Kimkim Trip Reviews

Fantastic everything - thank you

Absolutely more than perfect!! 11/10 stars!! Mads, Amanda, Suman, Suson, Everyone(!) from Himalayan Trails was beyond knowledgeable, accommodating, patient and incredibly friendly. I'm a frequent domestic and international traveler and I honestly cannot speak more highly of our experience booking and in-country with Himalayan Trails/KimKim, the best trip yet!!

Again, 11/10 stars!! He was incredibly responsive and he has a TOP NOTCH team in country. It was very apparent that they sincerely cared about us and our experience. Amanda took the time to meet with us with Suman (our trekking guide) before our trekking portion of the trip and then again after our trek with our city guide to make sure everything went well and that we were comfortable, etc. Every associate was incredibly knowledgeable, patient and accommodating for my numerous cultural questions and my partner's specific site interests. It was like traveling with new friends vs. stuffy 'tour guides', we shared laughs and jokes with everyone we encountered and felt like we really saw a bit of true Nepal-not just the 'touristy' side. Absolutely incredible.

Amazing specialist helping us out and made it a really special and exciting trip tailored just the way we wanted. Thank you to his dedication!

Again, fantastic specialist and was 100% the reason our trip was so perfect. Big thanks to him in particular. Chris is who really made the trip awesome and ensured that personally.

Chris was outstanding. He always responded in an expeditious manner, his advice was excellent and his level of expertise on Iceland was high. Well done!

The accommodation near Vik, Sólheimahjáleiga Guesthouse , was outrageously expensive for what it was , and compared with the proper hotel the next night, Litli Geysir Hotel

You should add the Lava Centre to your itinerary. http://www.lavacentre.is/ We enjoyed a hour or two there and it provided some useful information about the thermal region. One of the useful titbit was to watch for the dome to form in the geyser before it erupts:

Driver was awesome. Great tour of Quito, saw and did everything I wanted!

Gabor is great!

Chris planned a perfect itinerary for us. We only a long weekend to spend in Iceland and we felt that we got to see a lot in a little time. Additionally, Chris encouraged us to stay away from tourist traps and instead explore an area that we might not have thought of on our own. Our activities were a great balance of active and relaxing. Looking forward to going back another time to explore a different area.

Nicole provided my friends and I with a vacation for the history books. First of all, the planning stage was a breeze. After mentioning a rough idea of what we wanted to hit in Peru, Nicole came back instantly with a draft itinerary. After some minor tweaks, it was set. In the weeks leading up to the trip, Nicole was only a quick Whatsapp away to answer all questions, and she would immediately respond. The trip was just as smooth. In Cusco to Ollantaytambo, our beautiful colonial Airbnb was comfortable and in a perfect location. Our English-speaking drivers and guides were on time and extremely nice. From exploring ruins, biking through the Andes, whipping ATVs, zip lining in the Sacred Valley, hiking to the top of Machu Picchu, among countless other adventures, the trip was effortless as Nicole thought of everything. She was just as responsive in Peru, ready to lend food and other suggestions at every turn. She even hooked us up with an amazing contact for our stay in Lima. I would recommend anyone looking for a genuine adventure to use her services.

The trip was awesome!

Excellent planning! Amazing guides!

Very organized! Well planned

Our trip to Iceland was great! I had no idea that the landscape would vary so much in the different regions - it is amazing. I loved the fact that every day we would have different experiences - waterfalls, glaciers, geysers, geothermal pools, cliffs, beaches, whales, birds, horses, I could go on... We really enjoyed trying to find all the "hidden" nature baths too.

My only complaint was that a more detailed printed itinerary would have been useful (or at least a more detailed paper map in the booklet). Our GPS wasn't working properly so we ended up not using it. Since all of the stops were marked on the GPS, it was hard to plan our days without having to look up all of the sights listed briefly in the itinerary to see where they were on the map and how to get there (the detours etc). Otherwise, we had a splendid time bouncing along in our Defender ;-).

Everyone was terrific!

The arrangements were quite seamless through KimKim with a tour operator in the Azores.

Tiago and his team were really accommodating, friendly and knowledgeable. The guides gave us a much better look, and insight, to the Azores and Sao Miguel.

It is truly difficult to put into words how amazing our trip to Colombia was! When my friend and I initially decided to travel to Colombia, I did some research and found that there were SO MANY places that looked amazing, but some of them were a little off the beaten path and it seemed like going with a guide would be the best option. I had previously done a private tour with a local guide in India, and it was such an amazing experience that I was hoping to find something similar in Colombia. This is when I found Kimkim and was connected with Jules.

Jules, Tara, and their team really went above and beyond helping us plan the tour. They were very responsive to our questions (and there were a lot of them), and they worked with us for at least a month, going back and forth with different tour options until we had planned a trip that fit our budget and our desired itinerary. I'm sure I drove them a little crazy, but they were extremely kind, patient, and professional throughout the entire planning process. Jules was so enthusiastic about all of the places that we wanted to visit, and it was obvious that he was very genuine and excited for us to be experiencing a side of Colombia that a lot of tourists never see.

Since Jules had another obligation, he set us up with Nico, one of his teammates, as our tour guide for the majority of our tour. Nico was super laid back and fun (and funny!), and we had an amazing time touring with him to La Cienaga Grande/Nueva Valencia, Taironaka Reserve, La Guajira, and Medellin. He was very knowledgeable about all of the places we went, and he was also kind enough to share with us some personal stories about his life and about growing up in Medellin, a city I really never thought I would visit, but one that ended up being really vibrant and beautiful, and that I am so glad I was able to visit. During our 4 days with Nico, we visited a village on stilts in the middle of the swap, cooled off in a peaceful river after a very hot day and spent the night at an archaeological reserve, drove through La Guajira desert and interacted with the Wayuu people, swam in the Caribbean at the most insanely gorgeous beach (that we literally had to ourselves) in Cabo de la Vela, saw Flamingos in the wild, and toured a coffee plantation in Medellin! Every single place we went was incredible in its own way.

After we left Nico in Medellin, we lucky enough to go on a 2-day rafting trip on the Rio Verde, with our guides Mael and Lucho, who were also super cool guys, and who obviously love what they do. It is hard to pick my favorite part of the trip, but the rafting trip was definitely up there. The drive to the town of San Francisco was beautiful, and the 3-hour hike through the mountains down to the river was some of the most beautiful, lush green scenery that I have ever seen. We camped in the jungle that night, and saw fireflies, shooting stars, butterflies, birds, and even a monkey! The next day we rafted for about 3 or 4 hours, swam in a gorgeous waterfall, and just enjoyed the beauty that surrounded us.

This trip was truly unforgettable, thanks to Jules, Tara, Nico, Mael, and Lucho, and also the wonderful drivers that we had for different parts of the trip. I only wish I could have stayed longer! Thank you all SO much!! It truly was a magical experience that exceeded our expectations. There is really nothing better than swimming in the Caribbean on a beach that you have almost entirely to yourselves and seeing Flamingos in the wild.

Tara was very friendly, quick to respond to my messages, and also very helpful in tailoring our trip to make it fit our budget and desired itinerary. I really appreciate her help with adjusting our plans when one of our friends was unable to come on the trip due to work.

Thank you, Tara!

Thank you for connecting us with Inga. She planned every detail perfectly including the weather. The trekking was incredible!

Inga was patient, kind and very knowledgeable. And she was quite an inspiration to my daughter and niece. To top it all off the food was fantastic and exceeded all our expectations.

The trip was amazing! The people were wonderful, warm, kind and friendly, the island is incredibly beautiful, the activities were fantastic. We loved it!

What could have been better then? More detail in the information provided. After booking the trip, we received nothing to confirm and no more specific information than was provided in the initial trip plan description.

Why was this a problem? For example, on the afternoon we arrived in Ponta Delgada, we were scheduled to go whale watching, but no information was provided as to the time, location or meeting point for the activity. Before we left I thought to ask Cátia specifically about this and was told 1 pm, but I should have asked for more details. I guess I thought we would receive them on arrival, but we didn't. While it might have seemed obvious to them that we would meet at the boats in Ponta Delgada harbor, it was not obvious to us on the day of our arrival!

Similarly, the description provided for each activity was good for a general idea of the activity but fell short of giving enough specific information - duration, degree of difficulty, starting point, starting time, etc. For another example, the description of the "Route to Pristine" doesn't mention that it is a 14K hike with the first 3K uphill, never mind where you meet and what time, etc. The hike was fabulous and we loved it but it would have been good to know what we were getting into before we started on the journey.

Whenever we asked, the information was provided, and it was correct, but sometimes we didn't ask quite enough questions. Before traveling we asked Cátia to reserve a restaurant table only one night, at a small place where we heard reservations were necessary, which she kindly did. But we had to ask the date and time of the reservation (the day of), and were not told that the restaurant was cash only, which they say they tell you at the time the reservation is made, something we didn't find out until we had finished our meal. Fortunately, the owner seemed unfazed, we paid with all the Euros we had, but had to return by cab (the place was in another town) another day with enough cash to pay off the entire bill.

We figured most things out and they were expecting us at each step along the way, but it would have been good to provide us with a bit more specific of an agenda, at the latest upon arrival.

Please do not take this as a negative review! Overall, the activities were fantastic! We just would have liked a bit more detail in our itinerary.

Tiago and Cátia planned an incredible trip for us and we enjoyed it immensely. I'd like to thank all our drivers/guides/hiking companions - Luis, Luis, Mario, Philip and the Azores Fishing guys Eduardo and Diogo for being so wonderful, knowledgeable and kind, and showing us their beautiful home and all the great things there are to do there. Had we booked this trip without kimkim's help, we probably would have done less than half of what we did and certainly would not have tried canyoning, now my son's favorite new activity!

Overall, the experience with KimKim was quite good. Need to check the rules about the car rentals. We were shocked by the massive deposit required by Sixt Car Rental in Iceland. Nowhere on our paperwork did it denote that they wanted a $2000 hold on our card for 20 days. We were forced to buy added insurance to get the deposit down. Also, need to be careful about where you book people based on their 'lifestyle'. Our second stay was at a hostel which was very inappropriate for who we were. It was adequate but the beds were very uncomfortable.

A few more details on a couple of things and more appropriate accommodations would have helped.

Could have had better maps for the trail in Lipari and more options with boats from Lipari to other islands.

Antonella was above the call of duty. Answering so many questions, putting up with my friends (who then later didn't join the trip!), making changes at the last minute for me. She really knows her stuff.

Although we never saw Ngima during our journey, his staff was on top of all aspects of our trip and everything went smoothly (except for the traffic in Katmandu, but even that was part of the "experience").

Everything met and exceeded our expectations. The guide was flexible, knowledgeable and friendly. If we asked for a change, we were always accommodated. Our plans were worked out and we had many great surprises and not a single bad one. Thank you kimkim and see you soon.

Rania our guide was amazing and our coordinator Tala was kind understanding and very very helpful.

I have had the opportunity of planning travel with several established companies previously, ie Backroads, Vermont BicycleTours, Costa Rica Expeditions. The experience we had with Quechua Treks / Mayra was EXCEPTIONAL. She truly designed an itinerary specific for my family which was unique and certainly not the traditional Inca Trail/Machu Pichu visit. The opportunity to do the Lares Trek allowed us to see amazing countryside and visit with actual native folks. This was only possible because of Mayra's long history in this area and mastery of the Quechuan dialect. We did not see other tourists for 3 days! We found her crew (horsemen , cooks) to be professional, friendly and very punctual. The specialty guides arranged for us were very knowledgeable, truly bilingual and obviously proud to show us their country, not just going through the motions. This trip involved multiple lodging and transportation connections which all took place seamlessly. Accommodations were described accurately and there were no unexpected "surprises" either in quality of lodging, food or additional expenses. Most importantly Mayra was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and flexible with our desires. She is genuine and professional and an outstanding representative for KIMKIM.