Kimkim Trip Reviews

What a great trip. Morocco is a beautiful country and our fabulous driver Mohammed made us feel comfortable, safe, and right at home. Our first stop at the beautiful Hassan II Mosque was really incredible. We had not had a chance to change our money and Mohommed, without hesitation, gaves us some money and said not to worry until we get to a bank. That was above and beyond and we really appreciated it. We travelled to 8 cities in 18 days. Mohammed was always close by and always offered his services in the evening if we needed him. The local guides in each city were very good and I highly recommend you do them to get the lay of the land and go to special places you otherwise may not have seen. The riads we stayed in were really nice. Our favourites were Casa Lila in Essaouira, Riad La Clé De Fès in Fes, La Petite Chefchaouen, and our favourite Riad Kalaa 2 in Rabat. The Sahara dessert camel ride and overnight through Hotel Yasmina in Merzouga was excellent. Our cooking class in Marrakech was so much fun. The people in Morocco are very friendly, kind, and always helpful. We ate in some fantastic restaurants and the experience in Marrackech's central square was crazy fun and very memorable. Our home is now adhorned by wool carpets, ceramics, jewellery and hand made wooden items. All in all our trip was fantastic and highly recommend Brahim and his team to provide you with an unforgettable trip to Morocco!

I wasn’t sure what to expect as this was my first trip to the Philippines and my first experience with kimkim. The trip more than met my expectations and frankly, I was blown away. Leo from Uncharted Earth kept in touch, answered my questions, and made and adjusted arrangements quickly and graciously. He sent photos, bios and cell numbers for everyone I would be guided by in the Philippines so I knew who was supposed to be meeting me. While in the Manila area the guides, Don-Don, EJ and Jhon were fun, friendly and knowledgeable. They helped me try new foods and I had a great time seeing the sights. I seriously underestimated the effects of heat and humidity and they adjusted accordingly, cheering me on and helping me out at Taal Volcano, Laguna Waterfalls and the boat ride down the rapids. We also saw historical buildings in the area. All must-see excursions. The Bayleaf hotel was also nice while in Manila. Ana Santos from Uncharted Earth was always available throughout my tour modifying travel plans and getting another driver for me when plans changed at the last minute; a flight was cancelled so that she had to fix my stay at the hotel and transportation. The only time I had problems the hotel was supposed to arrange transportation; I called Ana and she fixed that, too. While in Donsol, Donsol Eco Tours and Elysia Hotel were wonderful, adjusting for the change in flights cheerfully, the food was grand and I highly recommend the firefly boat ride, Krishna was a great guide. I would highly recommend Donsol Eco Tours and the Elysia Hotel for anyone seeing the area. While in Palawan, Stephen Tuboc showed me the sights and arranged my island hopping schedule so that I missed the crowds at each stop, the boat crew provided an amazing meal, as good as any restaurant, right there on the beach- heaven. They even managed our time so that I got to see a magical little enclosed lagoon all by myself. Truly a mind-blowing day. The Atremaru hotel was also wonderful, peaceful and felt like you were really living in the jungle. I would highly recommend Stephen as a guide, really knowledgeable. Everywhere I went the scenery was amazing, food was wonderful and I’m sure it was because Uncharted Earth did such a good job selecting the tours and lodgings. If I’ve forgotten anyone, I apologize. Two huge thumbs up.

Everything was fantastic, we did the W trek, it went flawlessly. Would highly recommend this service.

Right from the start Elina was excellent at helping to plan our trip . Elina and Gareth always responded quickly to our questions and were very helpful in providing us with information from what clothing to wear to what camera to buy.
Our trip was amazing from start to finish . Gareth picked us up in Kittila and drove us to Ylläs and Kilpisjärvi , then on to Tromso. Our accommodation were beautiful cabins in the woods (exactly what I had asked for ). Our activities, snowmobiling, dog sledding, reindeer farm , snow shoe walks and Northern Lights hunting were all fabulous. Gareth personally took us on 3 fantastic snow shoe walks which were unexpected highlights . His enthusiasm for Lapland is infectious and he is great company . Gareth guided us on 4 Northern Lights chases. He helped our daughter with her camera and taking the Northern Lights pictures , which we saw 4 nights out of 6 and every night we went looking . Gareth looked after us , took us to the supermarket, lent us bigger boots and ‘grandma’s ‘ knitted socks to help keep us warm. He was totally focused on making our experience as wonderful as it could be .
Thank you Gareth and Elina for an unforgettable stay in Beautiful Finnish Lapland .

The trip was well-planned by KimKim staff, and was very enjoyable. The few snags we ran into were quickly corrected. Randall was very attentive.

We especially enjoyed our time in Monteverde, perhaps because the chilly wind and clouds are what we're accustomed to in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The day at Selvatura was fabulous - the nature hike, led by Juan, introduced us to many plants and symbiotic systems. Zip-lining was fabulous (team of about a dozen energetic guides). Grace and Renzo were excellent hosts at El Viandante, and gave very helpful advice on getting around the town.

We also enjoyed the hike at Volcan Arenal, led by Esteban. Our driver kindly stopped the van on the drive there so we could see howler monkeys and coati. Jimmy, another driver, was happy to answer our many questions, and he stopped so we could see a sloth up close at a produce stand. The chocolate-making tour and Proyecto Asis were interesting (guides Kyle (?) and Hector, respectively).

At Manuel Antonio we loved seeing all the animals right outside our hotel room. We never tired of watching iguanas and birds. Our tour of the national park, on Christmas Day, was too crowded to properly enjoy it. Our guide, Milo, was very good.

Rancho Corcovado was complicated. Our itinerary did not specify how we were to get from Sierpe to Rancho Corcovado, and our driver did not know where to leave us. When he learned where we would be staying, he knew which of the two boat landings we needed to get to. But we didn't know when our boat would arrive or how to recognize it. Between Randall's help and a call to the hotel, we got there. Boating on the river was pleasant, but getting through the surf was scary and unexpected (it took the driver two tries to make it through the waves). The hotel room had either no hot water, or scalding water. Sometimes no water at all. The food was very good, the trip to P. N. Corcovado was wonderful (Luis was an excellent guide) and the snorkeling was spectacular (excellent guides - Carol and a woman whose name I did not catch). There was an upsetting incident one night when angry people visited our next-door neighbors. All in all, the trip to Corcovado involved very good times and the least pleasant times, as well.

Our drivers were all good - Ricardo, Christian, Andres. The Hotel Don Carlos was a lovely secluded place in San Jose. We found a very good lunch at Cafe Rojo near the hotel, and spent a pleasant morning at Zoologico y Jardin Botanico Nacional.

A fantastic trip!
My guide Lhakpa was brilliant. Really appreciated his experience and sense of humour, particularly when compared to other guides along the way.
Will definately do this again with Lhakpa next year!
Thank you very much.

We had Mingmar, Dawn and Dorze on our trip. They were nothing short of amazing. We were very pleased with their knowledge and expertise.

Our Ednza tour with Juan was great,he was very informative,friendly,and went out of his way to take lots of group pictures for us too!...It was beautiful, and I would defiantly recommend this guided tour....Great Job!!!! Tom

It was a wonderful experience. Mario & team assisted us to customise our trip to the needs of my 4yr old and 65yrs+ parents.
We were a bit pressed for time but our stay in Florence was the best.
Guide Paulo at Rome was very thorough and detailed at all the various historic sites.
Was a great trip.
One thing to note was at some point there was not transport arranged n we were a bit confused about it. Nonetheless arranging ourselves was not tough.

Carmelo arranged an eBike tour for us in Tuscany, starting in San Gimignano, through to Siena and up to Montalcino. We finished it off with a couple of days on Lake Como. This was fabulous, and Carmelo organised everything perfectly. The bikes were waiting for us when we arrived, with very easy to follow route instructions. Drivers were there to pick up and carry our bags between towns when they said they be there. The accommodation Carmelo selected was perfect and the cycling route was exquisite - through rolling Chianti hills, with relatively little traffic. I can't recommend both KimKim and Carmelo enough.

Life changing experience,

From the moment I arrived at the Nattrip lodge I knew it was going to be a great experience. Lucas and Guilherme ( the guides ) were very welcoming and even shared some of their home cooked diner. The trekking started the next day, and I have to say, the trekking days were absolutely amazing!! Both guides were very knowledgeable, caring and fun. The trek can be physically demanding at some points, but worth every effort. Actually most of the time it felt effortless due to the great company and beautiful surroundings. I saw two sunsets and two sunrises, which do not compare to any I’ve seen before. Furthermore, the guides were very good at adjusting the trek to fit our physical limits. For us this resulted in two ‘bonus’ tracks with amazing panoramic views (which I would have never seen without a guide!!). I would definitely recommend this trek to anyone. Above all, I would recommend to go with Nattrip. You will learn a lot about the surroundings, feel safe and looked after, have some nicely cooked food at diner and breakfast.

I made friends, saw amazing views, but most off all I felt alive during the whole experience. Consider me coming back for more adventures!

Overall great experience. Very organized. Good communication along the way.
Only guide was Sandra. Great several hours touring Buenos Aires.
Small tweaks. Highlight cost of national parks and that it is cash only.
Acknowledge that AM tours may be late because of multiple pickups. Important to be ready however less stress if you know that last pickup may be 30 minutes after set time.
Note actual length of bus rides.
I would combine the two itineraries provided.
Overall well put together trip.

We had a wonderful experience booking through KimKim and Adriana for our 10-day Honeymoon to Costa Rica! Adriana was professional, responsive and accommodating. We wanted a mix of adventurous yet relaxing, cultural but touristy, romantic but casual, and Adriana planned THE perfect vacation for us. My only hiccup was not receiving our arrival packets 2 days before our departure, as noted, but someone else from the KimKim team stepped up and responded to our message stating that Adriana out of the office. Those thoughts when booking through a website always pop into your head, "What if no one shows to pick us up? What if this is too good to be true?", but we truly felt both safe and taken care of upon arrival - in the shuttles, at the hotels and everywhere in between. We flew into San Jose with an overnight stay, then spent 2 nights in La Fortuna, 2 nights in Monteverde and 3 nights in Manuel Antonio. During our trip we hiked a volcano, swam in a natural hot spring, went ziplining, took a sunset/snorkling catamaran, visited a National Park and somehow still had plenty of time to sit by the pool and ocean to rest. Our activities were perfectly spaced out, allowing us enough time to not feel rushed with travel, check-in or excursions. Our transportation to and from the airport as well as to each city and excursion was timely, professional and labeled with their respective companies. Some of our favorite parts of the trip were simply traveling between cities! Our guides were knowledgeable, fun and even gave us suggestions for local cuisine and hang out spots. Thank you to KimKim & Adriana for helping us create such a memorable trip, we will be booking again in the near future!

We are one couple that were from a group of 10 but we did not have any part of the planning we simply were part of the group, others in our group did the planning and therefore had all the interactions with the team.
We were greeted at the departure from the cruise ship by Mauricio Masserano and spent the majority of 4 days with him touring the wineries of Chile. His English is impeccable and he has a very broad understanding of the wineries. He took us to lots of wineries that had different and unique places for example each day would be at least three wineries that had totally different ways of making wines. We visited some really great wineries and Mauricio chose different luncheons at very unique places that were all very delicious.
He and the driver left us at our hotel and the next day we had a father and son that gave us a tour of Santiago and took us to the airport for our flights home. They were both very knowledgeable with the City of Santiago and we enjoyed our day immensely. They also chose a very unique restaurant that was truly a great experience.

Mohamid our guide was early which we appreciated and was a very nice person. On getting in the very back of the vehicle I put my hand on the back seat nearest the window and it collapsed and on the way it collapsed more.
Our guide stopped on the way to go in the Mosque and pray.
When we arrived at the place to let the tyres down for the sand dunes we were pestered to buy something from the shop. The people there then propped up the seat with breeze block bricks. One of our male party needed the toilet which was a disgrace and advised us not to use it as it was flooded and blocked. We arrived at our destination and then we were told we would have to pay for the meal someone came and saw us and asked for the paperwork then gave us a ticket to say we had paid for it. If there had not been six of us I would have found this very daunting but we had a good laugh although I felt guilty about everything that went wrong as I had booked it.

Regards

Carole Perry

My guide, Solomon, was always on time and knowledgeable about a site. I was walking on a sore foot and he was sure to help me navigate all steps. However, I had some difficulty understanding his English but I have hearing aids and had trouble understanding many of the Sri Lankans, so I don't know if it was his English or my lack of hearing well. My major complaint was that we had arranged for me to meet a friend of mine in Colombo on the last day of the private tour and we never made it to Colombo on time to meet him. I really felt that Solomon did this on purpose as I got the impression that he thought my friend was my Gate 1 guide before my private tour and that my friend was encroaching on his territory. Actually, it was someone I had met on a tour in Europe and who had convinced me to visit Sri Lanka. To meet him again was to be a highlight of my time in Sri Lanka and I was very disappointed. Solomon did not know that a boat from Delft Island was canceled, so we had to wait two hours for another boat to leave. He said that there was no place to eat lunch on the island so I was starving but he did find a place that I could buy some cookies. The Big Game Camp was recommended as a place to stay. It was the worse overnight accommodations that I have had anywhere--a tent that was too dark even during the day and the worse place to rearrange items for my flights home the next day. I was not told in advance that the scheduled trip to see the dolphins would require leaving the camp at 5 a.m. in the dark from the dark tent and the trip would have been on a fishing boat, which my friend had warned me was unsafe. I decided to not go on it, which resulted in having my last day on the tour just driving around. The boats going to and from Delft Island was enough of an experience already as they were far from being tourist boats. All in all, my private tour of Northern Sri Lanka was quite an experience, an adventure, though I wish that it had worked out a bit better.

Our experience using KimKim to book our trip to Colombia was amazing. It saved us time and made our trip run smoothly and painless.

Sharon was our guide in Bogota and she was very knowledgeable and gave us great recommendations for things to do or places to eat after our tours were over. We really enjoyed the trip up to Monserrate and eating the delicious food in Paloquemao market.

Juan Carlos was our guide for 2 days in Medellin and we had a great time. He went above and beyond and added in a few stops between our tours to show us more of the city.

In Cartagena we had a great guide who answered all our questions and even took us to a grocery store when we needed to grab a few items.

We are already set up with kimkim to book our next vacation to South Africa, we hope that we get the same great service we received from all the ladies in Colombia from kimkim.

I planned my very first trip to Africa (specifically Uganda) using kimkim and I could not be happier with the outcome. I was picked up at the Entebbe airport upon my arrival and dropped again at the airport after 3 weeks to fly back, and in between I had quite a few memorable adventures which I will remember for the rest of my life.
Uganda is a wonderful country full of natural parks, lakes, and wild animals, but I should say the most amazing part of my trip was interacting with Ugandan people on different parts of the country. Ugandans are extremely warm and friendly and no matter on which part of the country you see them, they always greet you with warmth and smile and I should emphasize once again that having the opportunity to travel around the country and meeting these wonderful people has been the highlight of my trip.
I had a wonderful and knowledgable guide (Paul Buzinde) who drove me around the country for 21 days. He knew all the roads in the country, the name of all the birds we encountered in the natural parks, and most importantly made utmost effort to make the trip as smooth and enjoyable as possible. I want to use this opportunity to thank Paul for making this trip a memorable experience for me.
If you're interested in visiting Uganda, 3 weeks of road trip should take you to most of the places that tourists generally visit, but if you want to plan a shorter trip then there are some places that in my idea you should definitely visit. In no particular order they are:
1) Kidepo Valley National Park - Many visitors don't go to this place since it's in a pretty remote area but I think a trip to Uganda should definitely include visiting this wonderful natural park. I visited some 6 national parks in Uganda and by far Kidepo was the most beautiful of them because it has a very open savannah where you can see miles and miles of grasslands with overwhelming beauty. Most of my wildlife sightings also happened to be in Kidepo. In addition, since not many people travel to this park, you might easily happen to have the whole park to yourself, which was the case with me while doing my safari. Keep in mind that traveling to Kidepo will also take you through the remote northeast region of Uganda which is home to Karamojong tribe. Consider this as an added bonus in traveling to Kidepo.
2) Murchison Falls National Park - You will not see hippos and crocodiles in Kidepo but there are plenty of them in Murchison, the views of Nile river is just breathtaking, and hiking to the top of the Murchison Falls and seeing the drop from the top is just an amazing experience.
3) Gorilla tracking in Bwindi National Park - Much have already been said about this elsewhere, but I have to emphasize again that tracking gorillas and spending an hour with them is truly, truly a remarkable experience. If you plan to do only one thing in Uganda, this is it.
4) Lake Bunyonyi - Serene, beautiful lake with plenty of isolated islands scattered on top of it. You will have the opportunity to hike on the hillsides surrounding the lake and interact with local people living on the hillsides.
I would have liked to spend more time visiting the villages on the road but unfortunately this is something which I didn't think about before planning my trip. I suggest for anybody who plans to visit Uganda to consider a couple village walks in different regions of the country, specially in the Karamojong region. It will be a wonderful experience.

Thanks to Kimkim our W trek was amazing. Diana was fantastic in all sense. She responded promptly and made changes to our itinerary as required.

Only one suggestion, which is for fantastic sur, on day we could have stayed in Frances, day 3 Paine Grande which would have made things a bit better in terms of covering more.

We will definitely come back to Kimkim for our next Chilean and Argentina adventure

Thanks,
Pre and Elisabeth

I can definitely recommend the trip that was organised for me by Clara (and others).

- All communication was prompt and easy.
- Every single transfer/pick up was bang on time. This I thought very impressive given I had so many of them! Not once was I left waiting at all. That is obviously comforting when you are travelling alone.
- The itinerary was very well spaced out, not too much, not too little. It was nice to have a little bit of down time, especially in the Sol y Luna Hotel which was absolutely magnificent.
- All of the hotels that were booked for me were excellent.
- All of the tour guides were great company in their own unique way. All really friendly and knowledgeable.

Tips for improvement.

I can only think of two tips whereby the trip could be made even better. Hopefully these tips will benefit future travellers.

- I was booked on a horse riding activity ( I am a novice). The guides were fantastic, the horses were fantastic and the scenery was just incredible. My tip here however is that a novice such as me would be better served riding for say 2 hours/half a day. The ride I was on was an all day affair and the terrain very challenging. The guides conceded that the difficulty level was high. Having checked my iPhone, I believe I clocked up something like 28km's! It was an awesome experience without question, it just needed to better reflect my ability level.
- This tip relates to the amount of time spent in Machu Picchu town (Aguas Calientes). I saw Machu Picchu itself in the morning (absolutely fantastic) leaving me the afternoon to explore the town in the afternoon and evening. I wasn't booked to leave the town until around 4.00pm the next day. If that departure can be moved forward in the day, you would get to enjoy more of Cusco (I arrived at approximately 8.00pm that night).

Many thanks once again to Clara and the entire team. I would absolutely recommend this company.