Kimkim Trip Reviews for Guatemala

I had the pleasure of having Chris as local specialist and Willy as my guide fr=m the company Old Town Outfitters throughout the week from 10/01/2021-17/01/2021. I did the 8 days multi-sport trip for Guatemala and it was everything I could ask for in a trip! Most of the trip consisted of hiking and biking around Antigua as well as volcanoes around the area as well and we visited a chocolate/wine factory as well as a macadamia farm which were nice additions to the tours. I also spent overnight in Lake Atitlan as well as camp at Volcano Acatanegro which was a heck of a way to end the tour. Along with Willy being an amazing guide for the entire week, Chris did an amazing job not only accommodating great hotels in Antigua as well as Lake Atitlan, my country required negative Covid 19 tests the week I was in Guatemala and Chris was able to get a doctor to come to my hotel and get the test done so I can return to my country. I highly recommend that if you visit Guatemala to have Old Town Outfitters plan your trip for you, you won't regret it! My recommendation for anyone doing this trip is to learn a little spanish as it would make the trip easier and to have a big backpack if you choose to do the camping trip!

My team of 5 avid hikers hiked 7 volcanoes in 11 days with guides Carlos and Lucas, who went out of their way to make our trip fun, safe, exciting and full of wonderful surprises. Their passion for adventure, love for the outdoors of their country, dedication and commitment to meeting our needs and cheerful disposition made it an epic experience for us.

I am also extremely grateful to Chris Gwinner, of Old Town Outfitters (OTO), who tailored this adventure for my group. His professionalism, prompt and accurate communication and patience in answering questions left little to unknown which helped everything run smoothly.

Getting up close to volcanoes is unique and humbling. The breath-taking scenery from the summits were awe-inspiring. The hikes were challenging but the experience was worth the sweat and dust on our boots, hair and skin, and OTO played a vital and commendable role in making it all possible.

We just got back from our week-long family trip to Guatemala. We had an incredible time, due in large part to the efforts of Eduardo of kimkim who set us up with fun things to do, fabulous guides and a great driver, all for a reasonable price. We travel a fair amount but generally wing it when it comes to activities and getting around but using kimkim is likely to become my new modus operandi when planning family trips for our family of 4 (2 parents + 2 daughters ages 11 and 15). It was so nice to arrive, have a driver (Antonio) waiting to take us to our destination and a guide to help us understand what we were looking at. We had a limited amount of time for this trip and I really felt like this approach let us get the most out of it. We had three different guides (Miguel, Pablo & Flavio) show us different parts of Guatemala and each brought their own background and perspective, which was great. How awesome to have a former entomology professor talk nature and bugs with your kid who is into nature & the wilderness!

The only criticism I would have would be that a couple of the activities were a bit overly ambitious for us with an 11 year old in tow and I wished that kimkim/Eduardo could have anticipated that and made alternate recommendations. On the other hand, he was able to set up workarounds, like a van home at a halfway point for the bike ride through the villages outside Antigua. We did skip one activity altogether because we were tired and needed some downtime.

Overall, 5 stars for kimkim! I will definitely be checking in with you when we are getting ready to go on our next international trip to a new destination. You made my life as the family's trip planner so much easier!

My experience at KimKim began with Chris Gewinner's support and advice, he was always super attentive and helped us create the best plan according to our wishes and expectations. The trip was amazing. Everyone at Oldtown Oldfitters was super available to help and give us details on the itinerary. The highlight for us was Diego, who was our guide in Pacaya and Altitlan, he was an amazing guide, super into what he was doing, willing to help and explain every detail, always with a smile on his face. He really made the difference on our trip, we are happy to say we made a friend! The tours were also great, every place we went was breathtaking. Guatemala is indeed an unforgettable country with beautiful landscapes and a rich and beautiful culture.

The only downside for us was the lack of details we were given regarding our two day trip to Semuc Champey, we knew it was going to be a long drive but no one told us we would need to stay 22hours in a bus. Plus, the agency that drove us back from Semuc to Antigua was super disorganized. The bus driver stop in the middle of the road to change buses and that took us 40 minutes, everyone (aprox 30 people) had to hop down the bus, in a heat of 30C degrees, wait for the bus drivers to change the luggage from a bus to the other. That took us 40 minutes and no one explained the reason why that was happening. Plus, when we got to Antigua, the bus driver dropped us off in a random place at 9PM, we had no battery on our phones after the 13h drive, we had to carry our luggage and walk in circles until after 30 minutes when we finally found our hotel.

I told Oldtown about my disappointment with the trip and also told them this was the only bad thing that happened. Despite that, I super reccommend KimKim and Oldtown but I think more details should be given in the plan.

This would be a 5 star review except the questions are about booking experience and I had one glitch when asking to change the excursion one day and continued to get a stock itinerary returned to me. Eventually the itinerary was changed but it made me wonder if Esteban was listening to our request.
The actual trip was excellent and I would give 5 star review to Columbus Luxury Travel for our guides, itinerary, and attention to details of our privately guided tour.
Our flight to Flores , our car and local guide there were perfect. He listened to our preferences and chose restaurant and travel times according to our requests. He was knowledgeable about Tikal and the nature life, answering all our questions and had patience with Larry’s attempts to learn the Spanish language.
For the remainder of our trip we can’t say enough about our 5 star guide Juan Jesus or JJ. He made our trip a spectacular memory and we feel we could have a friend for life in Guatemala. We were given a very nice car for our travel on difficult roads and he was an excellent driver. We often felt our lives were in his hands and we were comfortable with his driving. Amazing!
Our accommodations were interesting, varied, and just what we asked for. All the hotel staff were friendly, attentive and made us feel like we should stay longer. Only the Jungle Lodge in Tikal was less attentive with a slow check in and busy staff. The beds were comfortable as we had requested.
Each community we saw was fascinating. JJ was able to give us information about all the different regions, Mayan people, and local traditions and cultures. He was protective, walking with us in Coban at night to find a local restaurant.
We were very sad at the end of our tour when we had to say good bye to JJ.
Columbus Luxury Travel was very responsive when we asked to change our itinerary in the middle of the week after some long days of driving, and were told there would be 5 hrs driving each day for the next 2 days of the proposed itinerary. We changed to an extra night at Lake Atitlan and more boat tours of local villages and a hike in a nature reserve.
CLT also arranged birthday songs and cakes at two different restaurants on Larry’s birthday. They gave us fun memories and we were surprised!
Some of the most memorable experiences were
Driving the rocky mountain roads across Guatemala 🇬🇹,
Seeing the indigenous Mayan people in daily life as we drive through the countryside and villages,
Small restaurant and village interaction with local people like in city of Coban and in villages I do not have names for.
Getting stuck in a rut at the top of a mountain with village locals gathering around to watch us figure out how to get the car out without offering help. 😆
Macadamia tree farm and active volcanos at Antigua.
Touring women’s cooperatives in the villages around Lake Atitlan.
The best experience was visiting a local family home and sharing a meal with Felicia and her family, frying tortillas with them in their open fire grill.

Having a private guide and driver made the tour exactly what we wanted, giving us enough time on our own and lots of individual attention so we could learn about the country.
Our only request would be more detailed information about the tour before we go and so we know better what to expect. This could have been done in a more personalized itinerary and tour map. We continued to receive only a canned general itinerary with minimal details even after we arrived.
We met the staff at Columbus on our last day in Antigua and they were lovely people. I know if we had made arrangements with them in person we wouldn’t have had any problems.
We would recommend CLT and especially JJ to any traveler and hope to see him again.

Diego was really fantastic! There is no way I could have made it up & down Acatenango without him.
He is truly an expert , and gave me encouragement and great instructions. He was fun to be with for all those hours

This was a great one week family trip packing A LOT in, from snorkeling and fishing off the coast of Belize, to Mayan ruins and culture, to the beautiful old town of Antigua, to the stunning nature of Pacaya Volcano and Lake Atitlan. We were ambitious in trying to cover a lot of ground, and Eduardo did a great job helping us set the itinerary and coordinate the logistics. There were a few bumps with the driver/guide in Belize, as well as some inevitable flight delays and traffic, but I was able to Whatsapp with Eduardo and get to good resolutions. The people of Belize and Guatemala were friendly and welcoming, and I would highly recommend visits to both countries.

We scheduled a 9 day action packed trip with our two boys (9 and 12) and we could not have asked for a better experience! Chris was amazing in communicating and scheduling our itinerary. I gave him a list of things we wanted to do and he put together a trip plan that hit all of it and more. All of our hotel accommodations were great and food was wonderful.

Our guide Lucas and driver Benecio were so genuine, friendly and took such good care of us. Some of the highlights of our trip were our trip to Antigua, overnight camp on Pacaya (we roasted marshmallows over lava flows), visit to Lake Atitlan, and climbing the temples and pyramids of Tikal. We realized that having a local tour operator and guide pays off because we seemed to get some great perks (best hotel rooms, quick service, etc.) They also took care of all of the logistics of moving our luggage, transportation, etc. They were always on time and reliable. It was nice to have someone take care of this and we could just show up and enjoy our selves.

Thank you for showing us your beautiful country, taking such good care of us, and making this such an amazing experience that we will remember for a lifetime! We could never have planned a trip like this on our own and we hope to be back again!

The perfect trip!

Setting everything up was amazingly easy and exactly what we wanted. We lucked out by getting David as our guide- he took care of everything which let us focus on enjoying the experiences. Guatemala was beautiful, but there is no way we would have had the same great experience without Chris and David's help. We are already planning to go back because there was more to see and we ran out of time!

Everything was so great! Upon arrival Catherina called us to check in which was extremely thoughtful. Esteban, our overall guide was absolutely fabulous! He was so knowledgeable and kind. He was a great driver and tour guide. We loved our time in Antigua, Lake Atitlan and Tikal. I would highly recommend Esteban for any other tour. Pablo, our driver in Tikal was really kind too. We found out he was a Audubon member for birding! We loved the Cacao boutique hotel, the service was fabulous and the breakfast was amazing. We also really liked the facilities at the Tikal Inn. Honestly everything was wonderful and we would definitely come back to Guatemala or recommend all of this to any friends or family!

Great trip! Antigua was wonderful! The hikes up Picaya and Earth Lodge in El Hato provided amazing views. Both of our guides were knowledgeable and friendly. Carlos was a walking history book and Louis was very patient with our lack of hiking experience. My only suggestion would be maybe get a better feel for the fitness of the travelers. One of the hikes was too much for one family member. Casa Antigua was a lovely hotel. The cooking class was really fun. Thanks for working with us. We felt safe throughout the trip. I highly recommend KimKim as a travel resource for Guatemala.

All of it was great. Each aspect was wonderful. The hike up Pacaya, the tour of Antigua, Atitlan and the lake was beautiful. The cooking class was exceptional. Thanks for a memorable trip.

Ken Farnham

My wife and I found Chris from Old Towne through KimKim. he responded before any other companies I contacted. We put a wish list of places to go/things to do, and Chris put it together. And when we had to make some choices, we followed his advice. We ended up stretching the 8 day package into 11 days. It was well worth it!

We visited Antigua, and stayed at Hotel Meson de Maria. The hotel was really beautiful, and the service was outstanding. Very clean. It had a great rooftop sitting area, and it was only a block or so from the main plaza. Lots of great food, wonderful old architecture, and many churches (including ruins) to see. I actually got a great photo of Fuego erupting, from the roof!

Our guide during this part of the trip was Pepian, and he was amazing. We hiked the volcano Pacaya, which was a blast. The coffee plantation bike ride and tour was more than we expected. Tomateo and his wife were was a gracious hosts. We took a boat ride across Lake Attitlan, with Isaisus (sp?) as our local, and proud, guide. We saw local art and textiles being produced. What wonderful hosts the locals were. Casa del Mundo was gorgeous, though it was a good hike to our room...but it gave us such great views! Pepian guided us on our kayak trip, and the hike back around the lake. Thanks Pepian, you were wonderful to us, and such a great diplomat for Guatemala. Danelo and Alejandro were our drivers...and we had fun being around both of them!

Next was a 3am wake up call to make a 6:30 flight to Tikal. Alejandro had our plane and park tickets ready to go, and by 9am, we were with Andres touring the amazing ruins. There is so much to see, it is almost overwhelming. We saw toucans, parrots, howler monkeys, and spider monkeys.
The facilities at Tikal are nice, but the restricted electricity (2 hours in the morning, 2 hours at night) made fans and hot water scarce. But it was fine. The howler monkey yelling at his friends right outside our window all night let us know we were in a jungle!

Fernando took us next to Las Conchas. This was a recommendation from Chris, and it was a great stop on the way to Rio Dulce. This was a bit out of our comfort zone, but Felipe, Miho, and their darling daughter, Hannah, made us right at home! Felipe's enthusiasm for the area, and his place, is catchy, and we swam in the falls. Miho cooked some of the best meals we had during visit, with a rather romantic setting. And Hannah is a special young lady, who never meets a stranger.

Fernando then took us to Rio Dulce. We stayed at Tortugal Hotel & Marina, which requires a short boat ride there. Our room was beautiful. We visited Finca el Paraiso, which was nice, but the fun we had with some extremely friendly locals was a blast. Daniel was our guide here, and Anna was our translator. The second day there we took a boat trip on Rio Dulce from Lake Izabel to Livinston. The river was calm, and the scenery was fantastic, with gorges, mangroves, and wildlife (manatees!). This was one of our favorite days of the trip.

After a long , yet scenic, drive back to Guatemala City, Carla took us on a perfect tour of Guatemala City. We visited a stunning small church named Iglesai Yurrito, which happened to be open for another event...Carla said it is only the 3rd or 4th time she has ever been in it. We loved it!
So, it is easy to see we had a great time. What a special, wonderful and beautiful country that Guatemala is. At no time did we feel unsafe, and the coordination of the trip, the quality of the guides, and the accommodations, were perfect for us. Thanks, Chris, Pepian, and the entire Old Towne team!

Great experience! Chris was helpful in every aspect of making the arrangements. The hotel I was staying at was tucked away and very hard to find but to my surprise, my driver showed up early and was waiting for me within a few feet of my doorstep. The price was a little more than I wanted to pay but for the service I received it was well worth it. Thanks again and would recommend using this company.

I was very impressed with how easy it was to book my itinerary and learn about my options. Liaising with Chris was simple, quick and the information I received was concise and very accurate - I've not been so impressed with how easy and exciting it was to book a trip!
The staff at Old Town Outfitters were so easy and comfortable to be with and they ran the day and overnight tours very capably. Saes, Lucas and Marco, in particular made my experience memorable and I had much fun mountain biking, kayaking, hiking, camping and driving with them.
The equipment I used was of top quality - mountain bikes, tent, sleeping bag and mattress, and the food for picnic lunches and dinner and breakfast was fresh, local and delicious. The tours I joined included the mountain bike around Antigua, day hike up Pacaya Volcano, overnight hike of Acatenango Volcano and multisport overnight trip to Lake Atitlan. These tours covered amazing scenery, gave an opportunity to see local life, traditions, culture and nature (especially the eruptions at night on Fuego Volcano) as well as have so much fun doing physical activities. It was an ideal way to see these areas of Guatemala. Antigua is a gem for Guatemala and Central America.
I could not endorse Old Town Outfitters and their staff more highly and I would most definitely book with them again.

My family really enjoyed the hike up volcano Pacaya. Our guide was thoughtful and friendly and well prepared.

Chris did a good job with planning everything. Casa del Mundo in Atitlan was a very nice hotel with amazing views, and I enjoyed visiting the different villages along the lake. Antigua was also a nice place with colorful colonial architecture, along with lots of shops and restaurants. I would definitely visit these places again.

My recommendation for anyone looking to visit the Atitlan region: pack lightly. You have to take a lancha (water taxi) to visit the villages, and your luggage gets placed on top of the boat. These are not big boats, and they can be packed with people depending on where you're leaving or heading to. Panajachel and San Pedro, for example, are very busy areas. The boat rides can also be a little scary and bumpy depending on how windy it is. I was definitely scared riding a lancha for the first time.

I had a wonderful trip in Guatemala. Everything was very well planned and executed. The communication with all involved was very impressive. David our local guide was very knowledgeable. The accomodation and transport was first class. I would highly recommend this adventure.

We just got back from an amazing trip in Guatemala. Chris from Old Towne was so amazing in arranging an unforgettable experience for me and my mom despite the time constraints (we only had an extended weekend to spend in Guatemala). Chris has a thorough and very professional team to support a large variety of trips tailored to your needs. He is connected with local guides on the ground that can make your dream come true depending on what you want to concentrate on. I would definitely come back to Guatemala and hands down would go there again by utilizing Chris's services and team. Special thanks to Marco, who was so wonderful in guiding us through Guatemala ensuring we are having a good time and taking wonderful pictures of us all. Wili was just wonderful in following up with my mom while climbing the Volcano and preparing us a one of a kind picnic meal.

Chris from kimkim( Old town)organized our whole trip to Guatemala. He was very helpful in planning our trip to Guatemala. In fact when one of our friends did not make it to Guatemala in time, Chris was accommodating in making changes to our schedule at last minute. We had some great drivers and guides for our whole trip, especially Oseas who took us hiking to Pacaya Volcano, Hiking and kayaking around lake Atitlan. Our guides in Antigua and Flores were helpful in telling us the history of Mayan civilization and the history of the beautiful country.I need to even mention our drivers who were helpful and saw to that we were comfortable in our long journeys. If your looking to tour Guatemala, I will recommend kimkim:)

Muchos gracias!!