was an absolute joy to be with for the week. Not only was he always on time and incredibly flexible when we were not on time, but he was so much fun to ride with, including great music. He quickly picked up on our travel style and interests and was able to cater our trip well to what we enjoyed most. He went above and beyond time and time again, even looking for more camel milk for us in his free time. We are definitely looking forward to coming back as soon as possible and will absolutely recommend this trip to our friends and family.

Emanuela did a great job setting up our trip to Iceland for us. She asked lots of questions about our interests and was extremely responsive to our questions and requests. She came up with an itinerary that fit perfectly with our preferences, needs and desires and exceeded our expectations. We chose KimKim to book our trip because Emanuela customized our trip for us when most other travel companies simply offered “canned” itineraries with little opportunity for questions or changes. Our trip was fantastic. Every accommodation and activity was arranged exactly as planned. Emanuela suggested great restaurants, tours and off the wall coffee shops and local bakeries that we would never have found on our own. We loved Iceland and Emanuela definitely helped make our experience as great as it was. Thank you Emanuela!

Where do I begin?
My wife and I have never been to Africa and we decided to start in Morocco. From inception we knew this would be an amazing trip. Abdellah did a great job coordinating the perfect trip and was extremely responsive and listened/executed on what we requested.

We landed in Casablanca on Friday Nov 5th, 2021 with plans on hitting up Chefchaouen (Blue City), Fes, Merzouga (Sahara Desert), Boumalne Dades (1,000 Kasbahs), Marrakech and Casablanca. We covered more than 2,000 kilometers in 9 days and wrapped up on Sunday Nov 14th.

Immediately when we arrived we were greeted with a kind smile from our guide and now good friend Karim. This trip couldn’t have been so great without Karim. His knowledge, love for his culture, country and people was very clear and he took us on this journey that would ultimately change both my wife and I forever.

Karim was always there for us and treated us like his family. He shared details about his family and how he grew up in the Atlas Mountains. His work ethic was also pretty incredible and admirable. He always made sure that we were comfortable and that if we ever needed something he would go out of his way to make sure we were pleased (like my wife wanting to pet every cat, lamb, sheep and donkey in Morocco:)).

As the days past we became closer and closer to Karim. He went from guide to host and good friend quickly. This journey with Karim was unique because we were able to experience sipping mint tea with the Amazigh in the Mid-Atlas Mountains, feeding monkeys in the Atlas Mountains, having the best fresh kofta in small villages as we traveled throughout Morocco, relaxing and enjoying a fabulous Moroccan dinner with a true local family, to staring at the stars in the Sahara Desert while a fire kept us warm at night.

I would also like to add that the local guides in each city were amazing as well. Many thanks to Ahmed in Tiziri Camp (Sahara Desert) for being such a great host and for the great Tuareg music around the fire pit, Hassan in Marrakech for giving us so much knowledge about the region and it’s history, Hafid in Fes for his passion about Morocco’s culture and medinas, and Majid in Volubilis for giving us such a detailed description of the Roman ruins and the Roman influence in that part of the country.

For those of you looking at this I would HIGHLY recommend working with this company and amazing group of people, especially Karim our dear friend. One day both my wife and I plan on returning to this beautiful country and it’s people, inshallah!!

Marcello (NYC)

Sam and his team did a wonderful job from start to finish. They were able to understand what we were looking for in our trip and did everything possible to accommodate us. Communication was clear, thoughtful and timely throughout the process. The guides he found to show us around the Costa Brava and Barcelona were awesome! During the trip itself, Sam's team made us feel taken care of and looked after. Each activity from kayaking to museum tours was amazing!

I would highly recommend using Sam. He brings the exactly what you are looking for to plan your next trip!

Where to even begin! First, I believe Margoth deserves a lot of credit for her resilience in assuring me a safe and very special experience for my first ever international trip outside of the US! Having never even left the country before, I always had major doubts in myself, but something in my gut told me to go with this..
I didn’t want to do anything really typical. I didn’t want the all-inclusive resorts with lots of other US tourists. I wanted to be plummeted into another culture and embraced by love and beauty and freedom. And what better way to spend than on my birthday, 11/11, which also happened to be Independence Day for the beautiful Cartagena. We danced and celebrated in the streets, I felt at home and very embraced.
I took a chance on a country everyone often questions.. as a solo FEMALE traveler, for the first time in my life. And i loved EVERY SINGLE MINUTE OF IT.
From Margoth, Felipe and the rest of the Aracanto team, to Manuel, my tour guide.. Martin, my driver. The infectious Carolina at Oh La La Bistrot! The hotel staff and my lovely Island Boys at Rosario, to the locals ON Rosario Island i met during my Mangrove tour, to the local Cartagena vendors who I’ve been texting on Whatsapp every day because I’ve genuinely made deep connections with several of them. And on my own, even! The Hotel Sophia team who basically treated me like a princess all week. Christina and Juan, and the bartenders at the Arsenal Rum Box who introduced me to all the Colombian rum. To Dyllan, my super handsome salsa guru.. to all the staff and servers at all the restaurants (and my goodness, i never changed a single recommendation for dinner because y’all made some very impressive reservations!!)
I could not have done this without the help and extra push from Margoth and Aracanto Travel! They have really set the tone for me and i have already intrigued so many of my friends here in the states.
Many conversations i had ended up being about me traveling there alone and for my first international adventure, leaving many locals shocked, yet impressed with my choice… and continuously thanking me for trusting their home enough to come see it for myself.
I spent all my money on locally-made items, I had no reservations against supporting the bracelet/gift vendors because they took such good care of me all week! Like i said, I’ve left with many local friends!

The first night, I spent with a group from Medellin who were heading home after a fun weekend together in Cartagena. However, after an hour at Cafe Del Mar sunset with them, we decided it was imperative that i come back and make Medellin a necessary stop!
On my last morning, a street bracelet vendor who actually ended up taking me on a casual walking tour of the entire walled city the day before, stopped by my hotel just to give me a gift he made… simply because i let him take me on a tour and trusted him every step of the way.
I fell in love with myself AND Cartagena. I plan to be back before you know it…
I would recommend KimKim for anyone who needs help with traveling; especially solo travelers! And definitely plan to be an advocate, specifically for Colombia, as I hope the positive image of this beautiful country can replace anyone’s initial doubts about experiencing it. Aracanto team is FIVE STAR!!!

Until we meet again…¡ muy bacano!

Carly M

The trip overall was good but not the greatest. There were so many things we missed doing and other things that we struggled with. To start with, the hotels we were booked at were not what you would expect out of a vacation. Our first hotel had cold water and was smelly in an awful way. Our last hotel was good but the water was cold and salty. I ended up being itchy and my legs had a ton of rashes I am curing until now. Additionally, we were not told about the fees we need to pay to our second hotel. We were not advised of the ATV tours, zip lines, horseback riding, Xcart or the major shopping centers in cancun which we had to extend our holidays for. We have asked for adventure but ended up in Tulum with nothing to do there. We were booked with a local tour guide in Coba who talked non stop about history in extremely hot weather instead of actually doing sth we enjoy. In our 2nd hotel, we missed out on having breakfast because the trip plan timings were incorrect.

On.our 5th day we were told by locals about all the things we are missing out on. which we had to extend our stay for an additional 2 days and pay extra money on activities we actually enjoy.

Off to the good, we loved the snorkeling activity in Puerto morales and the night life and beach walks in Playa de Carmen. They were amazing. The breakfast in the first and last hotel was amazing. We loved it. We loved the gesture in the last hotel when the company offered us a cake and flowers

Overall, we enjoyed it, but after being to and knowing Mexico, we deeply believe the plan could have been way better than this.

I highly recommend Kim Kim and specifically Jessica with “Storywalking”. We are a well traveled couple and will definitely use this agency again. Jessica helped us navigate the COVID requirements and kept in touch with us the whole time. She even filled out a form for us that we couldn’t figure out.
All hotel and car rental arrangements went smoothly and we were very pleased with everything. She made great suggestions as we went along our journey. She was not intrusive (which we liked) but offered just enough help at make everything very nice.

Hotel Review

Hotel Centro Florence

Florence

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Big Bus Rome: Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus - Ticket 48h

Rome

Quality of Experience

Hard to findb

Adriana created such a memorable 2 week anniversary trip for us and will definitely use Kim Kim again for touring countries. The Costa Rican hospitality is so special, the genuineness of the people made all the difference at every place we stayed. We went from coast to coast experiencing such different environments and wonderful adventures. We decided to not rent a car ourselves and splurge on private transfers between the towns and we are so glad we did. It was a very surprisingly special part of the trip meeting so many more lovely people and made it zero stress. The boat transfer across Lake Arenal was like adding another adventure plus it cut an hour driving time! I was surprised by the quality of the guides we had at every location. The guides at Mawamba Lodge were incredible with their knowledge base of botany and zoology, Piedro took us on an unforgettable night hike. I was really hoping to see a sloth on the trip in their natural environment and we saw several in each location with the help from our guides from Mawamba, La Fortuna, and Monteverde. Really made my trip! We have had many discussions about our 'favorites' but it was too hard, it was that great of a trip - each place was so unique and special in different ways! My husband would say the top of the trip was the side striped pit viper in the cloud forest of Monteverde, that was exhilarating! Our guide was incredible at spotting such a variety of creatures after dark! Mine was one of our guides in La Fortuna pulling over on the side of the road as he spotted a sloth climbing in a tree, he got me some amazing pictures with the help of his binoculars up to my phone! Each place Adriana planned for us was so special and we loved ending at Jardin del Eden Hotel in Tamarindo, it was perfect for us. Small and intimate, just an amazing place to truly exhale and I came home just a noodle of relaxation! Looking forward to using Kim Kim again, they really catered the vacation to us and what we wanted and the result was a life lister vacation for sure! Thank you for the unforgettable experience!

Hotel Review

Jardín del Edén Boutique Hotel - Adults Only

Tamarindo

We loved the smaller more personal experience. Staff knew our names and were really attentive. The dining area was gorgeous and the food was really good. The day beds were awesome at the pool and the beach and never had an issue getting a great spot. The outdoor hot stone spa massage was excellent.

Tips for future travelers

I wish I booked less activities and spent more time enjoying their beautiful grounds.

Authenticity & Character

The grounds around the pool were gorgeous with iguanas enjoying the paradise.

Location

I loved being in a secluded area away from the noise but a short walk to the noisier beach area. I thought the beach access was perfect that way.

Staff

They were attentive at all meals, pool drinks, etc. Most made the effort to learn guests names and make it more personal.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Super clean.

Activity Review

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

We got an amazing guide that really made me appreciate the care and work that goes into making great beans. I was not a coffee drinker but am now! It was like going wine tasting. It was fantastic!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Great job in communication, responsiveness, and personalization! Highly recommend!

KimKim saved the day and helped make a last minute anniversary trip a dream. I usually like to do all my own booking with tons of time spent on reviews etc. but I just didn't have the time (or patience) for it this time. Our local expert Rebecca was amazing, she took my direction and delivered a trip that fit our normal traveling preferences. Was super easy, responsive and provided amazing service while we were on the trip. I have recommended KimKim to a ton of friends and colleagues and will be using again! Thank you for simplifying the planning process while making it a personalized trip.

Ingrid was very responsive to all of our questions and concerns before and during our trip. We had a great time!