Kimkim Trip Reviews for Ecuador

The crew always had a smile on their faces, and were very personable. Most crew spoke Spanish only, which made communication challenging at times. The food was excellent. We had a great variety of meals during our 15 day cruise. The bar service fell a little short. Cold beer at times was hard to come by. They seemed to wait until they ran out before replenishing supply. Not that anyone was partying, but a cold beer tastes really good after a day of hikes and snorkeling. They also ran out of white wine for 4-5 days. There was a roach problem. We had them in our bathroom, and on our bed pillow. The roaches were also in the dining area. I little disturbing watching roaches climbing up and down the walls and across your table while you are eating. Never having been on a Galapagos cruise before, we do not know if this is common on all boats. Doors and drawers did not fit properly. The boat is in need of maintenance. There is a nice upper deck which provides great views. I would have a difficult time recommending the Monserrat cruise.

simple yet nice location

Great guides! Stay in a room near the front, because the rooms in the back are noisy being above the engine.

Friendly and helpful staff. Good location in La Floresta near lots of restaurants. Room is a bit dated and does not have heating, but you can ask for a portable heater.

Good location and friendly staff, but the only window in the room faced the hallway. Had to choose to close the window for safety reasons, even if it meant the room was stuffy. Walls were thin, could hear people walking and talking in the hallway.

Enjoyed our stay, lots of character, make sure to attend the welcome cocktails where the manager tells the history of the place and Otavalo locals play lovely music.

We did the 15 day cruise, highly recommended to maximize time in the Galapagos and see a variety of animals and landscapes! The crew and guides are great!

Interesting visit to the Ingapirca Ruins!

Great walk to Pailon del Diablo!

Wonderful way to spend our last full day in Ecuador, it was a clear day and we got to see many of the volcanoes around Quito. Lovely views of the city.

15 days in the Galapagos were a dream come true! We got to see so many animals (sea lions, penguins, iguanas hammer head sharks, boobies, alabatross, dolphins, etc.) up close! The guides we had (Erik, Marvi, Fabian, and Juan) are extremely knowledgeable and well organized, and the crew especially Ronnie the cruise manager and Carlos the bartender are so helpful and friendly! Comfortable room and great having a personal balcony to sit and enjoy the view. Some days we could see fish and sharks near the boat!

Comfortable (electricity and airconditioned rooms) way to see the Amazon, interesting visits to local communities.

Great day around Quito, old city, center of the world, and delicious food!

Lovely small town, lucky we got to see toucans during lunch!

Excellent and pristine facilities with very HELLP full staff and excellent air conditioning. A beach side room puts your right in front of the sea lions which was really cool.

The bathroom was located on the 2nd floor which was very inconvenient. The room was clean and well kept. The service was good

This was one of the highlights of our entire trip! Such a stunning location (and a good hike/workout!)

Had a lovely time here, made very welcome and comfortable. Front desk are amazing.

Loved being out in the middle of the rain forest. Very comfortable and authentic

We enjoyed our stay the beds were really hard that was my only complaint

This hotel was very awesome the staff and owner were so nice we really enjoyed our stay there

Wonderful experience very friendly staff Eric was our guide we really liked him

Enjoyed our stay there beautiful place and very comfortable loved the staff

This place was wonderful friendly staff beautiful views comfortable beds and nice rooms food was good too

Some of the staff was friendly the beds were very uncomfortable the eas a rooster outside window didn't get much sleep there

Felt more like a hostel and really dated room. But friendly staff and great view from our treehouse room.

FANTASTIC hotel. Really friendly staff, the BEST and breakfasts and the room was perfect and even had a deck.

Close to town and generally clean. Can be noisy at times though and lots of loud children. Rooms were dated. Breakfast wasn’t as good as Kitu.

Our guide (Israel) made this a great excursion. Learned a lot!

Loved the experience of Cotopaxi. The guides and tour itself were terrible.

We had a room with a balcony overlooking Quito. The room was clean and comfortable. The staff were helpful and supportive.

Nice hotel at the edge of town. A little outdated and no room lockbox. Could use some upgrades but staff were pleasant and helpful

Full day of history in Quito. The cooking class was special. We could have walked more throughout downtown Quito. Felt a bit rushed in the afternoon trying to get everything in

Cotopaxi is beautiful. We enjoyed seeing wild horses and a fox. We hiked and bikes on Volcán Cotopaxi. Expectations were not clear so didn’t realize the hike was going to happen, so didn’t pack all of the right gear. Our guide didn’t share too much on Cotopaxi itself - so might consider a different tour group

Great last day activity! The boat staff were amazing. Had the best snorkeling experience of our life! Saw penguins, shark, starfish, sea lions and more! Learned a lot about the geological history of the Galapagos!

Arriving on the Galapagos, this is a great way to get introduced to the islands!

Carmen was a great guide - showing us wildlife and taking us snorkeling! We even had seals come join us on our snorkeling adventure!

Opportunity to see blue footed boobies, Tortugas, and sea horses! Javier was a great guide even took pictures on his go pro he shared with us after!

Seeing the Sierra Negra was worth the experience. It was a 12 mile hike which took all morning. Group was very large and the guide struggled to help everyone

Wonderful people and experience! Bring an appetite - they give you enough food for an army!

A beautiful area and bed and breakfast. Very nice and accommodating hostess.

Beautiful old (but renovated) hotel with very helpful staff.

Modern and convenient.

Adequate and spacious, but funky electrical outlet locations. Adequate but unremarkable restaurant with less than stellar menu. Surrounding area appeared possibly unsafe/unwalkable for a alternative restaurant.

Wonderful old but fully renovated hotel with very helpful and courteous staff. Conveniently located in Old Town Cuenca.

This is not a luxury hotel but was comfortable and more than adequate for our needs. Very kind and helpful owner and his staff. Conveniently located to the pier area and central restaurants/activities in Puerto Ayora. The deli downstairs is one of the best places to eat that we found in Puerto Ayora.

This was by far the most luxurious hotel we stayed in during our Ecuador trip. Unnecessarily luxurious and over the top. The automated room lighting system was a constant pain with lights coming on and off unnecessarily. Hard to imagine how much the designers/architects must have been paid to design this inconvenient system.

Don't know what Mama Cuna Path is, but we had a great time in the Amazon, and all the staff and people we encountered were friendly, helpful and professional. We were well cared for.

See previous. The old weaving factory was a high light as was the amazing "Panama" hat factory where we acquired our beautiful hats.

Our Quito tour was good but a few too many churches, though they are all beautiful in their own ways. Mitad del Mundo is the worst tourist trap we visited in Ecuador.

We skipped this so can't really rate it but are forced to give one.

We were given the opportunity to skip this early early morning activity, and the staff seemed as relieved as we were. We enjoyed the cultural activities we experienced in the village on the previous afternoon.

We didn't have the free afternoon because our faithful guide, Christian, took us to a hummingbird sanctuary where we fed these beautiful creatures from a bottle cap placed in the palm of our hands. Having wild hummingbirds perched in our hands was a big highlight of our trip. Christian also took us to an amazing butterfly research and propagation station where we observed all life phases of many beautiful and fascinating butterflies.

See previous

Saw some interesting birdlife, but owing to the rainy season, we couldn't see Cotopaxi. Nobody's fault, just the season.

The waterfalls, especially the Devil's Cauldron, were truly awesome. We were looking forward to a soak in a hot pool, but this turned out to be unavailable and uninviting.

A snow and ice storm on top of the world! Again, because we were here in the rainy season, we didn't see much of the mountain, but we saw many wild vicunas including a heard running through the snowy countryside. Our local park guide, Alfredo, was a great and humble guy and local farmer who we much enjoyed meeting. The surrounding agricultural areas outside the park were a green checkerboard of fields extending to unbelievable heights up the mountain slopes. Much interesting local color and indigenous people in these areas.

Very interesting and well maintained historical area.

A beautiful, modern yet historic and cultural city and surrounding area. We can see why it's so attractive to expats. The artistry and craftmanship exhibited in nearby villages is outstanding.

Beautiful mountain and lake vistas. Many landslides on the highway due to the recent rains, but we made through thanks to Christians excellent driving. The clouds parted at just the right time for us to have beautiful vistas above Guayaquil.

The tortoises at the farm were truly amazing and a big reason for our visit to Galapagos. We would have preferred to have gone straight to our hotel for check in and refresh ourselves and gone to the farm later.

The actual trip to Isla Bartolome was fantastic and we were able to see Galapagos penguins! Screwing up our agreed upon itinerary was not appreciated.

An interesting/scenic drive to Otovalo and a great unexpected side trip to a local park and waterfall. The market itself was repetitious and of varying quality, but useful if you want to buy items to take home. I wouldn't drive all the way there just for the market, but there is much else to see.

Catered toward tourists: it's located in a touristy / wealthy part of Quito, the staff speak English, overall it was a very comfortable stay. Within walking distance of Quito's historical center, good restaurants, and a supermarket. - Breakfast (included) was incredible, seriously the best hotel breakfast I've ever had. - They have a laundry service, but it's priced per item and very expensive -- we ended up washing clothes in the sink. - Rooms and grounds are clean and well-kept. - The lighting is incredibly harsh and white. This seems to be the norm in Ecuador, but wow was it brutal turning on the lights in the morning. - Dinner (not included) is just okay; I'd go elsewhere for dinner. - Staff is very helpful! We left bags at the desk for a day while hiking (one night of camping, before returning to the hotel) and it was no problem.

Isolated hacienda on a hobby farm -- it is not within walking distance of anything, so expect to stay and eat here. Their food is good though, so for a rest day it's a lovely place to be. - They own a few friendly dogs that we played with outside. - Charming rooms; beds had heated blankets because it was a bit chilly -- no problems with temp for us. Rustic-feeling, but clean and comfortable. - Breakfast was simple and tasty (toast, eggs, cold oatmeal-type dish, GREAT coffee) - Dinner options were limited -- not really a menu, more of a "this is what's for dinner tonight, or you can have a sandwich" -- and tasty. They did accommodate vegetarians!

We took a boat around the Santa Cruz bay, stopping to observe blue-footed boobies, learn about some of the unique animals of the Galapagos, and snorkel. The water is beautifully clear, the salt water buoyant, and there is SO MUCH wildlife, snorkeling is incredible. We were within meters of iridescent rainbow colored fish, sea turtles, starfish, sea lions, stingrays… so much to see.

On our first day, we went on a walking tour of the historical center of Quito and visited the equator. The historical center had beautiful old architecture, gold gilded churches, and a market where we ate local tropical fruit. We then visited the equator at the Intinan Museum and the fake equator at Mitad del Mundo. (As a bonus, we learned the process for making shriveled heads.) Incredible start to the trip!

We hiked Guagua Pichincha, an active volcano! It was very cloudy at the top, so we couldn’t see the crater, but we could definitely smell the sulfur. And could definitely feel the altitude — it does make hiking (walking, moving, breathing) harder. At least for us: one of the many stray dogs in Ecuador was with us for the entire hike, more often leading than following. Instead of hiking back the way we came, we “land skied” by sliding on our feet down a sheer slope of sandy rocks. Our shoes were filled with rocks, but it was super fun!

An absolutely beautiful hike up the dormant volcano Pasochoa. We had perfect weather for hiking — and for getting sunburned. Getting there by car may have been more treacherous than the hike itself — we drove down a narrow cobbled road with holes / ruts / ??? that could swallow a few humans. If we were driving, we never would’ve imagined a car could make it through. The summit itself was incredible, passing through a short, verdant rainforest-like section, then leaping over a small chasm. 10/10 would recommend.

This was our first hike above 5000m. The way up was challenging but great: we had nice weather, were feeling pretty good after our past two acclimatizing hikes, and there was lots to look at. We reached the refuge at 4700 m feeling tired but good, ate some food, then put on our helmets and harnesses to hike the last 425 m. It got tough quickly, scrambling up rocks using hands and feet, and the altitude was starting to really hit us. Right when we neared the summit, a storm began approaching, so we took a couple quick pictures, then headed down. We didn’t quite beat the storm, as the entire way down was in dense fog and it hailed on us for a few minutes, but avoided the deluge that started once we were in the car on the way back. It is a tough hike because of the altitude, but non-technical and a great first hike over 5000m!

We started the day with a walk into the national park to Tortuga Bay, where we kayaked among sea turtles (!), little hammerhead sharks (!), marine iguanas (!), and so many birds. It was SO COOL. The water is shades of azure and teal — it truly felt like we were in a movie.

We took a boat from Isabela to Tintoreras Islet with a small group. Walking along the islet we saw lots of marine iguanas (they’re in their nesting season, so it’s only the females) as well as white-tipped sharks, crabs, and pelicans and lots of other birds. After the island walk we went snorkeling again and saw a pair of blue-footed boobies doing a mating dance.

The volcano hike was long (~9 miles) but still far easier than hiking in altitude! We walked up to the caldera (nearly 10 km across) then down the south side and saw the remnants of lava flows from the 2005 and 2018 eruptions. The landscape felt a bit otherworldly, due to the lack of vegetation and lava rocks / fissures. We also saw on our hike three Galapagos hawks — a rare sighting according to our naturalist guide.

Our guide for the day took us to the Charles Darwin Research Station, where we learned more about the ecology of the Galapagos and the efforts to combat ecological destruction. It’s pretty cool how committed the islands are to preservation and environmental sustainability. At the research station we also got to visit the tortoise breeding center where we saw baby tortoises (younger than 5 years, when they’re returned to the wild), as well as a few old ones who were recovered from their early life as pets and can’t be released into the wild. After the research station, we went to the Highlands of Santa Cruz Island to visit a lava tunnel and tortoises in their natural habitat. It was, in a word, amazing. Because of the relatively short time humans have been present on the island, and the lack of predators, the wildlife here is shockingly unafraid of humans. They’re certainly aware of us, and the tortoises moved away if we approached from the front (threatening), but in general are fine with us being close and wandering around with them.

An ideal final day in the Galapagos. The whole day we spent on a sailboat with a dozen other tourists and crew and took a 3 hour ride to an uninhabited island. There we did a short "hike" (it was climbing 365 stairs) to an incredible viewpoint — our guide kept telling us it’s been named one of the most beautiful places in the world. By whom, we have no idea, but it was beautiful. After the hike, we went snorkeling again. We saw sharks and a Galapagos penguin, the only species of tropical penguin. The penguins are tiny — no more than a foot tall at full grown. The boat ride back was close to perfect — warm air, sea breeze, a few sightings of jumping rays — a great end to a Galapagos vacation.

A nice looking hotel in a very walkable good location. This is only a 3 star hotel. The beds were hard and there was no heat or air conditioning in the rooms although the temperature was adequate. The dining room also had no heat, it did have some propane heaters but they ran out of propane while we were there and guests had to wear coats to dinner and breakfast.

Amazing experience. Great staff and really good food. The sleeping huts are lovely and clean. So many things to see and do! Highly recommend this lodge.

Very friendly atmosphere!

Enjoyed the day’s more historical lessons/sites regarding Ecuador’s history than other aspects (e.g. visiting the Intiñan Site Museum seemed more worthwhile than the Mitad Del Mundo site).