Kimkim Trip Reviews

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our trip and are glad we used kimkim to create a bespoke travel plan! Almost every piece lined up perfectly and we were able to do and see so much more of gorgeous Colombia than we would have been able to do on our own. We would certainly consider using kimkim to organise future travels to up-and-coming holiday destinations.

We've copied the travel itinerary overview below to drop in some feedback for Nicolas and Tucaya to consider when making arrangements for future travelers.

Day 1: Transfer to Santa Marta - Transrubio in Bogota was fine, though the driver arrived at 6am, not 9am which caused some confusion. Al Caribe transport was perfect.
Day 2: Explore Tayrona National Park - Our guide in Tayrona was excellent!
Day 3: Relax on the Beach - We booked Tayrona Tented Lodges ourselves
Day 4: Exploring Minca - Though natural beauty surrounding Minca is breathtaking, but Minca itself is touristy and unappealing to us. Though Hotel Sweet Harmony is a nice place with helpful staff, we would have preferred to stay up in the mountains rather than in the town.
Fidel provided our transfer from Tayrona to Minca - honestly, he might be a little too eccentric for most travelers. He seemed rather loony and made us a tad uncomfortable.
Fidel also offered to take us on a quick ride up to the waterfall once we arrived in Minca. He then charged us $70,000COP which we know was way to much for a 10 minute drive anywhere in Colombia. It was really annoying to be ripped off by an agency that Tucaya partnered with and that we were already paying for transport and tours.
Day 5: Travel to Cartagena - The morning bird watching activity was excellent! However, it overran by 90 minutes so we were pretty hungry and thirsty by the end since it went much later into the morning than anticipated.
There was also some confusion with our transfer time to Cartagena. Given that there wasn’t much to do in Minca itself, we wanted to head to Cartagena right after the bird tour, but the driver’s time had been pushed back.
Once the driver arrived, the transfer was really comfortable and swift.
Hotel Santa Catalina was luxurious. In retrospect, we would have been happy to pay less and stay in a less nice hotel because this hotel was SO fabulous.
Day 6: Escape to Islas del Rosario - We did not like the service provided by Gente de Mar. They were late to leave the harbor and the day was so regimented it was hard to enjoy the beach because they kept interrupting with bells to do this or that. They were very pushy about getting paid early for the drinks we bought and made us get back on the boat at 3pm, so we really didn’t have much time there at all.
Furthermore, on our voucher from Tucaya it said there would be a lobster lunch and an opportunity to kayak. Neither of these things were true. No lobster, no kayaks.
Day 7: Free Day at Cartagena - We were glad to have this day to explore this amazing city.
Day 8: Explore Colombia's Coffee Region - Our transport all the way from Cartagena to Armenia went smoothly. The driver in Armenia was exceptional kind and helpful, we really liked him.
Bosques del Saman Alcala was fine, not great. There was music nearby playing really, really loud all night and we couldn’t sleep. The jacuzzi was dirty and not hot. The food provided was decent and the views spectacular.
Day 9: Explore Cocora Valley - This tour was excellent for the most part. However, Salamanca was very crowded and it was hard to appreciate the town or explore the stores with our guide hovering around the whole time. We would have preferred to just have a free hour there on our own before reuniting with the guide. Actually, we would have preferred to skip Salamanca altogether and spend 1.5 hours on our own in Filandia. That town was cuter, quieter and the people were so friendly!
Day 10: Visit a Local Coffee Farm - Prior to the coffee farm tour, we had a long morning just at the hotel which was boring. As we said, we didn’t think much of the hotel and we wished there had been something else planned for this time.
Finca Casa Vieja was fantastic, as was the lunch provided! This experience felt authentic and we learned a lot. We also enjoyed going into Quimbaya to the cafe to see the coffee culture in a local setting.
Transport to Bogota all went well. Our stay at Movich was very comfortable. Again, we could have stayed in a less extravagant place and saved money overall.
Day 11-14: The luxuriant Amazon Jungle - The flight to Leticia was fine and a representative from Calanoa greeted us. The community boat to the resort was quite uncomfortable.
The staff at Calanoa were really dedicated and attentive and the accommodations were reasonably comfortable given we were in the Amazon!

We did the following activities:
-Short daytime hike
-Long daytime hike
-Kayaking on the Amazon
-Tour of the reservation
-Monkey foundation island
-Nightime hike
-Sailing to look at dolphins
-Sailing around the island to look at wildlife and fish
All activities were quite engaging. In retrospect, I wish we had also gone to Puerto Narino. The food was pretty good, but it would have been nice to have some service there to buy snacks from the kitchen between meal times (hiking makes us hungry!). Between activities there isn't much to do, especially at the really buggy times of day when you can't be outside, but understandably this is part of the Amazonian experience.

Though we had a great trip, there were a few areas we were unhappy with. We had requested Spanish speaking guides and all of the guides were English speakers. One of the purposes of this trip was to challenge our Spanish language skills and we were disappointed to have English guides throughout. Given the prices we saw for things in Colombia, we feel the trip was quite expensive and we would have preferred to stay at some less luxurious hotels in order to save a couple hundred dollars. We had mentioned this to Nicolas prior to the trip, and perhaps he did adjust us down a level, but we could have gone done a bit further even.

Amazing trip to Nepal: the Muldai + Poon Hill trek was an excellent choice for our group (3 adults + 4 children, ages 10-14): it offers breathtaking views of the Annapurna range; a good balance between trekking difficulty to relax/chill-at-the-teahouse time; a variety of trail sceneries: sunny mountain crests with long vistas; lush river valleys; occasional patches of snow; small villages; tiny teahouses and spectacular views from Poon Hill (Muldai was cloudy, but worth the early wakeup and hike nevertheless).
Amanda's insight and attention to detail as we were discussing itinerary were invaluable; she met us at our Katmandu hotel and introduced us to Rajesh Darhel, our guide: Rajesh’s combination of patience, knowledge, responsibility and flexibility worked perfectly for all of us; his assistant Rabin B.K. Ghandruk made a great connection with the children, and together they found the right pace for everybody.
…..and then, at the last day of our trek, as we were starting to make our way back to Pokhara to catch a flight; when a traffic jam for the ages blocked the roads; when all flights were being cancelled due to heavy fog, and it seemed like we were going to miss our flight home from Kathmandu - that’s when Rajesh, with the support of Amanda and the Himalayan-Trails office in Kathmandu really made the difference: they took care of everything: Yes - we got back to Kathmandu very late (or – very early the next day…) - but we knew all along everything is taken care of, so we could just lean back and enjoy the scenery.
Thanks Amanda, Rajesh, Robin; special thanks to Probin, Sachin, Santosh and Nirajan.

Our Moroccan adventure began the moment we found kimkim to do our custom built tour that should have been 15 days in 8 days:))
Abdel was informative and available and able to answer all our questions queries settle our concerns.
Our guide was kareem who was able to speak and understand English and was ever willing to be at our side and fit in our eating and shopping schedules as well as the long drives and sight seeing . Kareem accompanied us from Marrakech to merzouga desert fez chefchaouen and then Casablanca.. everything was timeous and with the long drives on some those scary roads we felt safe . Even when driving in the sandstorm we were safe.
Thank you Kareem and Abdel for an awesome amazing experience.

Randal did a great job communicating and organizing the itinerary.

I thought the experience was very good however the accommodations were somewhat underwhelming . Most of the resorts appeared to be about 20 % occupied which is indicative of the low season. I would not recommend the first hotel at all. They made no attempt to hide the fact that guests were eating breakfast in a cattle coral.

On the second day we were met by a tour guide named Chris. He was excellent. I could not have imagined any better. He had a great depth of knowledge and humility. I hope you call him out and let him know that he made the trip well worth the time. He had knowledge by the broader economy that no other guide could match. We was wonderful.

Our experience with kimkim was very professional. All the logistics were prefect in regards to response time, flexibility in customizing the itinerary and even helping us with a separate personal trip by changing local flights!
The trek we did was in Pikey Peak.. so not many people going there. Was very quite trek and beautiful. Although we could not see the mountain ranges for most of the trek due to weather. Our guide Mingmar was very accommodating and the porter Pasang Sherpa blew my mind away carrying 30kg over the 6 days.
Kimkim might be a bit more expensive than other operators.. but worth it if you want peace of mind and professionalism.

My husband and I had a phenomenal trip in Morocco organised by Yassine and the Team from MOBT, and I would be delighted to recommend them to anyone looking to travel to Morocco for the first time.

Booking Experience:
One of the great benefits of working with a locally based travel specialist is that you receive reliable guidance and recommendations for a country you may not be familiar with. In planning the trip Yassine thoughtfully made me aware of several logistical considerations, for example regarding realistic travel times, and also recommended some less well-known regions and destinations to visit. He helped us tailor an itinerary that catered for our interests and maximised our short 7 days in the country.

Yassine was highly professional, always responsive, and knowledgeable. The information provided before the trip was detailed and gave us some great preparation tips.

For anyone traveling from Australia, I can also confirm that coordinating information with Yassine was significantly easier and faster than with a local agent. In addition, he was happy provide us with all the required info for Smart Traveller.

In Country Experience:
We couldn’t be happier and more grateful for the warm welcome and support we received from the MOBT team.

The highlight of any trip is the people you meet along the way, and we truly cherished the opportunity to get to know our driver Ismail. Apart from being a very thoughtful, kind, and warm person – he’s also one heck of a competent driver. It was so sad to say goodbye and we wished we got to have more conversations with Ismail. He was so patient with our questions and taught us both a lot about Morocco.

All the guides we encountered were professional and knowledgeable. Of particular value was their savvy planning of our days in Marrakesh and Fes, since they were able to predict which places would be crowded, so we were always at the right place at the right time, avoiding all the cues.

We were also grateful that Hassan joined us on one of the days, it was a pleasure to meet him, and we really appreciated that MOBT team members checked in with us regularly during the trip.

Finally, the accommodation selected by MOBT could not have been better. Every hotel/riad was comfortable, beautiful, had incredible service, and was easy to find in the medina.

Travelling to Morocco:
If you’ve not been to Morocco before, do not hesitate to plan your visit. I would recommend researching and preparing well, understanding a little about the culture beforehand, and you will have a brilliant trip.

Whatever your interest, you will find something that you will enjoy and find beauty in. For me, as an avid reader and history buff, Morocco was a treasure trove of incredible sights and meaningful discoveries. It was really a transformative experience, and we now understand a little more about the world than we did before – something that you should take away from every new place. It’s hard to name a highlight - the whole experience was fantastic from start to finish - but I think getting up early in the morning to listen to the call to prayer and watch the sunrise for the first time in Marrakesh was one of the most moving memories I have.

Thank you to Yassine, Hassan, of course Ismail, and everyone at MOBT for helping us have an amazing adventure. We will be returning to Morocco, there is so much more to explore!

Our trip to Ecuador booked through kimkim was incredible! Isabel made sure that everything was dealt with in terms of accomodations, activities, and logistics which took a lot of the planning off of our hands! The itinerary put together and the welcome packet at the first hotel made sure we never were confused about any meeting points or activities.

In terms of the trip itself, Ecuador is amazing in its diversity of climates and the two that my girlfriend and I wanted to experience (Volcano and rainforest) were both unforgettable experiences! From biking down Cotopaxi and the surrounding park to spotting monkeys, birds, caimans, and pink dolphins in the rainforest we couldn’t have asked for a better trip. Thank you to Isabel and our guides for the two portions, Ricardo (biking) and Diego (rainforest). I would highly recommend kimkim for any travel plans and will 100% be using them again in the future!

We had wonderful time on our 5 day trip in Jordan. Arranged through KimKim and wonderfully organised by Lena from In2Jordan travel in Amman. Our driver Izhaq(Issac) was more than just a driver, he was helpful with travelling suggestions and information and an enjoyable companion. Jeshra, Roman city was surprising in size and number of buildings and structures standing. Including two theatres and a hippodrome! The Mosaic hotel in Madaba was excellent, had great fun at the Dead Sea and Spa Hotel. Petra was almost booked out, so our hotel (Candles) was a much lower quality, but convenient. Petra is a once in a lifetime place to see. Wadi Rum and our night at Khaled’s camp was magnificent. The camp accommodation was so good and the next morning we were awed by the desert scenery during our 3 hour 4 wheel drive into “Lawrence of Arabia” country. Finishing in the heart of Amman at the Art Hotel we were very happy with our tour of Jordan.

The entire trip was professionally run and well coordinated. Pasang was always available and extremely helpful. Lapka was great on the ground, our guide Pemba was brilliant and our young porter Pasang was really nice too. Really enjoyed the trek, Pemba was extremely knowledgeable and patient with us, particularly as we are in our late fifties and not as fit as we once were! The hotel manaslu was fine too, as were the tea houses - especially the food.

All came together well. Guides were very knowledgeable and had a sense of humour which is always a bonus. Mery had everything planned and organized. Thank you 😊

Blown away with frances hospitality coming to visit us in killarney in person and calls to make sure all ok.
Margo our bike hike guide was unbelievable. She was encouraging, so informed about so much, great conversation, felt totally blessed to have her for a full day. All accommodations were above expectations. Great locations, bfasts and hosts.
The Hertz GPS was slow and didn't provide accuracy we e expected. That is not your responsibility. Hertz did a wonderful thing in not charging us since we were 1hour late.

Pat Liddy tour was fantastic !!!!

Only suggestions would be to strongly urge drivers download offline maps if they have capability on their phones. That ended up better than Hertz gps.
Also, information on the charges to the suggested route stops. We probably would have changed some of our stops to be able to spend more time. (Ex. Bunratty castle). or not go . It got a bit frustrating to pay at every stop for more info. If I had known I would have planned better.
However, every place was amazing and the trip went without a gliche. It was amazing!!
Oh, also maybe add info about bus pass and needing exact change on buses in Dublin,
along with brief comment on norms of tipping and that last admission to quite a few sites is4-5p. We missed going in to some locations.

I'm rambling along so I hope makes sense.

Thank you for an amazing trip
Ireland should definitely be a must do for everyone.
God bless

The first two nights of the trip were terrible. Our original campsites were indiscriminately closed without warning. As a result all the campers were forced to use the facilities of much smaller refugios, which were inadequate for the number of people. We were herded in and out of the eating areas like cattle, with strict time limits for consuming our meals.

Furthermore, I was dramatically overcharged compared to other people in my group who booked directly with the tour operator, Chile Nativo. I was charged approximately $2500 US, including KimKim's fee, while others in my group paid approximately $1700 US!! I have requested a refund and will not use or recommend KimKim's services to my social network unless I am properly reimbursed. This is very unprofessional.

All drivers and guides were very professional and friendly, they listened and steered us to aspects we told them we were interested in (in my case it was local foods and sighting as many wild birds as possible). The entire LaSelva experience was extremely well organized and fulfilling. Transportation was clean and comfortable. We appreciated having water available for us for every leg of the journey. The hotels in Quito and the Hacienda Cusin were all enjoyable. We loved the local fruits and Ecuadorian dishes for breakfast. All in all just a wonderful trip!

What a memorable trip to Colombia, all thanks to the kimkim team!! We usually do not utilize travel agencies and pre-planned itineraries but I am very happy that we did. Couple of friends, my husband and I went on a 9 day trip to Colombia this April, and with our itinerary that kimkim help develop, we enjoyed a wide variety of Colombia - the city life, art history, coffee plantations, farm to table dining, Cocora Valley hiking, city revitalization, every day market shopping to cooking class... it all truly surmounted to an unforgettable experience. What made it powerful though, was the guides we were privileged to meet throughout our trip. Not only were they English speaking (shamefully, my husband and I cannot speak Spanish...), but most were born and raised in the cities we met them at. They were knowledgeable with their tours, but also willing to share their personal stories, giving the tours meaning, passion, hope, beauty. Jairo in Bogota was hands down exceptional and our undeniable favorite - such wealth of knowledge regarding Bogota and Colombia, but seemed so heartfelt and invested in giving us the most out of our day... also it may arguably have been the most delicious snack-filled day of our trip ;) (he apparently also does gastronomy tours!). I also appreciated Santiago's devotion to his and Colombian coffee, Sam's commitment to telling the horrid history, and now progress in communa 13, Diego's willingness to share his stories, opinions, thoughts, which in the end gave hope in human perseverance.

Overall our trip to Morocco was an exciting trip. I believe that the one area that needs to be improved is the following. 1) agency staff should have one staff member who has visited the primary cities and understands how the city functions - e.g. the square in Marrakech does not have any food stall experience before night fall ... when i would speak to Brahim about places - the response ‘i’ve never been there” required me to research even more... 2) guides should have both prior knowledge of proposed guiding highlights and agency reliance on guides needs to be more than booking a registered guide - there should be some knowledge of the guide skill sets , If the agency cannot provide that service the client should be advised.. I have booked private guide services in many cities and countries and the main guides provided by the agency were not professional.. they were not interested in their work or interested in showing us their city/country, this was not the case with the guides that i booked .... interesting to note that guide services that i booked directly for myself in Casablanca, Essaouria and Marrakech and the one i picked up last minute in Ait Ben Haddou and the one provided by our driver in Meknes were exceptional - the only guide service provided through the agency that provided exceptional guiding were Hafid in Fes and the camel guide and the sunset guide provided by Yasmina Palace in Merzouga
provided good guiding services. all things being relevant
a trip is made exceptional by two components - the driver and the guide services and both were lacking.
better accommodation for the same fee is available in Marakkech,
the Marakkech guide was the worst. he had knowledge but was neither interested in his city or in providing the guide services

most memorable place was FES and the desert experience and Chefchaouen - driver for Chefchaoun was very good

Patricia Stalteri

0

This was my first time in South America and Chile, and also my first time as a solo traveler. Mery put together a fantastic and thorough 15 day itinerary for me in Chile covering all the highlights and more that I had not thought off. I am grateful and privileged to have covered so much of Chile in such a short amount of time. All credit for this goes to Mery and her team.

The tours that were arranged were on-time, professional and very informative. The guides, whilst mainly catering to Spanish speaking passengers, also took the time and patience to explain the same to me in English.

I was also impressed with the accommodation that was booked, it felt like someone had really thought about the location and quality of the places. The accommodation in the various towns/cities was centrally located, close to shops and restaurants and very comfortable.

The highlights of the trip were the San Pedro de Atacama desert (would recommend the Altiplanics Lake tours, Laguna Cejar, Moon Valley tour & the Night Sky tour) which has so many varying and unique landscapes. Patagonia including the Torres del Paine national park and Balmaceda/Serrano glaciers are a must see, these are truly spectacular.

Overall a very well organised and thought out trip, that exceeded my expectations. Thank you for putting this together and ensuring I had a great experience. Would not hesitate to recommend kimkim/Say Hueque again.

We can't thank Robi enough for helping us plan our trip to Croatia. All the bookings he made on our behalf were great - we were very happy with all our accommodation and our rental car booking. Robi arranged for Goran to drive us one day and that was a highlight for us. Robi kept in contact with us throughout the trip and managed any changes that needed to be made. When we had to leave Korcula unexpectedly early, Robi found us alternative accommodation which we so appreciated - arriving in Split late on a rainy night, it was wonderful that he'd made arrangements for us at short notice.
Our holiday in Croatia was even more wonderful than we could have imagined, and we thank you, Robi, for all your hard work on our behalf. We will recommend Robi and kimkim to any friends who are travelling in the future.
Bronwyn & John

I couldn't recommend kimkim enough to people planning for an adventurous trip away. The way in which Erin tailored the trip to my desires and ability made the planning process so easy, simple and quick given I started organising my trip at very short notice.

Our guide Sonam was absolutely exceptional and made our trip. She was always extremely professional, helpful and would always know how to make us smile in times of hardship. When I undoubtedly return to Nepal I hope I am paired with Sonam again as she was not only our guide for our time trekking but a friend, which we laughed with and shared stories about our different lives. Pekma and Thilen, our porters were also incredibly kind hearted and helpful, bonding with our group and helping us achieve our goals. The route suggested by kimkim was breath taking and so unique, trekking through isolated valleys and untouched ancient towns tucked away on the Annapurna Conservation Area. With the combination of Sonam, Pekma and Thilen and the incredible route we took, it made this experience one of most unforgettable and enjoyable trips of my life.
Many Thanks!!

In my opinion Priscilla was different from the other guides because unlike others where they try to set an itinerary up the mountain, she keeps her options open by deciding based on my capabilities and is very attentive to my wellbeing and gives the impression that I can trust her. She also shared with me the local culture, way of life, and a wealth of knowledge on native plants. This effectively made my trip up in the mountains an enjoyable experience, not just a trek through the pass. She also has a positive attitude which makes her company highly enjoyable. I would highly recommend her as a guide.

I did encounter some issues with my porter; at times he has conflicting opinions to Priscilla and sometimes I'm not sure who I should listen to, as he says that he's usually a guide and only being a porter because he has time. I also had to say a few words to him about going through the content on my phone without my authorisation and using my phone to take photos of himself. However this stopped after I expressed my unease with him doing that.

It was overall an enjoyable experience, I will book with you again in the future if I come back to Nepal for another visit. Thanks heaps.

Peru is much more than anyone could expect for their first visit there. Is the first country in years for which I can definitely say that I will return. There are so many things to see, so much diversity and wonders to discover.
For the guides, I will mention only the one that from my opinion was the best prepared, and that is Julio Cesar, yes :) like the roman emperor. He has provided a lot of useful informations and was connected in a natural and sincere way. All the guides were polite and willing to help with anything, but Julio seemed less commercial than all :).
Thanks to Anne, Julio and to everybody that contribute to a memorable experience in Peru.