Kimkim Trip Reviews

We (a group of 4) started planning our Morocco trip almost too late - by first week of December we were still discussing whether Morocco is our destination for 2017's Christmas - New Year break.

I was elected to be in charge of planning this trip.
We only have 7-8 days but we don't want to miss a thing in Morocco - eventually I was sitting there scratching my head looking at a list of 7 different cities/places and trying to weaver them together with almost no knowledge of how to get around when we get there.

So I made a decision of entrusting the entire trip to an agency.
I contacted two agencies (both N. America based) and got their fee proposals. The prices were exorbitant. I also found some Morocco based tours but they lacked the flexibility we needed.
Here's what we wanted to do:
Casablanca - Chefchaouen - Fes - Merzouga (camel ride and sleeping under the stars!) - Ouarzazate - Marrakech - Casablanca.
That's nearly 2000km.

Eventually I stumbled upon KimKim and gave it a try. Ian Hardie replied my message in under an hour and then we started talking. In the next 3-4 days we exchanged at least 20 messages discussing every detail of the trip. Ian was extremely helpful. He had extensive knowledge about the places we plan to go and what to be expected. He was always very patient and willing to accommodate our many requests. His partner in Morocco - Larbie Anzal - was helping us to book accommodations and arranging transportation. I knew I could trust these good people and the results proved me right.

It was almost a mission impossible to plan and execute such an intensive trip in such a short timeframe but we did it.
The trip in Morocco was very memorable. I'd even say it is one of the best trips I've had in my life.

Youssef our driver was a great guy who was always passionate to show us anything and everything about his country. He also stepped up and defended us when a local cafe vendor attempted to overcharge our espressos. But trust me we loved almost every encounter with Moroccan people. They were very welcoming and kind.
Youssef had a copy of our trip plan and it was executed in the best way possible. By comparison some friends of mine visited Morocco last year and they decided to be on their own - and had a lot of difficulties moving around trying to take a combination of trains, grand taxis and other means of transport. I did just that in Czech, Austria, Slovakia etc last year - in central Europe it was doable. In Morocco however, especially when you have a tight schedule and are planning on visiting the Sahara, having an exclusive car and driver is your best bet. My advise to people who are planning this trip: talk to Ian, and ask for Youssef to be your driver and trustworthy travel companion - you will find your trip extremely pleasant, easy, comfortable and hustle-free.

My friends just told me that their coworkers and friends who've been to Morocco were all surprised how efficiently we were able to visit so many places in 7 days and yet were still able to have a very enjoyable trip. My friends gave me tonnes of thanks and compliments for making this happen - I'd like to pass them on to Ian Hardie, Larbie Anzal and our driver Youssef. Without them our trip may not even be possible, let alone being awesome.

I won't hesitate to recommend Ian and Larbie to anyone who's planning their next trip to Morocco. You won't regret it.

There are so much about this trip and about planning for this trip that I wanted to write here and share with everyone, only if I had more time. Maybe some other day I'll come back and add more details to it.
Now I have to go back to the endless hardwork of sorting my 5000+ photos taken on this trip...hope I can finish before next trip starts.

We used KimKim for our December 9 day self-drive of Iceland. I feel like we received a hotel, vehicle rental and tour booking service. This is very convenient, although I was hoping for a detailed itinerary with a realistic schedule and addresses. We were given a broad general itinerary with points of interest. We found ourselves backtracking unfortunately and took roads to keep from backtracking and ended up losing an entire day (there are just 5 hours of daylight in winter) trying to take a different route. KimKim stated that hotels were booked since we contacted them just a few weeks ahead of the trip but we passed many hotels closer to the points of interests and feel as though we spent much to much time with limited daylight driving to our hotels. The hotels booked for us were great, no complaints about the accommodations just far from where we had been sightseeing.

We had an amazing time nevertheless Iceland is gorgeous and we realize in retrospect that we could have booked the hotels etc ourselves but didn't want the hassle. The weather was fantastic. cold of course (so wear many layers) we were fortunate to never have more than a snow flurry. I highly recommend Iceland in December!

One thing worth mentioning -
We also wish that Kimkim advised us against doing both the Ice cave tour and Glacier Tour. The Ice Cave tour was a disappointment and a waste of money given the glacier hike takes you into an ice crevasse which was absolutely amazing in comparison to the cramped tourist ice "trap" - hole. I requested the Ice cave tour. Caveat - the photos online are three years old. It has since shrunken and is not at all like the images. Ice melts and changes shape!

Overall our 12 days in Iceland were excellent. We did eveything we'd included in our trip specification, although mother nature didn't deliver whales on our Laki cruise or a spectacular northern lights display. However, we did have a magnificent White Christmas experience in Siglufjörður at the Herring House, which was the highlight of the trip for me. Other highlights were:

the dog sledding with Ispiration Iceland as we all got to drive our own sleds instead of just being passengers

our private super jeep tour into Thorsmörk with Iceland Activities which got us places we could have reached by ourselves in our rental car

New Years Eve in Reykjavik with it's joyous anarchic fireworks display laid on by the public.

Apart from some confusion about the quoted price, the service provided by KimKim and their Icelandic partner Wild Westfjords was first class. They proposed an itinerary based on our wish list and made the bookings for us, which I had neither the time nor the local knowledge to do myself. Our trip may have been cheaper if I had arranged it myself, but it wouldn't have been as awesome. The extra money spent organising this trip through KimKim was a good investment in terms of time saved during the planning and booking phase, the travel experience while we were away, and the asdistance provided by Preeti and Halldor of Wild Wesfjords before and during our trip. They even answered questions posed by members of my group which we could have answered ourselves with a quick google search.

Little things did go wrong along the way, like the rental car which didn't come with the ordered GPS, the broken heating in the snow truck which took us on our Into the Glacier trip, which resulted in us spending a couple of hours sitting in a deep freeze passenger cabin in temperatures below -10C, but none of that was the fault of KimKim and Wild Westfjords.

Thank-you KimKim, Preeti and Halldor for our best holiday ever!

We had the most amazing time in Norway. Linda went above and beyond for us and customized the perfect trip for my husband and I and our two young sons (1 & 2). It is probably the best vacation we've ever had. Thank you, Linda!

All of the guides were fabulous. Very knowledgeable and respectful. Most of our tours were in Spanish as requested. Drivers were on time, very courteous and hospitable. Every day on this trip seemed to top the day before. Don't miss the Valley of the Cocora (Wax palms) and a shopping trip through Salento. Staying in the coffee region was a great relaxing time between Bogata and Medellin and provided a feel for the more rural part of the country. Also great was the bike tour of downtown Bogota. Kimkim was attentive and flexible every step of the way. They made our trip! Thank you.

Jules and his colleagues made the trip a wonderful and memorable one. We cannot speak more highly of their guidance, hospitality, support and knowledge.

I could not have asked for a better experience! Mads arranged a perfect 6 day trek for me on short notice and it was absolutely perfect. All details were taken care of and he was extremely responsive and helpful. The entire team I interacted with were amazing, and the guide they paired me with could not have been more helpful and knowledgeable. The entire experience was amazing and one which I can't wait to repeat for a longer period of time. When I do, I'll definitely use Mads again - the service and experience I received were exemplary.

The trip was great! Nathalie was very responsive and tried to accommodate our requests for the trip. Everything from the hotel to the events for la Feria went extremely well and I would recommend travelers use this service. Especially first time travelers.

When Dimple and I first made our booking we had so many reservations about taking our two boys (9yrs and 5yrs) on a trekking adventure in Nepal. Both have grown up in Singapore and never been on any long walks nor seen that much of the developing world. With so many questions going through our head, being able to reach out to Ngima and the staff at Kim Kim in preparation for our trip, was just ideal. We were able to ask questions and get answers pretty much around the clock - everyone was so responsive.
The trek itself was everything we wanted it to be. Some of it was incredibly challenging for the children - especially the night climb to see the sunrise at Poonhill - in hindsight, I think we might have done better to have opted out of the night hike to let the boys recover from the previous day's exertions. In any case, Ngima and his team, took everything in their stride - including being so patient with our boys and then ensuring that they were safe throughout. In fact, I don't think I remember a time when the boys didn't have a chaperone during any part of the trek - and when they were ever too tired or not quite up to it, the porters would haul them on to their backs and help them along. The boys struck up a really nice friendship with the team and really enjoyed themselves.
So, all in all, it was a fantastic trip and a fantastic experience. Thank you Kim Kim - all of us can't wait to return for another circuit!
Dipak, Dimple and our two boys: Ishaan and Zayan
X

All the arrangements were great and professional. Medellin was the highlight. All tour guides were knowledgeable and professional.

This was an amazing trip. Everything in detailed arranged. So many different experiences. Guides were excellent.
The highlight of our holiday was Bagan, on the ebike. So beautiful.

12/20 our driver is very nice and did a good job driving us to our destination.
12/22 our driver came with a very old pick up truck, for the price we contract and discription from our agent we should have professional driver with Duster car brand, the driver not only driving super fast on winding road also passing car frequently, we were so worry all the way, the car does not come with air condition, we were suffer from the bad air, dust plus very hot, it was a very uncomfortable trip. We will not recommend this car company for future customer.
12/24 our pick and hotel pick are ok.
12/26 our tour with driver and guide are good.
12/27 airport pick up is good
12/31 we were waiting for airport pick up , when the time passed hotel front desk call Nathalie and found out there was no pick up , we paid and schedule for the pick up, Nathalie didn’t confirm for us and kept us waiting , luckily front desk checked for us and hurry arrange a taxi for us, so far I have not receiving any explanation from Nathalie, iwouldliketo request refund and apology for almost missed our flight.
Fran lee

We had a great experience with kimkim. We were three generations wanting to do different things. Sotiria helped us figure out options and set it up so the grandparents settled in Reykjavik while parents and kids did a two day excursion into other parts of Iceland. The snorkeling in Silfra was the best adventure of the trip. We checked out all the highlights created for our tour, and following the suggestion booked some time at the Secret Lagoon which warmed us up after snorkeling. Another highlight was being at the the black beach at Vik for sunrise. All in all a spectacular trip!

We really enjoyed our trip to Myanmar. Our guide in Yangon, Jin, met us at the airport and was so courteous, informational, and helpful. We especially appreciated his help when we went to get on our night bus, he stayed until we were at the right bus and all checked in ready to go. In Bagan, our guide Wint picked us up right at the bus stop. She had arranged for us to be able to check into our hotel early for a shower and breakfast, SO NICE. She was very friendly and took us to the main temples, but also to some of her favorites, which was so personal and wonderful. In Mandalay, Tim told us not only about the temples, but also about life in Myanmar and how things are changing or not changing. We really were interested to hear about the life and culture of Myanmar beyond the general Buddhism of the temples history. In Inle, our guide Koko was still waiting for us after our night bus got stuck in traffic - he waited from 3:30am when we arrived at 9:30 am! He took us to the Pindaya caves and to Inle Lake. When tummy sickness changed the end of our trip, our local planner, Wai Lin, was very helpful and able to arrange for Jin to pick us up again at the airport, instead of the night bus as planned. Jin even took us out for another visit in Yangon before going back to our departure at the international airport. Overall the trip was very well planned, the accommodations were excellent, and the local guides in each place were superb!

Thank you Marine for all of the calls to check up on us. When our guide handed the phone to me, I knew it was Marine and could talk to her about how things were going.

Guides and transfers:
Every guide and transfer showed up on time or early. We soon learned that this country runs on time. Our first transfer was not an exception but was a bit of a shock when they arrived 30 min early and we were not quite ready. This happened to be the only bus trip we had.

The guides who stood out as exemplary were: Elvis at Calanoa, Fernando at Villa de Leyva, and David and driver who picked us up at Hacienda Combia. David and the driver (sorry, can't remember his name) were so much fun and went out of their way to make our stay excellent.

The one exception to all of the good guides was the one at Tayrona. He told us at the beginning we had to keep up with him as we had a long trip and that's exactly how it was. When my foot got stuck in the mud he was far ahead and not there to help, he never slowed down or stopped to interact with us, when we passed buildings he didn't stop to explain what they were. We had to keep our heads down to keep up the pace while still looking ahead to keep him in our sight. Not a fun trip!

Hotels:
Loved Casa Pizarro in Cartegena and the area it was in. Really liked staying in a residential area with lots of restaurants nearby.
Maloka Barlovento was so beautiful. Would have loved to stay there another day so we could see the beach. We only had time to see the building we stayed in. Bit of a shock to find only cold water shower. This may be normal here, but this is not normal for us. Maybe a heads up would have helped.
Posada Suenos De Antonio in Barichara was lovely and peaceful. Really liked the patio and view.
Casa Deco in Bogota was in a good location but our room overlooked a hostel and could be noisy.
Calanoa Lodge was excellent! The food was superb, our cabana was superb, and all of our interactions with staff (even if we didn't speak Spanish) was superb!

Hacienda Combia had a lovely setting, but was the big disappointment of the trip. When we arrived I asked for water and was told that it was only supplied with dinner. All other hotels had water accessible either in the form of the first bottle free or a fill up station. Seeing as we could not use the water from the tap to even brush our teeth, this was a major drawback to this isolated hotel.
We asked for a glass of wine with our dinner and were told that they did not have this and we could buy an overpriced bottle.
The food was the most disappointing. We spoke with them about the selection and they added a couple of things to the menu, but this didn't really help. Really, really disappointed in 4 dinners here and no option to go elsewhere. The meals we were offered were a stripped down version of the regular menu.
We didn't feel welcomed here.

We loved Colombia and would like to thank kimkim.com and Marine for making it such a memorable trip. We will definitely recommend the country and booking company to anyone who will listen.

Fantastic trip- we loved the reindeer sledding and Sami experience which we wouldn’t have thought of. Northern lights chasing was great, although small hitch when the bus would not start. Dog sledding camp and the lavoo were great, but there was confusion about whether or not we were driving or riding. We would also have liked to have more time dog sledding, as we were only out for about an hour. All of the providers were professional with small groups and great guides. We really liked the hotel, which had great free breakfast and was in a convenient location.

This trip to Italy was amazing. Giorgia did a fabulous job arranging everything, responded to emails quickly and efficiently! We had some issues with our flights getting changed multiple times, and Giorgia was amazing, kept in contact with us and our driver and our driver was there to meet us when we finally got there. My daughter especially liked the guide (whose name I can't remember) for the city tour of Florence, she took us to several churches, told us about art (my daughter is a artist so was especially happy) and history and we just had the best day! Seeing David was really the best part of the day! The next day we went to Pisa and Lucca, Simone, our driver was fabulous. He was funny and interactive, and made the trip driving seem really short. The hotel was perfect, Hotel Basteri was perfectly located within easy walking distance of everything. All in all this was a perfect trip for my daughter - it was a surprise for her 26 birthday!

Ian has provided me with a really good service and information.

Also thank to Larbi, his partner in Morocco for arranging the trip. I got to visit lots of places in my short amount of time.

Since I am a solo traveler, the amount they’ve given me to explore each city is adequate.

Within 5 days 4 night, I’m able to discover Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes, Volubilis, Fez, and Chefchaouen. Also a short city tour in Ouezzane.

If I added 1 more day, I’m sure I’ll be able to discover Marakkech as well. But for now, northern Morocco is more than enough.

Thank you so much for everything, Ian and Larbi

We wanted an Amazon Jungle experience and Nathalie recommended Calanoa Reserve.
We booked a 2 night 3 day trip. We were very unsure as to what to expect.
Before the trip Nathalie was very helpful and answered all our questions very promptly.
The trip itself was absolutely amazing! And exceeded all our expectations- it was as Nathalie had described- but we didn’t expect it to be so good!!
The accommodation was beautiful - we had a double bed in the ground floor and twin beds on first floor and a private bathroom.
The staff were amazing - the cooks, the organisers and the guides - all so helpful and couldn’t do enough for us.
It was easy to swap activities around and add extras. The whole 3 days worked like clockwork - such a slick operation- very impressive.
We saw pink river dolphins (and grey), went pirhana fishing, went to a monkey orphanage, indigenous village, forest walk in day and night, early morning bird watching and watched the sun set over the Amazon...... incredible!!
Food was good (lots of fish!).
We would highly recommend Calanoa Reserve and the services of Nathalie at KimKim. Nothing went wrong so we didn’t need to contact her during the trip - but it was reassuring to have her number just in case.
Thank you Nathalie for your recommendation and help with the booking.

The trek was amazing! What was even more amazing was my guide. I was quite ill on the first day - but Parbati was so understanding and patient with me from the outset and made sure I was at ease. On the second and third days, she pushed me to do better than I thought I could and I really appreciated this. The greatest part was that towards the end she was less of my guide and more of my friend whilst still maintaining a professional and courteous relationship. Hats off to her and the Social tours team for providing such an incredible experience for me!!