Kimkim Trip Reviews for Bolivia

First met up with David our guide & driver & headed for Copacabana & Island of the Moon & Sun
Alvero our guide & Arial our driver were waiting patiently for us at the airport in Uyuni. It had been delayed about 2 hours & off we went. We still got to do everything regardless on the first day. We had an incredible lunch & sunset on the salt flats. Alvero always making sure we were ok.
The rest of our trip our guide was Julio with Ariel, driver. Wow we went to some off the beaten tracks. Both very passionate about their Bolivia.
Unfortunately I got sick & Julia changed our plans so I could get medical attention. Thank you for looking after me.
Camila what an amazing trip you organised & we were lucky to meet you in La Paz & have dinner 2gether.

Our guide Paolo was incredible! Such a great guy, lots of fun, and very knowledgeable. The driver, Johnny, was also spectacular.

The variety of things to do in Bolivia was outstanding. Camila did a great job of organizing everything, demonstrating amazing flexibility and an ability to adapt to unforeseen circumstances. David stands out among several great guides for his attention to detail and our interests. Being able to bird with Berto was a real highlight.

Camila did such an amazing job planning the trip! I loved my accomodation in La Paz and Uyuni! Fernando was the best guide I could have imagined and all around it was just a wonderful experience! Thank you so much

Camila was a phenomenal specialist and contact for us. She listened to our interests, met all our requests, remained available 24/7 throughout our trip, and made our whole vacation seamless. Our last two days that had been planned in Copacabana had to be canceled last-minute for reasons beyond anyone's control, and Camila was on the phone with us well past 10PM trying to rebook us at a different hotel. She was able to fully reimburse us for the cancelations. My husband and I recommend Camila and KimKim 100%, especially in countries like Bolivia that can be more challenging to navigate independently.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel de Sal Luna Salada

Uyuni

Highlight of our trip

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Mallku Cueva

Villa Mar

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Jardines de Uyuni

Uyuni

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Uyuni Salt Flats

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Geysers, colored lagoons and back to Uyuni

Bolivia

Unfortunately the roads were less maintained than the driver and guide had expected, or seen in their previous travels, so this day ended up taking us 14 hours, getting us to our hotel in Uyuni around 10PM and limiting how much free time we had at each destination (all of about 10min at each site). As two very active, adventurous travelers we found ourselves very restless sitting in a car all day, but I'm not sure how else this could have been planned, since all the sites we wanted to see were spread out.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore landscapes of Sud Lipez

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trip was amazing with the natural beauty of the national parks and salt flats and the amazing city of La Paz. Everything well organised and high quality tour guides like Dani and Juan Carlos who shared their excellent knowledge and information on the culture of Bolivia. This was the highlight of our 4 week trip, especially as more authentic and traditional people and way of life. We also did the death road ride which team of gravity was excellent with strong emphasis on safety and enjoying. 2 opportunities for improvement re 1 prewar day 1 of altitude as most of us on tour suffered altitude sickness and too late in taking medication and arriving earlier on day 1 could have allowed us to do the valley of the moon tour day 1 and hence allowed day 2 to visit other locations in Chile in San Pedro de Atacama. Thanks Camaros for a wonderful trip and beautiful memories of your country.

Hotel Reviews

Altus Express Hotel

La Paz

Good and convent location,

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to Main Street and activities

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Don Raul

San Pedro de Atacama

Hotel had great character and good feel which match location. Simple and adequate with wifi, good breakfast and all other facilities in good order

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cordillera Refuge

Uyuni

Hotel is new and still being completed and hence wifi etc. it working. Otherwise given cold temp overnight, bed was warm with lots of blankets, hot water for shower etc.

Authenticity & Character

Rooms made from salt blocks including bed which was appropriate for the location.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Samay Wasi

Uyuni

As prewarned, room was simple with no internet, no hot water etc. with extra layers of clothing and multiple blankets no issues with the cold temperatures.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Visit the Valley of the Moon & the Valley of Death

San Pedro de Atacama

Amazing scenery and great to see that access to dunes etc is limited to preserve the beauty. Nice way to start the holiday and experience such beautiful landscape.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From San Pedro de Atacama to Villamar (group tour)

Bolivia

Amazing scenery with lots of flamingos and Lamas in the wild. Again a lot of natural beauty with the lagoons and mountain side that is hard to put into words. It’s well preserved despite tourist thus giving a great natural experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Our guide Jemina and drivers were phenomenal. Very friendly, punctual and kind. The owner of Milenaria Travel, called to make sure our trip was going well.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Rosario La Paz

La Paz

Beautiful, clean, excellent breakfast.

Authenticity & Character

Authentic Bolivian art throughout the hotel

Location

Staff

Polite, accomodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very clean, comfortable.

Colonial (Potosi)

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel de Sal Luna Salada

Uyuni

Hotel is beautiful, well appointed. Dinner meal was poor.

Authenticity & Character

Beautifully decorated.

Location

Near the salt flats

Staff

Lovely, polite.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel de Su Merced

Sucre

Beautiful, great location.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Near attractions.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Los Flamencos Ecolodge

Laguna Hedionda

Eclectic, off the beaten path, but very welcoming and cozy.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Don Raul

San Pedro de Atacama

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pullman Santiago Vitacura

Santiago

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Atacama Desert Tour: Lagunas Altiplanicas, Piedras Rojas y Laguna Chaxa

San Pedro de Atacama

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Depart Santiago

Santiago

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Welcome to La Paz

La Paz

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Half Day Tour of La Paz + Valley of the Moon

La Paz

Jemina provided a well paced and thorough tour of La Pax.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fly from La Paz to Sucre

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Cal Orcko and transfer to Potosi

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Geysers, Lagoons, and the Journey to San Pedro de Atacama

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fly from Calama to Santiago

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Potosi and transfer to Uyuni

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Avaroa National Reserve

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the Ruins of Tiwanaku

La Paz

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Uyuni Salt Flats

Uyuni

The salt flats were one of the highlights of the trip. Jemina and the driver set up a wonderful picnic and wine at the flats. She also took great illusion photos of us. This tour was so well worth it.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the Valley of the Moon

San Pedro de Atacama

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Stargazing Tour

Bolivia

This tour was second only to the salt flats. We were able to view the stars through telescopes. Tour guide took pictures and emailed to us, that was a nice and unexpected gift.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Viña del Mar and Valparaíso excursion

Santiago

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Really enjoyed the trip to Bolivia and Chile. Jimena Santos was an amazing tour guide in Bolivia!!! All the drivers were good, and we felt safe riding in all the vehicles. My favorite part of the trip was Uyuni and the salt flats. Hotel de Sal Luna Salada was quite an experience. The only negative thing about Hotel de Sal Luna Salada was that the dinners were horrible. They really need a new chef there.

We had a successful trip to Bolivia and Chile in March-April 2024. We would attribute that mainly to the good work of Kimkim's agent, Camila. First, Camila laid out a comprehensive itinerary that covered all the highlights of the two countries. She then helped us customize the itinerary to suit our preferences. The result is that we saw the best of the two countries the way we wanted it and within our time frame. We had the pleasure of meeting Camila in person in La Paz. She is knowledgeable, experienced, courteous and responsive.

Uyuni Salt Flats was amazing & I enjoyed the day spent on the flats. Accommodations at Hotel # 8 Jardines de Uyuni and Hotel # 10, Mallku Cueva Hotel, Villa Ma were not upto par.. The king size double bed was too large for the room that there was hardly any room left to move around the room or put the luggage resulting in having to put the luggage on the bed.

Other than that, the tour was well arranged & the guides were very professional & knowledgeable.

We organised a trip to Bolivia originally for 10 days and Camila responded very quickly and came up with an agenda.From our end it was all very last minute due to personal reasons so we were very happy with the quick and helpful responses from Camila as we refined our trip back to 9 days total.
Well what can we say. It was all amazing and difficult to pick out the highlights as our intent was to see as much as possible in our short time. This meant leaving out any viewing of the Amazon and northern areas other than a great trip to Lake Titicaca and the surrounds.We then had a few days in La Paz which were great. The altitude did affect us but not to the extent of spoiling our trip. The Inca Trail we walked I think should have been listed as moderate to difficult because of the uneven terrain.Once again we still managed it well but maybe a little slowly.
We have to say all our guides were attentive, professional and gave us their all. Orlando, William,Johnny and David and their respective drivers. a particular thumbs up for Paolino! our fantastic driver on the salt Flats.This guy really went the extra for us. If we've left anyone out it is not our intent. The staff that cared for us were all fantastic as was the programme drawn up by Camila. We travelled into Bolivia from San Pedro, Chile crossed the border which was a drawn out experience but then we were up and away. The accomodation was all very good. We guess the measure is " would we use this company agin or recommend it to family or friends. Most definitely YES! Micky and Robyn

The trip was exceptionnally well organized.
I never had to wait for the guides or the drivers. Well done.
Very interesting sites to see and tours
The desert was amazing
Unfortunately, i had altitude sickness for a few days.

Camila was very cooperative and actually was there to guide part of the tour.
I worked with her throughout the planning stages of the tour and everything went ok with a bit of input
from my part.
There was an incident that 10 of us was not picked up by the sub-suppler that was supposed to pick us up from the Europa hotel to the La Paz airport. Camila was there to answer my phone calls and texts at midnight. It turned out the sub had forgotten all about it. We took our own transportation by taxis to the airport. And Camila was quick to ask the management of Sendas Altas to make reimbursements of the taxi fares. And we received it within a few days of the incident.
Oxygen tanks were readily available in the vehicles, which helped our senior tour members who sometimes struggled with the lack of oxygen in such a high elevation sites.

We loved our Bolivian trip, it was perfect.
Chilean part was a bit disappointing, as we didn’t realize it’s gonna be every day a half day trip from the hotel. We sort of expected the same customized trip with a small group where we could ask to stop somewhere and spend almost all the time outdoors.
Our first trip in Chile was as boring as possible and on the trip to Puritama Canyon the guide didn’t even speak English.

Activity Reviews

Incahuasi Island and Uyuni Salt Flats

Bolivia

Very interesting, the day was amazing!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Eduardo Avaroa Reserve

Uyuni

Great trip, we saw sooo many animals and this nature is stunning.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

From the Uyuni Desert to the Atacama Desert

Bolivia

Everything was well timed, we loved this whole experience!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Stargazing Tour

San Pedro de Atacama

The guide has a very boring way to explain actually very interesting stories. We were 15 people and you could see that 10 of us were very bored. On each question his answer was at least 15min in Spanish and then 15min in English. And after 2 of these minutes we were just not able to listen any more

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Puritama Canyon Trek

San Pedro de Atacama

The guide didn’t speak english. The tour was supposed to start at 2-2:40. We departed at 3pm and then on our way the car broke. So we had to drive back and change the car and the new one wasn’t a lot better. At the end we departed for Puritama Canyon an hour later so when we arrived to the pools there were the last shades of sun left. 15min later it was completely in shadow.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore Yerbas Buenas & Rainbow Valley

San Pedro de Atacama

This was a nice trip. Our guide was super friendly and very animating us all to enjoy! The driver was funny too.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We didn’t like the orange windows. They change the color perspective, so you can’t really make any photos.

Tour of Tatio Geysers

San Pedro de Atacama

An interesting tour. The place was a bit overcrowded, but it still was nice to see the difference between this one and Sol de Mañana.

Quality of Experience

We would have loved visiting it at another time of the day

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We didn’t like the orange windows. They change the color perspective, so you can’t really make any photos

Valley of the Moon Tour

San Pedro de Atacama

The tour guide was very nice and friendly, he explained a lot. You could see he loves this place and this makes you appreciate even more.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The car was a bit old, at the back seat no airconditioning arrived.

Camila worked up a varied and comprehensive 16-day trip focused mostly on the altiplano. It was challenge for both of us to arrange a visit to Chipaya Village, a remote indigenous community. She was open to my requests for additions and changes and followed my progress daily while I was in-country. Camila provided probably the most detailed personal service I have ever had from a travel agency. Muchas gracias!

Fran was absolutely incredible when it came to planning out and booking our trip to Bolivia! We only had 9 days and she helped us plan the perfect itinerary! She worked with local guides to help us along our way and planned the best activities for us. Whenever there was an issue she was so responsive and able to help! We truly had the most incredible time in Bolivia and it was so nice to not be able to stress about all the little things along with way. We will definitely be booking with Kim Kim again

overall camilla did a great job responding to our multiple requests. one negative comment. it would have been extremely helpful if camilla would have told us that a mask was required by latam before boarding to bolivia. i did not have one preventing me from boarding at that time causing my wife to open her suit case and frantically search for an extra. fortunately, she found one. then upon boarding, most were not wearing masks including aircraft personnel. getting into bolivia is a nightmare, a virtual bureaucratic morass. will not fly latam again if at all possible due to cancellations, poor substitute flights, baggage hassles and charges. altitude added to the difficulty of the trip since we were at altitudes ranging from 13,400' to around 9 to 10,000 including the atacama. food good in general. early morning flights, schedules, and departures were demanding and tiring.

la paz: a very chaotic city but not as much as india or some locations in s.e. asia. gustu: fabulous. mi chola, good, l'manq'a good. david, excellent guide, greg, good driver: cable car lines, valley of the moon, witches mkt. tiwanaku and lake titicaca- great experience. europa hotel was okay, not memorable. eating area was quite austere and uninviting. the breakfast buffet was okay.

sucre: dinner at nativa-b minus: service slow, silverware presentation, stemware, food presentation, quality, ambience and decor-ok, music track-ok. but drink pairing was inventive and good. far cry from the package at gustu.
guide: martha--very mediocre. her English was halting. when i asked her to translate the spanish on some of the museum descriptors, she could not do it. she tried to be helpful but as a guide she left a lot to be desired.
the tarabuco market was a waste of time except for the azur museum where we found a textile. not much happening for a market especially compared with those in Myanmar, india, s.e. asia. the dinasaur foot print sight was interesting. su merced hotel was a charming, iconic spanish property; room okay; food okay; helpful staff.

cayara: interesting diversion to this hacienda dating back to 1547. willy, our driver and guide, was outstanding-very knowledgeable and personable. rodrigo did a great job of explaining the hacienda's history through willy's translation. meals were quite good. overall, a good experience.

potosi: willy was great again as was johnny, the driver the mint was very interesting. willy did a great job of explaining the history.

salar de uyuni: probably the highlight of the trip. a very fascinating geographical formation on this planet. great overall experience with picnic, sunset, conquesa mummies. our guide, osvaldo, was pretty good but tended to speak rapidly so that we would have to ask him to repeat or just loose the thought. also he tended to rush a bit. did enjoy the laguna colorada, flamingoes, vicuna, llamas, laguna verde. palacio del sal was a unique hotel experience. the architecture was very impressive: use of salt blocks. however, i felt that most of the budget was spent on the exeterior and interior "wow" factor to the exclusion of convenient interior room details like a chair, a minimal desk; very cramped space; no window to the outside. meals were good. osvaldo said we did not have time to see the "stone tree". we did see the train cemetery as well as some interesting formations: "water fall canyon", "easter island-moai"-have to use some imagination since we had seen the real thing at rapa nui, lago canal, and a curious animal called a "viscotcha"-looks like a rabbit with a long tail that jumps like a kangaroo.

mallku cueva: okay for one night.

atacama: la casa de don tomas hotel--pretty good; due to early mornings, we really never had their breakfast, only boxes which were not that great. on our own we signed up for the celestial experience on the 14th which was to be in english. unfortunately it was in spanish. david ibanez was kind enough to give us the choice of going on the 14th in spanish with no charge or go the next day in english with a charge. due to tour times, we chose the 14th and it was okay. some english was used and we did use the 3 telescopes. great hot chocolate. everything worked out fine.

salar de atacama not nearly as impressive as salar de uyuni. but the lagoons of miscanti and miniques were spectacular. in the socaire area, rojas rock/lake had a vicious wind of about 40-50 mph; not enjoyable; only did half of the loop. unfortunately left my mountaineering wind jacket at the hotel. would have been great to have some weather advice before leaving the hotel. did see a very small group of flamingoes but nothing like the red lagoon. also did see some vicunas at the edge of the miniques lagoon.

we cancelled the tatio geysers at 3:30am due to the forecasted 15 deg temp and bad roads. after hearing others' experience, we made the right choice. these geysers pale in comparison to yellowstone. bottom line: not worth the extremely early morning, cold, rough road, long drive to see the steam.

valley of moon -very impressive formations; amazing salt formations.
valley of death partially closed. picnic at sunset with pisco sours was a nice touch.

all in all, the group tours were okay. left my jacket on the bus. fortunately the person at don tomas made contact at illari expedciones at 7pm. she got the jacket and was to be open until 7:30pm. i was given a map and raced over to find her closed. went to another shop; he knew her, called her. she sent over my jacket in a few minutes. all's well that ends well.

overall a good, exciting, somewhat fascinating but hard trip due to 11 flights, too many early mornings, altitude , rough, long drives, and the bureaucratic idiosyncrasies of bolivia.

We had an amazing time in Bolivia. Thanks to Camila for planning this trip. Camila was constantly checking on us while we are on the trip and ensured everything was going as planned.
All of our guides were very knowledgeable, experienced and pleasant to spend time with, they made the trip worthwhile.
We spend 3 days with Alvaro and Johnny at Uyuni and the lagoons, we greatly enjoyed our time there, Alvaro went above and beyond to ensure all we checked all of our boxes. He is an expert in the area and showed us a great time. We had an "unboliviable" time as Alvaro would say!
The hotel accommodations were excellent.
The entire trip was very well planned and we had an amazing time in Bolivia. We highly recommended Camila for all of our friends who are now interested in visiting Bolivia.

Activity Reviews

City tour in Sucre

Sucre

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Martha was very knowledgeable and pleasant to hang out with. We had a great time with her at Sucre,

Transport

Cal Orcko Dinosaur Tracks and Cayara Hotel Museum

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Potosi the "Imperial Villa"

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Williams was extremely nice and knowledgeable. We enjoyed our time in Potosi and Cayara and the time Williams took to explain everything and show us a great time.

Transport

From Uyuni to the south Lipez gateway

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Alvaro and Johnny were incredible. Alvaro is an extremely knowledgeable guide and very pleasant to spend time with. We spend 3 days with him, he went above and beyond to ensure everything is as expected and showed us the best of the area.

Transport

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve full-day Adventure

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the amazing Uyuni Salt Flats

Bolivia

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Alvaro made this journey memorable.

Transport

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Williams was great, answered all of our questions. Showed us a great time Santa Cruz, and the tour was memorable.

Transport

Kimkim matched us with La Paz on Foot in Bolivia. We were well taken care of by La Paz on Foot every step of the way. We spent the first two nights in La Paz, then one in Island of the Sun, then one in Tuni, and then back to La Paz, then one night in Uyuni, and one in Villa Mar, then two nights in San Pedro Atacama. We had our own guide and/or driver who patiently explained much about the Bolivian history, current situation, natural history, and any random questions we had. We were grateful for the opportunity to have visited Bolivia.

Camila was fantastic! She set up everything for us from beginning to end. She asked us for the type of trip we wanted and set up all of our tours, hotels, and guides. When we arrived in Bolivia, we had our driver, Gonzalo, waiting for us. He stayed with us throughout our time in La Paz and was absolutely amazing! We also had an English speaking guide, Juan, who showed us Tiwanaku. Then our time in Uyuni was incredible. Omar and Alvaro were awesome! We spent 3 days exploring the salt flats and desert with them before returning to La Paz. I would 10/10 recommend Camila, KimKim, and all of the guides on this tour. It was executed to perfection and I can’t wait to do another country with KimKim!!