Kimkim Trip Reviews

We have now returned from our recent trip to Bolivia which you organised on behalf of KimKim. As I will outline below, there were a lot of things which did not go to plan, which led to a very unpleasant holiday experience. I will start from the beginning and outline the failing's chronologically and then make some general observations at the end:

27th Feb: Our driver arrived 30min after we had exited the airport. We were the only foreigners in a strange airport and I wish I had not paid extra for your transfer. I should have simply paid for a taxi off the rank to avoid an uncomfortable experience (we were approached several times which was discomforting). Surely your drivers have access to the internet to check flights details? A very poor start to our trip.
28th Feb: Anna-Marie was our guide for the Sucre 1/2 day city tour. Although she knew her town well, she spoke poor English making it very difficult for us to understand her points. We stayed far too long in the 2 museums we visited, the textile museum was of limited interest (max 30mins), but the museum containing all of Bolivia's presidents was frankly boring and we were there nearly 90mins. I made it quite clear that we wanted to move-on, but she kept to her script. We were very bored and frustrated by the tour - I told her I liked Architecture and was keen to photograph many of Sucre's best buildings, we saw little of interest and didn't really establish much about the Bolivian way of life. We were disappointed with Anna-Marie and left her no tip.
1st Mar: Our driver met us on time to drive from Sucre to Potosi. The man spoke no English and drove like a maniac. He drove more than double the speed-limit for most of the journey, so much so that we were sweating in the back seats, unable to talk as we hung on to the car interior handles petrified that we were going to crash over the steep precipice and die. He completed the 3 hour journey in just over 2 hours. We didn't stop for photo's (one of the main reason we were on this trip). We mentioned it to Willie in Potosi and he was shocked and said he'd look into it.
1st Mar: Willie was our guide and he spoke good English and was very informative and also a good driver. However we were unable to undertake the main highlight of our visit to Potosi (the Mint House) as it was unexpectedly closed. To make matters worse we then set-off on a 4hr drive to Uyuni? At no stage was this long drive ever mentioned (it's not in our information pack PDF) and we were certainly not expecting 7 hours of scheduled driving on this day. Willie generally provided good service, so we tipped him.
2nd Mar: Jamie our guide for the longest part of the trip (3 long days) spoke no English. This was a major disappointment as he was unable to explain the day's schedule and we only had your itinerary to refer to (which didn't include any times). We missed out massively as we had no understanding on how the salt flats were formed, the wildlife or how they change through the seasons. Jaime wasn't a guide, he was a driver. We got so confused at one stage, that Jaime had to ring his colleague Oscar in the office who spoke excellent English. Oscar should have been our guide for the money we paid.
2nd Mar: To make matters worse, I contracted Salmonella and Paula food poisoning and we had to spend 2 days in hospital. We incurred a bill over $1000 during our stay in hospital. After carefully researching Salmonella, we are certain that this was caused by the chicken lunch served by Jaime. He had no refrigeration services in his vehicle (not even ice blocks). The only other food we ate before falling ill was in the hotels chosen by yourself.
3rd Mar: I had experienced a dreadful night's sleep with a temperature and bad dreams/hallucinating. I tried to explained this to Jaime at the start of our day, but he couldn't comprehend - so we set off for what would be a 5 hour drive morning drive. At no stage were we told to expect a 5 hour drive on unsurfaced roads. Needless to say at this stage I was nearly unconscious and unable to eat lunch. Tourists from another group could see I was in trouble and came to my rescue interpreting to tell Jaime how ill I was. I decided we should avoid another 5 hour drive on more unsurfaced roads in the afternoon and instead go straight to our hotel - nowhere did our information pack state we'd be spending 10-11 hours on gravel roads in a single day, this is very poor indeed. Nearly 3 hours later we arrived and the hotel owner could see how ill I was and took my temperature (nearly 40C) and said we must drive straight to hospital. Jaime drove well into the night for another 3 hours to get us to the hospital whereupon the doctor was visibly shocked by my condition and insisted I was given immediate oxygen and placed on a medical drip and stay overnight under multiple medications. I was very ill indeed and Paula was also treated for food poisoning by the hospital.
4th Mar (my birthday): We spent most of the day in Uyuni hospital, eventually leaving and having to pay a further $350Bol for a day room in Uyuni before Jamie took us to the airport for our flight to La Paz. We obviously missed numerous inclusive meals whilst we were unwell/in hospital and were unable to travel to the colourful lagoons or hot springs. At the time I was unsure as to the exact root cause of my salmonella, so we did tip Jaime to thank him for driving me to hospital into the night.
4th Mar: Laz Paz hotel was ok, but our room faced over the main road and with it being carnival we were kept awake with loud music until 2:30am, only to be awoken at 5:00am with fire-crackers - there was no double-glazing. We endured 2 dreadful night's sleep despite the hotel staff being very helpful. The buffet breakfast was very poor at the hotel - dried meat which had curled up at the edges, warm cheese/butter and the pineapple had turned brown. Certainly not what we needed with our salmonella and food poisoning!
5th Mar: We met our guide Carlao who was a very bubbly individual. Sadly his English was dreadful. He said "Oh My God" or "Yes" almost every time he opened his mouth. This was both annoying and very unhelpful as we could never get a straight answer from him. We quickly established he was Brazilian and his main job was an Archaeologist, he'd only done guide-work twice before and he implied that he was only doing this job as a big favour to his friend Tomas?! He also confirmed 100% that our salmonella/food poisoning would definitely have been caused by Jaime's chicken lunch. He knew virtually nothing about Bolivia and by the 2nd day we realised we needed to refer to Lonely Planet to get the real information as he frequently made up stories. eg in Copacabana Cathedral he stated that the British Army had robbed the gems from the carvings. I researched this online and the British Army has never even been to Bolivia and would certainly never do such a thing. The actual theft was in 2013, alleged by a Swiss collector. Such lies and deceit were not helpful. This man is not a guide and should never be employed again as one.
5th Mar: Carlao didn't take us to the Moon Valley as listed in our itinerary, though we did visit the horrible Witch Market which stunk of urine and was displaying grotesque 'toys' of baby llama's that Carlao said had been killed for the carnival - this really isn't what today's eco-friendly tourists want to see. We would have much sooner been told information such as: www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2018/feb/22/rise-bolivia-indigenous-cholitas-in-pictures

The rise of Bolivia’s indigenous 'cholitas' – in pictures | World news | The Guardian - News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition
In Cholita’s Rise, the photographer Eduardo Leal has created an exhibition of work that portrays their accomplishments and celebrates their success while also looking to inspire others
www.theguardian.com

6th Mar: We endured a further drive to Copacabana, and Carloa said it would be over 4 hours - again we had not been expecting such a long drive. Yet again the driver drove way too fast, putting all of our lives in danger and not stopping for photo's, unless I loudly shouted 'Stop!'. It was a very unpleasant drive which he completed in just over 3 hours after taking far too many risks on dangerous roads. We checked into our hotel (Las Olas - very nice) and then set off on the boat to the Sun Island. When we got there we were shocked at the walk Carlao lead us on - according to our phones we climbed 46 flights of stairs that day, something that we were not prepared for. Paula broke her ankle last October and at no stage does the itinerary indicate how physical the trip would be with quite so much climbing. We managed it, but better communication is needed.
7th Mar: Perhaps the final straw, our boat was hit hard by another boat whilst making the ferry crossing - Paula was badly shaken by this experience as the boat missed her head by a few cm.

As you can read, the whole trip from start to finish was a disaster. We requested to be part of a group wherever possible, but instead ended-up paying more for a private tour with dreadful guides who spoke little to no English and knew very little about Bolivia.

We are experienced travellers and both work in the travel industry. We have visited over 150 countries and have never encountered such poor service, or indeed set foot in a local hospital. We paid a good price for this trip, but after careful consideration I must now request a full refund for the reasons listed above.

Said, our driver, was lovely. Getting the chance to know him was one of our favorite parts. He knows people all over the country and so we were welcomed everywhere we went and got to see so many facets of the country.

Ingrid was perfect! From start to finish she provided so much information, advice and support. She put together a perfect itinerary for Norway which ran super smoothly. I fit so much in to 5 days and had an incredible experience. Absolutely everything was organised and if I had Abby questions Ingrid responded pretty much immediately. I would highly recommend Kim Kim and I would definitely use again.

The trip was for the most part very good. We were met upon arrival and taken to our overnight hotel in San Jose.

The private transfer (drive) to our main destibation point, Arenal, was great, the driver/guide (Jorge) suggested that we could visit a coffee plantation on our way and we took him up on that idea. It was great! (Dona Estate). We also stopped at La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and that was also great! Beautiful place, well worth the visit.

At Arenal, we did many things that had been planned as part of the trip. We did a Skywalk hike that included ‘hanging and suspension bridges and saw some wildlife. We later went on a pretty excited zip line through the mountains and valleys. We hiked close to the foot of Arenal Volcano and learned about the history of it. We kayaked on Arenal Lake next to the volcano. We went to a hot springs, which was wonderful and where we soaked our tired muscles.

Meals were also very good. We ate at one of our hotel’s (Arenal Volcano Inn) restaurants several times, as well as at Don Rufuno’s in the town of La Fortuna.

The only things that were not so great were internet connectivity in our hotel in Arenal (we had to go to the lobby and restaurant to get connected) and communication with our activities planner Carlos (We had some miscommunication and some activities had to be rescheduled). We had requested to stay at a hotel with a hot springs in Arenal, but didn’t get it. We wanted to spend more time at some hot springs, but had just one evening during our stay. Finally, we were a little disappointed with the lack of friendliness on the part of the guides working for Eco Terra. We did several things with them, including a trip to a waterfall in La Fortuna and private transfer (drive) back to San Jose from Arenal. They were a bit dismissive of us and did not interact with us much.

That said, Carlos was very professional in trying to arrange our (many) requests. But perhaps in future he could drop Eco Terra. The other companies (Sky Adventures, Adventuras Arenal) were great.

Best,
Cris

I really enjoyed this trip. In general it was organized very well. Hotel during sacret Valley tour can be better.

Patagonia was a trip of a lifetime!
Argentina experience:
The Perito Moreno Glacier ice trek was a truly unbelievably experience. I have never seen anything like it, definitely a trip highlight. Our time spent in El Chalten/Fitzroy was magical. The hotel was very nice and accommodating. Oscar the bartender/ server/ host was our favorite. The scheduled hikes were perfect, tough but perfect. It was the perfect amount of time to spend there.
Chile experience:
The glacier cruise out of Puerto Natales was canceled due to wind and we weren't sure what to do. The people at Ditmarr/kimkim helped us quickly change our plans. We had a guided trip to explore the caves. Juan was our guide and we thoroughly enjoyed him and the cave experience.
The "W" hike was outstanding! Patagonia is so vast and diverse. The hiking is challenging with a lot of bouldering. We hiked in the perfect direction, I wouldn't do it the opposite way. Torres del Paine was full of people but the rest of the hike was less so. The refugios were a bit rough with the exception of the domes in Frances which we LOVED! You will get tired of bread, I suggest bringing some protein supplements along. Bring earplugs you will need them to sleep. The "staff" at Refugio Chileno were up until 2:30 AM playing loud music and partying...plus tired snoring hikers can happen. Hot showers are hard to come by so bring wipes etc, also suggest to bring a towel. The weather is unpredictable so bring layers for hot and cold. If you don't want to carry a really big pack you can rent sleeping bags. I would recommend that option. I can't remember if we were offered that. They do give you pillows. All the bus arrangements etc went smoothly.
We loved our trip!!! Patagonia is awesome. Kimkim and Dittmar were great to work with.

Everything was well organized. Erin always responded quickly with answers to our questions. The hotel staff at El Chatan and Portas Natales were exceptional. I learned a few things 1. Pack as light as possible for "W" hike. 2. I have a little difficulty sleeping in small dark places. 2 of the Refugios were very small. Hiking in Patagonia is amazing and challenging. Its beauty unmatched, it is wild and rugged. The lakes and streams every color of blue, greens and greys. So happy i completed this bucket list dream.

Our trip to Myanmar was absolutely amazing in large part because of Anne’s outstanding skills in getting this trip together for us so it would be perfect! All the hotels were great and most of All all our guides were so knowledgeable and kind. We felt pampered and cared for and felt safe and happy the whole time!
We would definitely recommend this trip and most of all
Recommend Anne . She was outstanding!

We had a fabulous trip to India with a fantastic driver Vikram. However our whole experience has been marred by our guides need to feed us to the lions at every opportunity. We felt like they thought we were walking ATMs to be fleeced at every opportunity. Our first day we were talking to a store, our guide told us he just wanted to show us something. Then we were led to the slaughter. My husband works in the Middle East and is used to bartering but this was an all out attack that left us feeling abused. We bought a pashmina we neither needed or wanted just to get out. After this we made it clear we did not want to shop, we don’t need stuff we travel for the experience not the tat. Another guide took us to a palace and even though we had specifically said we did not want to shop we ended up sitting infront of an artist where both the guide and artist embarrassed us into paying £100 for a picture but were quite disappointed that we didn’t buy the £450 they started with. We were made to feel mean and tight by both of them. The fact that we could neither afford or wanted the picture meant nothing to them. If this is how your guides operate I would be reluctant to use them again.

Was great to have Ngima attend to us during our pre-planning. He was extremely patient, prompt and informative with our queries in planning our tailored itinerary.

We were well taken care of from the moment we stepped into Kathmandu till we left. We definitely enjoyed ourselves thoroughly throughout the journey.

Highly recommended when planning a trip to Nepal!

We recently completed a 9 day, self-drive tour of the Peloponnese organized, with our direction, by Tasos and his team at Travel 12. The logistics and trip arrangement worked out very well. The selected driving routes allowed us to see a great deal of the countryside, visit the important historical and places of interest and stay multiple nights in several centrally located hotels. These local, four-star accommodations ranged from very good to outstanding. Our guides, Ilias and Antonia, were excellent for the 3 included tours. Tasos and his team provided the right amount of support to get us on our way and keep us on schedule.
This was on 'offseason' tour which we recommend considering. Popular spots such as Ancient Olympia and Mystras were not at all crowded. Days were generally sunny and mild. Think of March. Getting around by car is quite easy with Google Maps on your phone. The people are very friendly and there's a taverna on every corner.

Anne was very responsive to our requests in the planning process. The choice of our guide Akar was excellent. Good listener and adjusted plan on the fly. My wife was sick for the first 2 days and he was very attentive. His choice of meal stops was great and were the nutritious snacks along the way.
Hotels were as requested, porches, quiet and off the beaten path. The driver chosen was skilled and cautious-we felt safe in the van.
We will use Kimkim again for future adventure travel.
Regards,
William Thomas

These guys, and gals, are great. It was our first time using a tour company, Patagonia has so much to do and see that I needed some help connecting the dots. Erin was super easy to work with and got back to me promptly whenever I had a question. It was a treat not to have to figure out the hotel/hostel piece as well as the bus schedule, they did it all. The tours were great, my favorite tour was the Estancia La Peninsula, an incredible day spent on the Estancia. Paula, our guide in Torres, was top notch too, she was a wealth of information and I felt that getting the full scope of the park was really valuable. Emily also lent a hand with final logistics. The entire crew was knowledgeable and easy to work with , the entire trip was way beyond our expectations and I highly recommend Dittmar Adventures if you are planning a trip to Patagonia. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I loved my trip to the Philippines—especially the two-day boat trip from Coron around the Calamian Islands. Spending the night on tiny, nearly-deserted Pass Island under a sky full of stars was beyond memorable, and our guide Jhonas planned each day to perfectly avoid the crowds at popular spots. I've never seen coral reefs like the ones I saw there, and we had the opportunity to learn free diving, kayak from the boat in quiet lagoons, etc.

The day tour of Bohol with Scarlett was also very interesting, and it was made easy with a seamless airport transfer and made comfortable with an air-conditioned van (it gets HOT there!). A Bohol highlight was the Lomboc River lunch cruise—it sounds touristy and I never would have booked it for myself, but it was actually a total delight. The Butterfly Sanctuary was not for me, though perhaps worth a stop for the homemade ice cream on site (try the Cacao or Durian flavors!).

My one piece of advice to travelers booking with Cami is to be explicitly clear about the type of hotel and transport you want throughout your trip, as this was the only issue we ran into. Get the hotel names and look into them ahead of time to be sure they meet your expectations, and if possible, get on the phone with Cami to confirm everything—she is great at answering questions asked before the trip. In terms of tours, food, activities, etc, you're in fabulous and knowledgable hands.

It was the perfect trip! I was amazed at how well organized it was. I felt really safe and taken care of. We got to see so much of Costa Rica with limited amount of time. Thank you!

overall a great experience, we chose the hotels.
It would have been good to know about "Tipping", as far as I know , we were not told that the tipping was expected each day and tipping the driver , who was excellent.
I did email during the trip asking about the tipping system which was explained
My only negative criticism would be the camping night, room was below average , shower did not work and dinner unfortunately was below average, but besides all that we had a great time and a great experience.

There were some slight variances from the descriptions but some were lacking while others were above and beyond expectations! Fernando was so great we felt as though we were leaving a friend after out short stay in Quito. Richard in Galápagos was very knowledgeable and clearly proud of all that he has learned. The day tours in Galápagos are not really as described although we enjoyed them thoroughly. I suggest contacting the excursion companies and request updated information.
When I look back at my trip I can only think how very perfect and wonderful it was! I will highly recommend Kimkim to friends.

Our driver and guide made our trip! They were wonderful and did everything to make us as comfortable as possible. Thank you to Abu and Sami!!! ❤️💪🏻

Petra was amazing. We conquered all with a pregnant group memeber and another member with a broken leg! We would have liked to have more time at Wadi Rum as it is so beautiful but we had to rush to keep to schedule. The Dead Sea was beautiful too even if a little cold!

One thing that would have been helpful for our group was to have known that restaurants/healthy food options were limited during the long drives and in some of the towns. Perhaps it makes sense to have hotels prep guests lunchboxes for a fee?

Thank you!

I had a wonderful trip in Peru. Everything was very well planned and executed. The accommodation and transport was good.
I would highly recommend this adventure.

I have just returned from a phenomenal trip to Iceland. Kimkim.com helped us establish a trip which included all the elements of adventure we were looking for. They utilized Midgard Adventures and Midgard Base Camp. Midgard added some completely unique dimensions such a hornet meal in a cave! They also quickly adapted when our snowmobiling trip was cancelled due to weather, the revised day was even better than we had planned. Iceland with Kimkim/Midgard is an absolute must !