Erin Wiley

Erin is incredible. She was highly flexible and offered several options for activities. We loved working with her.

This was amazing. Such a thoughtful itinerary with nothing but great guides, hotels, and experiences all throughout. I highly recommend for a trip like this.

I am very happy in general with the arrangements KimKim made for our self guided tour to Patagonia. Hotels, activity providers were adequate. There were some hiccups and miscommunications that caused us some trouble and were rectified and we completed all the activities as planned.

Regarding the activite I liked the least was "Wild Life Tour on Megellan Strait" in Punta Arenas. Our group shared with others on a small boat that was a little bit overbooked and we have difficulty sitting down comfortably. We were warned that "we might get wet" but the warning should have been "You will get wet" . We were soaped, so put on your waterproof clothes underneath the semi dry suit they provide if you so choose this acitivity.

Since there was no guide, you were your own guide, you had to know every acitivy and how they connected each other, including transfers, where to get lunch, what food to bring, ensure walking time to activities are reasonable etc. The travel document is a bit complex and took a lot of concentration and careful reading to see if everything matched up correctly. So if you are joining a Kimkim tour, I urge you to take the time reading them carefully to cross check everything.

Anyway I like my local specialist Erin and Nara, they did a good job to accomdate our needs and helped us a great deal with our trip. Thank you.

Erin & Nara were so easy to work with in planning our W Trek. A very complicated trip to plan on your own: buses, border crossings, lodging in the park, hotel in Puerto Natales, etc. It was all done for us, and our itinerary was very detailed & planned to perfection. Our group of 4 really appreciated the pre-trek meeting with Nara. She answered lot of our questions. As a bonus, in addition to our W Trek, they were able to book us on a Walk with the Penguins tour in Ushuaia! Very responsive. Tolerated all our questions! :) I will be using KimKim again!

Patagonia was a trip of a lifetime. My husband and I decided to celebrate our 50th Anniversary with a trip to Patagonia. We were interested in the beautiful landscapes; Patagonia and Erin did not disappoint. An important detail that was so crucial to us was the land transportation. Transportation to and from airports, hotel, excursions etc. was all arranged in advance. Dittmar Adventures provided "coupons" for each transport, hotel, excursion etc. These coupons were very helpful as many taxi drivers did not understand my level 3 Duolingo Spanish *). I could verify with them that we were going to right place by handing them the coupon with hotel address. etc. I learned to have these coupons at hand, and then it was always clear which excursion we were to be on. We started in Puerto Varas with a private tour to Mt Osorno. Loved the private tours we took through out as they allowed us to go at our own pace. Each tour guide was very knowledgeable about the flowers, trees and birds of the area. We loved hanging back and letting a tour bus load of people go in front of us, then we could just enjoying the trails and views to ourselves with our guide, staying as long as we liked drinking in the gorgeous scenery. I had two favorite places. Pumalin National Park was the 1st. We were blessed to stay in one of the very few cottages at the park. Our guide Marco was amazing. I loved touring the garden and information center at the park. Marco also arranged for a private boat up the "fiord" past sea lion colonies that was very interesting. Pumalin is a rain forest, so had those amazing giant rainforest ferns and trees. Trees, some of which are older than the Giant Sequoias in California. Marco pointed out the differences in the trees of Pumalin to the pines of North America. He also shared Mate with us at lunch, what an interesting tradition! I regret that we did not have more time on the trails at Pumalin. Punta Arenas was our next stop. Erin arranged a private tour out to the Nao Victoria Museum that has a replica of Magellan's ship, and a replica of the Beagle, the ship that Darwin was on, as well as other replicas. You can climb up into the ships and get a sense of the size and understand the bravery of the men that sailed the world in such vessels. There was time for a brief stop at the cemetery in Punta Arenas. I did not realize that it was so beautiful, and would have planned for more time there. On to Puerto Natales and the Bernardo O Higgins National Park and Torres del Paine Park, Stunning, breathtaking... words cannot describe. We stayed at Hotel Lago Grey. Our room had an incredible view!! This area is exactly what we came to Patagonia to see, it was my most favorite favorite place. Next was El Chaltén and then Laguna Condor Lodge. There are plenty of hiking trails right from town in El Chaltén. The Laguna Condor Lodge is a ways out of town with cute little cabins. Mt FitzRoy dominates the view from the lodge at breakfast. We enjoyed a couple of days rest away from hustle of travel and just relaxed or walked along the glacial river. The last days were spent in Terra Del Fuego, then home. Erin and her staff were very responsive to our wishes. Penguins? Yes. Hikes requiring tents? No. Large cities, museums, wine tastings? No. Outdoors, mountains, lakes, waterfalls, glaciers? Yes, yes, yes! Tour buses? No. Private tours? Yes!!! Chain hotels? No. Boutique hotels and cabins? Yes. The only things I would change is more time on the trails at Pumalin and another hour at the Punta Arenas cemetery. Dittmar Adventures included with their very detailed itinerary, maps of each town marking location of lodging and nearby restaurants. There was a very nice mix of cute little downtown hotels for exploring the locale to upscale hotels with stunning views. We have not traveled extensively outside the English speaking world, so I was very worried about taking taxis with my poor Spanish capabilities. Dittmar arranged prepaid taxi drivers who had my name on a card, to and from every airport. Sometimes this transportation was 20 minutes. Sometimes it was closer to 3 hours. The team was responsive to my questions. Checked with drivers then changed times when I was worried about connection time. Checked with tour guides when I had not checked the What's App and did not realize the tour time had been changed by half and hour. Airline strike in Buenos Aires... Ack!! They said they would keep tabs on that and help me where needed. (Strike was avoided at the last minute) The tour that Erin and Nara planned was exactly what we wanted. The trip went as planned. Thank you Erin, Nara and Dittmar Adventures!!!!

Erin and Nara were fabulous to work with in planning our trip to Patagonia. We found them very organized and quick to respond to any requests or questions. They provided us with a complete itinerary with every detail spelled out. We had an unforgettable experience hiking the W trek. Without their expertise and guidance I’m not sure how successful and enjoyable the trip would have been. We are KimKim fans we used them last year for a Spain/ Portugal trip also. We will definitely use their services again.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Costaustralis

Puerto Natales

Excellent hotel for a stay in Porto Natales. The location is perfect for exploring town on foot. The view from the front of hotel is beautiful. The staff and breakfast buffet were fabulous. Because it is located on a busy street it can be a bit noisy. The rooms facing the road have the best views but if noise is a concern, ask for a room not facing the road.

Authenticity & Character

Charming lobby and seating areas.

Location

Central location for walking around town.

Staff

Staff was very efficient and friendly.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were very clean and spacious.

Refugio Torre Central

Parque Nacional Torres del Paine Pedro Montt

This was our first experience in a true Refugio. What a great vibe and place to spend the night.

Authenticity & Character

True Refugio experience with shared bunk rooms and dining. Great place to meet other hikers.

Location

Perfect location to start W trek.

Staff

Everyone was friendly and attentive.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean bunk rooms, bathrooms, and dining areas.

Cabaña Los Cuernos

Puerto Natales

We stayed in the cabanas. They were very nice with two twin beds, great views of the night sky, pretty waterfall nearby.

Authenticity & Character

Fun Refugio vibe. Smaller group of people staying there.

Location

Great place to spend 2 nd night on W trek.

Staff

Friendly staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms and bathrooms were very clean.

Refugio Paine Grande

Puerto Natales, Chile

This is the biggest and busiest Refugio we stayed in. The dining room is large and can easily accommodate more people. Loved the bar area and ability to order a beer and pizza after a very long day of hiking.

Authenticity & Character

Fun Refugio. Lots of energy.

Location

Great location to spend our last night and hike to Grey Glacier to finish our trek.

Staff

Everyone was super friendly especially front desk staff.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Clean rooms and bathrooms.

Activity Reviews

Discover the Beagle Channel - Full Day Penguins + Beagle Channel Navigation

Ushuaia

We enjoyed this experience and especially loved seeing the penguins. The Beagle Channel tour was informative. We feel that it would have been enough to just spend one day in Ushuaia since this seems to be mostly a port for Antarctica trips.

Quality of Experience

The penguins of course! So cute.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

The tour guide was fun and informative.

Transport

Clean bus transfer to penguins colony. It was a long dirt road to get there which we weren’t expecting.

Trip Briefing at Dittmar Adventures

Puerto Natales

Nara was detailed and informative in her briefing. She answered all our questions.

Quality of Experience

We received all the information needed to make our trip stress free.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Shuttle transfers were on time and friendly drivers.

Transport

Grey Glacier Boat Tour

Patagonia

This was a great way to end our W trek. The glacier has to been seen in person. Words don’t do it justice.

Quality of Experience

Smooth boat ride with informative guide on board.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Amazing trip. Kimkim tailored an exceptional experience with an excellent mix of local small group and large group tours.
The rapid response of the local teams via phone or chat was reassuring and allowed for some minor last minute adjustments while on the trip.

Our 10 day trip to Patagonia was amazing. Thanks Erin who was very responsive and patient to consider my requests and planned the trip to fit our needs and made all the arrangements Nara who met us when we got there and be very helpful during our trip. All the drivers and guides were very friendly and helpful. Especially our guide Carlos at Torres del Paine who was very knowledgeable, patient, professional, friendly. He showed us how beautiful and special the park is and we really enjoyed our time with him. Our guide Mica at Fitz Roy hike was very professional and friendly who made our hike a wonderful experience even though it was a very challenging hike. We loved the Patagonia Parks but the people who helped us during the trip left a huge impression on us. What a beautiful place with wonderful people. Thanks Kimkim to make my trip amazing. Michelle