Kimkim Trip Reviews

I did a Poon Hill + Annapurna Sanctuary trek, travelling alone (besides my guide and porter). Incidentally, this was my first trekking experience. Prior to my trip, Ngima was very prompt in helping me craft (and re-craft a couple of times) an itinerary that suited what I wanted, as well as answering any queries I might have. He helped made planning for my trip as stress-free as it could possibly get, while still retaining autonomy over my plans.
A typical day on the trek involved walking (that is, climbing up and down) through varied scenery, from lush bamboo forests to mountain-flanked snowfields, stopping for a leisurely mid-morning tea and lunch along the way. Most days, we reached our resting lodge for the night by around 3pm, and the rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, chatting with fellow travellers, all over a pot of brewed tea. It is worth pointing out that I went in winter, meaning the flowers are not in bloom, but, in my opinion, that is more than made up for by the fact that there is a smaller crowd on the trails and in the lodges. The visual highlights of the trek are undoubtedly the 7000s-8000s giants, whether they be shyly peeking out from behind lesser mountains (or hills, as they call them in Nepal), laid out in a stunning vista at Poonhill, or subsequently transformed into a panoramic amphitheatre at Annapurna Base Camp. For an urbanite like me, the chance to slow down one’s pace, escape from the bustle and grind – not to mention digital spam – of city life, and just live in the moment, all the while soaking in nature, was incredibly rejuvenating.
Credit must also go to my guide Pemba and my porter Pasang, who attended to my every need – voiced or otherwise (requests for extra blankets, tea and meal orders etc). Importantly, I did not once felt rushed, Pemba encouraging me to take my time, set my own pace and just enjoy the journey. (Too many trekkers seemed to forget to do just that, too focussed as they were on the endpoint.) Pemba has also been very helpful in customising the itinerary on the fly based on the pace we were making. Besides all these, through the chats we had, and their easy-going, quick-to-laugh nature, I felt I had experienced a bit of Nepali culture and Sherpa warmth and good cheer. Pemba and Pasang have grown to be friends to me, whom I hope to trek with again in future.

My trip to Nicaragua was outstanding and in large part due to Lucia. She was perfect from my initial research into Nicaragua until my last day of the trip. I told her how many days I wanted to travel, the things I like to do and the accommodations I prefer. She sent me a very detailed itinerary and it was everything I wanted to do. Her communication was clear and she always answered my emails right away. Once I got to Nicaragua - everything was always easy. Drivers were always on time, tour guides were knowledgeable and each guided tour was fascinating. I spent time in León, Granada, Ometepe Island and San Juan del Sur - always getting a safe ride from place to place. My guides for each on of the adventures all spoke English and were a wealth of information about the culture, history, flora and fauna of Nicaragua. I hiked up Madera Volcano and lost my guide on the way down (totally my fault - I went ahead and took a wrong turn) - I called Lucia from the trail, have her my google map pin of where I was (her idea) and eventually got back with my guide. She was on top of everything and it made my trip to Nicaragua one I will never forget.

Trip was 12 days (month of March) for a family of four including two teenage girls. We flew in and out of Liberia and spent time in Rio Celeste, La Fortuna/Arenal, Monte Verde, Nosara and then just north of Tamarindo. Yenyi was fantastic in helping to plan the itinerary and activities from the beginning to the very end with a wonderful attention to detail. It was an interactive process and Yenyi's patience, resourcefulness and willing to answer or investigate all o four questions was a wonderful asset. Our family trip was an activity packed adventure by choice that included hiking, swimming, waterfalls, rainforest, volcanoes, zip lining, jet skis, canopy bridges, white water rafting, surfing, fishing and driving Costa Rica's roads the entire way (SUV w/ 4WD required). A truly fantastic and memorable experience with most activities organized by Desafio - a first class company whose guides and staff were wonderful to interact with - highly recommend both Desafio and kimkim for planning your next visit to CR.

Our first trip to Ecuador was breath-taking to say the least. Galapagos has been on my bucket list for a long time and it was an exhilarating experience. Every island we visited was different and unique. It was impossible to get bored on the islands. Places like Los Tunales, the beach on Isabela island, and the ride on "Windrose" yacht are permanently etched in my memory.

Our trip was for 12 days, including 2 days for traveling. We spent 4 days in mainland Ecuador and 6 on Galapagos. In retrospect, we would have spent at least 1 day less in mainland and more time on Galapagos. Historical Quito, Mitad Del Mundo, Otavalo and Cotopaxi were good places to visit on mainland. Ideally, I would have loved more time in Otavalo instead of visiting some local waterfalls. Even Cuicocha lagoon was hyped up as a lake with active volcanic bubbles, but it was a major let down. All the places we visited on Galapagos were wonderful and given more time, we would have loved to visit more islands. The speed boat ride from Puerto Ayora to Isabela island was the bumpiest ride ever and there was not a single person on the boat who didn't come out without a queasy stomach. FYI, a one-way ferry ride costs $30 and lasts 2.5 hours. A plane trip costs $135 and lasts 30 mins. In the large scheme of things, we might have just selected the plane trip instead of enduring the bumpiest boat ride of our lives.

Linda was extremely informative and knowledgeable about Ecuador. She was great at setting our expectations and answering our questions promptly. Our local guides were a collective mix. Jorge (George), our guide on land, was great, but provided info that was less engaging for the kids. On Galapagos, our guide to Los Tunales, Sebastian, stole the show. He was patient, funny and knew a lot about the local area and habitats. While snorkeling, he ensured we all saw the key pieces without rushing . He walked with my mom, who is 72 years old, at her pace guiding her on the rocks etc. Overall, a great experience with him. All the other guides were decent.

As a group of 9, finding hotel rooms together was a big challenge. In most places, we didn't have rooms near each other. They were almost always on different floors, which was a logistical headache. In Quito, our hotel, Cruz Loma, didn't have elevators and it was painful to trudge up 4 flights of stairs with suitcases. Unfortunately, they didn't offer help with our luggage nor did they heed our request for rooms on lower floors. The hotels on Galapagos islands were normal 3-star places. Nothing too fancy to write about. Again, no elevators, but the staff helped our with our stuff. Breakfast was included for all our days, but 10 days of eating nothing but eggs, bread, yogurt and juice got too tiring. I wish they would provide a bit more variety, even if we had to pay for it.

Overall, this was a once in a lifetime trip and one that we will recall for many years to come. Thanks to Linda and Kimkim for helping us with this vacation !

We booked a week long trip to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato through Totonal Viajes (via KimKim) and were so pleased with the attention to detail and positive experience throughout -- from our friendly airport transfer to our exclusive tours with Maria in San Miguel de Allende, and with Susana and Antonio in Guanajuato.

Jorge, our agent, did a wonderful job of accommodating our group during a very busy travel time. Our hotels were perfectly located, and our local experiences were all so well curated. It's clear we were dealing with someone who knows how to share the magic of travel and Mexico's culture with visitors! And Jorge stayed in touch during our trip, checking in via WhatsApp. I would definitely book with Totonal Viajes on KimKim again.

Jamileh was our guide and we loved her. She offered information and insight that we couldn’t have found in a book. Jamileh let us set the pace when walking, but made sure we saw everything we were promised.
Our driver Hassan was so nice and helpful too. We definitely could not have driven in Jordan, having a driver was a must!
The country of Jordan was beautiful, the natural landscapes were breathtaking. The ruins and sites we visited were truly “once in a lifetime “ moments.
Raisa was great to work with, she answered my questions promptly and provided reassurance about our trip.
We loved our trip to Jordan!
Nathalie Leifermann

First and foremost, we LOVED kimkim. My boyfriend and I were so skeptical at first, but our local specialist, Tasos created a plan and a trip to Greece that was truly amazing.

In the beginning stages of communication, I shared with him that we were very into food and wine, and love "off the beaten track" type sites. Tasos put together a few different itineraries for us, and we were able to pick and choose what looked most interesting to us. We were able to completely customize our trip to our liking.

Tasos worked incredibly hard until the last minute providing us up-to-date changes (we traveled during the holidays, so some forms of transportation were hard to book), but he assured us that everything would be in place for us at an affordable cost!

When we first arrived in Athens, we were greeted by a driver at the airport. He drove us to our first hotel and within an hour, Tasos came to greet us! He walked us around a little and gave us tips. From that point on, he gave us flight and ferry confirmations, and we easily were able to send email messages if we had any questions. He was super quick to respond, and we never at any point in time felt helpless or unsure about what to expect.

Tasos arranged lunches, dinners, tours and transportation for us to every place we went. It was so comforting to know that there was always going to be someone waiting for us when planned.

This service and Tasos made our trip to Greece unforgettable. I would have never been able to plan this on my own, and I felt like we were treated like royalty everywhere we went. Every detail was taken care of, and we were able to fully enjoy every aspect without any worry. I highly recommend working with Tasos for your trip to Greece!! He was incredible.

More details about the tours/accommodations/meals:
In Athens, we stayed at the Pi Athens Suites. The room was big and clean and our concierge was incredibly helpful, and even called a restaurant for us to make a reservation one night. We were greeted with a complementary bottle of wine, and were able to watch the sunset on the roof deck with a spectacular view of the Acropolis!! It was located in a very convenient area, walking distance from everything.

360 Restaurant: Amazing first meal in Athens with another amazing view of the Acropolis. The service was wonderful and the food was too.

Alternative Athens Tour (Acropolis and Ancient Athens through a Mythology ): This was a great tour to see all the historical sites of Ancient times. Our tour guide Alexandra was so knowledgeable, and made learning about the history very entertaining and fun. I loved seeing the sites and stopping at a local cafe. It was just long enough, and I learned so much.

Santorini-
We knew that it was going to be the off-season here, but were really interested in seeing the scenery and true nature of the island. There were not a lot of stores or restaurants open in Oia, the village we stayed in, but still was a great experience.
Our tour was guided by Gabriel - it was a Santorini Highlights & Wine Tasting tour. He arrived promptly and drove us around the entire island, telling us stories and teaching us about what life is like for a resident of Santorini. Again, we learned so much! He was hilarious and real, we truly enjoyed our time with him. We had a wine tasting at Santo Winery and again felt like we were treated very special.

Naxos-
We flew from Santorini to Naxos and arrived in the evening. We stayed at the Xenia Hotel. Again, very clean room and the concierge was amazingly helpful, and also close to everything. We were shortly after greeted by our tour guide, Katerina. She was fun and bubbly, and super knowledgeable of all things Naxos, as she has lived there in a small village for her whole life. She brought us to a cheese shop and taught us about local Naxos cheese and wines, and told us stories about what life is like living there. We went to restaurant 1929, on the waterfront and had an enormous meal. Everything was delicious and service was amazing. We walked around after and she gave us a tip on where to get an after dinner cocktail. We went there and ended our night amazed and happy.

Katerina met us the next day in the morning to show us around the villages of the island. We saw the Temple of Demeter, watched a local spin pottery, and again learned so much. We sampled the islands famous liquor, Citroen, and felt like we had known her forever! Katerina made us feel so welcome and we enjoyed being with her so much. We plan to keep in contact with her as well, and we feel like we met a friend! The only complaint we had was that we did not get to spend more time on this island!! This was by far the best part of our trip. But, we sadly then had to leave Naxos and took a ferry to Crete.

Crete:
We arrived later in the evening and were brought to the Consolato Boutique Hotel. The street looked like a scene out of a movie! The room was by far the best of all the places we stayed and the gentleman in charge was helpful and hilarious, and gave us some great tips on where to go for dinner.
We took a tour of Crete with our tour guide Dimitrios. He drove us around the villages, got to see great views of the mountains, and we visited Dourakis Winery. We loved the winery tour and tasting (I did wish it was later in the day because we were tasting wine before lunch). Regardless, it was enjoyable and amazing still. We visited a local cheese factory where we got to see all the steps to make the local cheeses, visited a bakery, and then were treated to a home cooked meal by some locals at a small tavern. Overall the tour again, was fantastic.

We visited the Botanical Gardens of Crete. Although it is winter, we still enjoyed seeing all the plant life and tropical trees, as well as the animals (there were about 15-20 peacocks there!!) and enjoyed one of the best meals of the trip at the cafe at the gardens.

I literally cannot say enough good things about our trip and Tasos, as well as all the tour guides, restaurants and hotels. We could not have asked for a better trip. It is so hard to even find anything to complain about, or anything we would have changed. We highly recommend using him for your trip to Greece, you will not regret it!

Very responsive service and flexible in helping to make arrangements. Would have preferred a number of alternative suggestions along the way, however. We had a very effective driver for the holiday, though a good tip to note is that a driver does not equal a guide. Be careful of your expectations. Our trip involved lots of driving around and several hours each day (almost) in the car. It might be worth considering asking for "upgrade" options for a more comfortable vehicle, when considering such an itinerary (would also have been nice if the specialist had made such options available).

Anne was incredible! She’s prompt, responsive and professional. I want Anne to plan every one of our trip if possible! Thank you Anne for a wonderful trip!

Randall and Kim Kim planned the perfect trip for my family of myself, my husband and three grown kids. It was just the right mix of adventure, exercise, nature, discovery and relaxation.

We particularly enjoyed the Mistico hanging bridges tour with Carlos (of Pura Vida Tours) near the Arenal Volcano area, which included seeing monkeys, snakes, tarantulas and so much beautiful scenery.

We also really liked our raft trip in that same area with George "2" as our guide from Canoa Aventura. He was a pro at spotting all kinds of wildlife including fascinating birds, monkeys and even a crocodile. He was very knowledgeable and accommodating.

One of my favorite places was Tabacon hot springs. I wish we had gotten there earlier in the day so we could see it in the daylight, but even sitting in the hot river and pools at night was wonderful! I wish I had known to bring water shoes here, the bottom is rocky.

We loved our hotel, Montana de Fuego, with lovely pools, spa and individual bungalows overlooking the volcano. The staff there was very helpful and friendly, especially Veronica.

Our two days in the Monteverde Cloud Forest were also fun and fascinating.
One of our favorite activities was the zip line tour at Selvatura park. Even my husband who is afraid of heights felt secure enough to do the zip lines. This is a huge and very well run operation and even with lots of tourists they moved us through quickly and safely. It was amazing "flying" over the forest. We also took the short butterfly walk there which was interesting and the butterflies were incredibly beautiful and even landed on your hand if you were still enough.

We took a night hike with a guide at the Monteverde Wildlife Reserve and got to see a sloth in (slow) motion thanks to the eagle eye and strong flashlight of our guide there.
Our final day was a nature hike with Javier of Monteverde Experts, and he certainly was one. He knew every tree, every bird, every reptile and again helped us spot a sloth high up in the canopy.

And finally, we took several lovely drives with the Coast to Coast driver, Jose, who navigated very bumpy roads and long distances with a happy attitude and willingness to answer all questions and stop whenever we wanted to take photos.
This was really a fantastic Costa Rican advanture.

Linda was absolutely wonderful. She booked my last minute Galapagos trip . She was eager to help very responsive and knew the area really well. I am grateful for her help and I strongly recommend her to other travelers. Thank you Linda

KimKim really is a great service. Chris (online) listened to what I wanted to see in Iceland and planed things out perfectly. We were on a very short trip — just 4 days, but we got to see everything we wanted and then some. Our actual tour guide Rhenar (hope I'm spelling that correctly) was amazing. He drove the mini van and told us about every location we went. Rhenar really brought Iceland to life for us—telling us all about the volcanic activity, the glaciers, the ego-thermal areas, and so much more. He even entertained us with stories of Icelandic folk-law. He really knew his stuff. Our group was just 13 people—the perfect size. We stopped between sights for amazing photo opps—of course its hard to take a bad picture in Iceland. People say Iceland is expensive—but between Rhenar taking us to get affordable sandwiches for lunch and finding out of the way restaurants in the evening —I'd say it's well worth the trip.

We went to Chile as a honeymooning couple and had an amzing time... Oxana was incredibly helpful and reactive as we changed the plan a few times to incorporate a lot of things we wanted to do. The hotels chosen were brilliant, the lovely Matildas in Santiago and fabulous Altiplanico in San Pedro were comfortable, well equipped and had great levels of service, something we would later appreciate when we stayed elsewhere. We started in Santiago and went on a brilliant day trip with Javiera who showed us around the pretty and historic town of Valparaiso. Her wonderful knowledge of the history, the hotspots and where to find a good cup of coffee were what made it fun. We then went onto the Emiliana vineyard which was definitely the highlight of the day, learning how an organic vineyard works, the lack of pesticides and chemicals and the use of chikcens instead... The wine of course was very decent ! We chose to drive to Calama but were pleased with the pickup and accomodation once there. We had 3 fantastic day trips to the Tatio Geysers, Salt flats and the atacama salt lakes to see the flamingos. Our tour guide Michaelangelo, once again made the difference. Knowledgeable, smart and with a great sense of humour helped us understand where we were and the significance. He was always on the lookout to show us soemthing different, from the wild Chinchillas to Vicuna's and the Condors circling the carcass of an Alpaca. Many thanks to Oxana and the team for helping us map this out and the recommendations.

Linh and Ha were great trip advisors. They put together a great travel plan and stayed in touch our entire trip to ensure all was going well. They even booked a last minute trip during a very busy season that turned out to be a highlight
I highly recommend them

Gem and Migmar provided excellent professional service. There were few problems but when one occurred it was resolved quickly and in a professional manner. Gem was flexible and adapted the schedule to suit my individual needs when required.

This was our first time we booked an entire trip using kimkim. At first we were very skeptical of how this worked, however after reading a variety of reviews by other travelers, different travel blogs we decided to go with it. Clara helped plan a perfect Peru adventure for us. We let her know what our budget was, what kind of hotels we preferred and what kind of itinerary we wanted. In the end, she came up with a plan which worked best for us!
In terms of communication, Clara did a magnificent job. We had all the information we needed for our trip from who will be picking us up, contact numbers, what time we had to wake up for a particular activity etc. She also swiftly responded to all our questions and concerns.

I would highly recommend booking your next vacation on kimkim, let them know whatever your requirements are and you will have a wonderful experience like we did.

Our trip to Colombia took me and my husband to Bogota, Salento, Cocora Valley, Tayrona National Park, and Cartagena. I think what was most striking to us was the multitude of landscapes that exist within the country - mountains, valleys, beaches, tropical forests - it was all very beautiful and steeped in a tradition of ceremony, sustainability, and conservation. We were also impressed with the knowledge of our guides and the variety of their subject matter expertise. One was a world-traveled artist (Camilo in Bogota) who was able to give us a deep, immersive lesson on the famous street graffiti, Botero, gold craftsmanship, along with a brief history on the origins and expansion of the city. Christian, an extroverted and boisterous botanist, was our guide in Salento and Cocora Valley. He knew everyone. And vice versa. We learned a lot about Willys, wax palms, coffee, and Tejo under his watch - he was an attentive guide, ensuring that we were well taken care of...and entertained! Jose was our trusty and tireless guide through the depths of the jungles of Tayrona National Park. He led us to Pueblito one day and the playas the next, providing a history of the pre-Colombus indigenous people and pointing out monkeys, caimans, and sacred rocks without breaking a sweat. In Cartagena, Rafa took us inside the minds of the engineers and architects, pointing out the strategy behind the construction of the fort and the wall. He also took us through the Old City neighborhoods, giving us a brief overview of of the plazas - and advice on where we should eat and shop. That said, our only negative experience was with the boat trip that was arranged in Cartagena. Our itinerary promised we'd be "treated to a boat around the Islas del Rosario...Aboard this boat you'll visit 3 beaches, in some top-secret locations that the day-tripper crowds have not heard about (nor are they likely to)." Instead, we were jammed onto a boat with 40 other people and taken to Bendita Beach about an hour away. The boats anchored off of the beach ensured that we sucked in gas fumes all day. Trying to redeem the day, we signed up for a snorkeling trip, which again was super crowded and the guides kept yelling at us to hurry up as we swam through the reefs. This was not a tour, nor was it 3 beaches, and it was anything but top-secret. We were very disappointed in the huge disparity between what was described and what we experienced and wonder how it happened and who benefitted off of our misfortune. We will never get that day back.

Except one Hotel, all Hotels we stayed at were below average, I imagine that is because we booked only 6 to 8 weeks before the trip(?).

All adventure trips that were booked were very good.

In some places, reservations were made in local specialist name and the vendors had a tough time looking up the customer's name and only to realize it is in the travel specialist name.

Overall, Costa Rica experience was above average.

Nathalie was incredible, she knew exactly what my husband and I were looking for and designed the perfect trip for us in Colombia! She passed the "baton" to Mathilde during the holidays and it was totally flawless. The tour guides were all different in their own ways which gave us an interesting flavor of the culture and the hotels were perfectly located, in the heart of the city and in safe neighborhoods. The people we met during our journey were very kind and very sweet and I believe that a big part comes back to Nathalie, Mathilde and her organization. Bravo!

Erin and Emily were very knowledgeable, skilled, and helpful. We booked a 4 day W-Trek in Torres del Paine and we received help with booking or good recommendations about every aspect of the trip. On top of this both ladies are very pleasant and friendly, making it easy to ask questions. We had one miscommunication, which was taken care of immediately (on Christmas eve no less). Alexandra was 27 months pregnant, so we had a lot of questions. Erin took the time during a phone conversation to describe the trek to us in such detail that it made us feel comfortable with undertaking the endeavor. All in all stellar service!