Martin Ogawa

Martin at KimKim, for the last year, has been dealing with your July Eclipse trip to Argentina 2019. He was always helpful with his replies and bookings we needed to change, I even got to call him once which was great to hear someone's voice, not just typing, sometimes you just need to chat to make sure we understand each other.
This was our first time using KimKim and not the last! Argentina was a wonderful experience and we'll be back!

Thank you again for making this one of the most memorable trips!

regards

Marie & Doug from Canada

Dear Martin,
Thanks again for this wonderful trip! Back home, we wish w're back there.

We had issues, but you were there, to get everything right.

Day by day we will review the trip.

Day 1: we had to call you for the car. The changed flight schedule was not known by the car rental company.
For one night it's better to stay in a different hotel or hosteria, because we had the feeling that this was a one-person room.

Day 2: beautiful stay

Day 3: we visited La Garganta del Diablo and the Humahauaca (14-colors mountain).

Day 4: beautiful stay. To buy the extra fuel is not necessary. In Antofagasta is a new fuel station.

Day 5: please mention to others that de Puna de Atacama (Dieserto du diable - seita curvas) is really spectucalar.

In Tolar Grande, maybe you have heard, we were in a beautiful hosteria (Casa Andina), the same name as you mentioned in the detailed information. Because we didn't have any addresses and this is mentioned on Internet we thought we were in the correct place to stay. This hosteria is in line with the previous hotels.
Unfortunately we had to go to a basic stay. Maria was very friendly.

In Tolar Grande there are two places for dinner. You have to step in on the time the miners go for dinner and you have to eat the daily menu.

Day 6: please skip this extra day in Tolar Grande and add this to Antofagaste.
Laguna Santa Maria is far away and the road was washed away on several places. To dangerous because of the rental car. We turned.

Day 7: we drive an awesome route (via Antofalla)

Great stay in Antofagasta (wonderful). To get fuel is easy, because there is a new fuel station.

You can add 2 more nights to stay here because there are a lot of attractions.

Day 8: Campo de Piedra Pómez is awesome.
You arrive after sunset in Tafi del Valle. It's a long trip.

Dag 9 - 11: -

Dag 12: After visiting quebrada de las conchas (amphitheater at last), make the return to Cachi. It was better to stay in Cachi for the night because the drive from Salta via Cafayate to Quebrada de las Flechas was far too long (tarde tarde).

Day 13: Yungas trekking was awesome, very friendly guide, great lunch. We prefer to stay in this village, Villa San Lorenzo instead of Salta.

Day 14: This trip was far too long. We had only a quick stop in Cafayate and in Cachi. Visiting Puente del Diablo was not possible because this point is after sunset. We arrived in San Antonio de los Cobres at 9.30pm. Driving after sunset in the mountains is heavy (don't thin at thime that something could happen).

Day 15: short drive to Salta. In the afternoon we've visited the Teléfirico.

Day 16: unfortunately the guide wasn't there. No hike for that day.

Day 17: plan this trip with a stay in Cachi.

Day 18: -

Day 19: Eclipse Day!

Day 20: as complimentary we got an extra stay in San Juan (you offer it for free on January, 24th) . This hotel was oké, but we don't recommend it to others. We had to pay for the night.

Day 21: We would advise, depending on the flight schedule, to book a hotel closer to the airport.
We had to leave at 5.30am. No breakfast at that time.

Flight Mendoza - Buenos Aires - Rio de Janeiro - Amsterdam (day +1)

Day 21: Delev

Positive experiences:
Good price, very good destinations, good internal flight arrangements, except one bad experience good airport pickups and transfers. Excellent arrangements and quality of lunches and dinners. Responses from Carla were very prompt, and Martin’s were generally good.

Negative:
Failure of my transport at Rio was very disturbing and that was a bad start.
While the hotels were all four star rated, Dione of them were below our expectations and well below what we had experienced with other tour operators.
Some of the tour guides were not knowledgeable and did not provide any real information. Our first guide to Petropolice was a disaster and wasted our time at the unscheduled half day stop at a beer factory.
Some of the visits were not good, such as the Conchita winery I n Santiago. We just saw the cellar and the house and no wine making process. There is a scope to improve.

The first stop in Brazil was not good as the hotel was below par. It was very disappointing to see the hotel lobby.

We had a great time booking with Kimkim, and will definitely use them again. We would also recommend them to others, and in particular others doing the trip we did.

We had some really great calls with our specialist Martin, who did an amazing job, and helped us plan the trip that we wanted. I was very particular about our accommodation, but Martin listened to what I wanted and (patiently) found the perfect options. He also helped us maximise our time in Patagonia e.g by thinking outside the box and finding other flight options when we discovered that all the domestic flights were booked out due to the G20 (we had booked our international flights by ourselves and didn't realise). He was also so helpful with all the logistics of moving round so much in such a short time, and planning the best trip possible so we could see everything we wanted to in the time we had.

When circumstances changed (e.g unpredictable closures in Buenos Aires during our stay due to the G20) Martin was on hand to help out in person (he even came to our hotel) with other options for us - very quick thinking!

He also put small touches on our trip which were both lovely and personal and absolute lifesavers (such as arranging for us to have a shower after a hike and before a plane ride when we had checked out of our hotel) which allowed us to be comfortable and make the best use of our time.

It is one of the best trips we have ever been on (if we planned it again we would change nothing) and all the individual tours we did as part of it were amazing, in particular all the day trips and accommodation in el calafate. Special shout out as well to Hotel Lago Grey and our guide Carlos, which were absolute highlights of the trip.

We would only mention a couple of other points as feedback:
1) I would generally allow plenty of response time to queries during the planning phase (as this could sometimes take a few days or so)
2) to double check the schedules and bus tickets etc have the correct dates and hotels on them (we had to get some errors corrected to match our itinerary, but once pointed out these were speedily corrected by the travel team)
3) one transfer showed up half an hour early and then left without us, but as it was only a cab ride to the nearby bus station we were able to run there to make the bus, and
4) when we were dropped off in Torres del Paine it was later than scheduled and there was no one there to meet us, and the phone in the cafe wasn't working - luckily we found someone who spoke English who took us to talk to a ranger who was able to radio base to call our hotel, who then came to collect us.

These are all however minor points (which happen when you have so many things booked), and did not detract from how pleased we were with this absolute trip of a lifetime, and the hard work put in by Martin to help us realize this. Thank you so much Martin! 11 out of 10! We would recommend to anyone visiting Argentina and Chile.

Overall it was a fantastic trip.
I take at least 2 and sometimes 3 vacations a year and I am very particular. I had been using a particular agency for many adventures and decided to give Kim Kim a try.
I will give a concise but honest evaluation if you permit and at the end some suggestions that may help Kim Kim and future travelers.
Day 1, All day walking tour A , that night was the Argentine Experience A+.
Day 2, Navigation to Tigre C
Although interesting, I found it to be a long boat ride followed by a long and boring train ride. Guide for both days was the same. Although very knowledgeable he had no communication skills and was very boring.
Day 3, Mendoza , Wine tour and lunch. A+. This guide was A+ with good communication skills and a sense of humor.
Day 4 White water rafting A+ and I followed it up with a canopy adventure. A+. Guides overall with the expedition we're great.
Day 5 High Mountain Full day tour.
Although very scenic it was just way too long a drive. Guides stopped at MANDATORY spots for pictures, tiny walk, lunch and site for pictures. C
Day 6 Travel Day
Day 7 P Morena and National Park and boat ride. D
This was the most disappointing day of my trip. Bus was 1 hour late for pick up and I was on a bus with 37 other people. Took 45 minutes for everyone to get off and then back on bus for a picture . Boat ride was cancelled due to the weather (wind). We walked down steps to view glacier and then spend 3 1/2 hours at the refreshment house . This was absurd, watching bus load after busload of tourists coming and going. Unbelievable and touristy.
Fortunately, the guide was able to get a different boat trip to save some part of the day.
Day 8 Estancia Discovery Cristina B+
Great views and scenery. 4X4 trip was very exhilarating. B+
D
Do away with the boring museum tour and garden visit.
Ugh.
Day 8 Travel Day
Day 9 Beagle Channel boat ride and Penguin Island A+. Great overall experience.
Day 10 Trek and Rafting trip. Great guide (Pedro) A+.
Day 11 Travel Day , Flight, USA.
Here are my suggestions, take or leave them. I think they make your company a little more personal.
1. Warn your clients that they should be aware of counterfeit $ being used all over BA (taxi drivers are notorious).
2. Forworn your clients that some adventures (national park, lunches, etc.) must be paid in cash and pesos only.
3. Forworn your clients that they should make dinner reservations before they arrive in the next destination. Suggest restaurants to clients . They will appreciate it rather then go there blind.
4. Advise clients to bring their passport to trekking in Ushuaia so they can get them stampted at the end of the world.
This little item may mean something to a person.
5. Suggest places to shop and places not to shop. Do some research and it will pay dividends. Maybe even get a discount for clients at certain places.
6. Double check all info to clients as my reservations were incorrect the first night and my flight info was also incorrect. (Very confusing).

So I have exhausted my time and you are probably tired of reading all of this but I wanted to make sure you really knew my thoughts.
Hope this info may help someone in the future.
Having said all this I would consider using KimKim in the future.
All the best Billy Gluck

Pros: Smooth booking process, quick turnaround to our requests, professional dialogue and we got compensation (other services) or refund for all travel inconveniences. The services we did benefit from (tours, accommodation) were of good quality.
Cons: one day tour was not what we asked to book, and one day tour was cancelled due to transportation issues at one of kimkim’s partner.
Martin was very cooperative, communixative, reaponsive and went above and beyond to solve the issues in such a manner that he managed to minimise our travel discomfort.

We had issues, but Martin was good in getting the situation back on track.

Martin was easily contactable and helpful in providing tours, and selected some perfect tours for us in the end. However it was hard to determine the exact day itineraries to see what was involved. It would have been useful to have been sent final overviews to what each day covered and what was included with more information than was provided. This lead to a bit of confusion on arrival as there was a misunderstanding of the plan for the day and being dropped at the hotel for lunch when we thought we were out all day, and when we were late being picked up on day 1 we weren't sure who to contact.

The local agency was very good - very knowledgeable guides and great trips.

We were on a trip to Patagonia and toured around Argentina and undertook a number of experiences. All of these were incredible and while there were some things that slightly detracted from the experience we were very pleased overall with the experience.

We happened to arrive at a time when a strike was scheduled which meant one of our days had to be moved around. This meant we stayed a day longer in El Calafate and had to find something to entertain us whilst we were there, which we managed no problem due to my interest in wildlife and the presence of a nature reserve at the edge of the town.

The strike also had a knock on effect that meant our transfer from the hotel to the bus station the next day didn't turn up and we had to very quickly jump in a taxi and head across to the bus station and similarly when we returned to El Calafate a transfer with a different company also didn't show up which meant a walk in the dark back to the hotel with no map.

We also had an issue with some cash machines which after an internet search turned out to be due to some Argentinian banks not working with European issued credit/bank cards. We found that HSBC and Santander were able to work fine and actually charged less overall for the withdrawals.

Activity 1: Canoeing on Lake Mascardi with Kawen Adventure Company.
Guides Julian and Rodrigo turned up on time and spoke good English. They talked us through the area, the wildlife and the plan for the day. After a morning of canoeing the weather ahead looked pretty bad and we made the decision to stop for lunch. We had lunch on the shore overlooking Lake Mascardi. Lunch wasn't just some sandwiches and a bottle of water. A full table was set up with a whole range of different food, pastries, salad and of course Argentinian wine. After lunch we carried on back to the start before heading back to Bariloche.

Activity 2: Horse Riding at Estancia Frugua
Another great day, however there wasn't a bi-lingual guide and my Spanish is pretty poor. We were due to go out in the morning and afternoon but for some reason we only went out in the morning. I suspect there was a reason for this but as we don't speak enough Spanish to hold a full conversation we were left in the dark a bit. We managed to communicate through most of it though. The food here was also incredible.

Activity 3: Mini Trekking Perito Moreno Glacier
Great day again. Good guides, spoke good English and a great experience overall. The trip out to the glacier was great and it just got better and better throughout the day. An experience not to be missed. Whisky on the glacier was pretty cool too.

Activity 4: Hiking in El Chalten
The hiking in El Chalten was incredible. We were fortunate that the weather turned to the good the day we arrived and stayed good for our entire stay but it is an incredible place and a must for anyone who likes the outdoors. The hikes we did were far from challenging and took in some amazing scenery. A couple of steep sections but nothing anyone who is relatively fit couldn't take on.

Activity 5: Valdes Peninsula and Whale Watching.
Again an experience not to be missed. After touring around during the morning and early afternoon seeing various wildlife, (guanaco, burrowing owls, mara, elephant seals, penguins and sea lions) we then got the chance to go whale watching and we were so close to the whales it was incredible.

Hotels
Design Suites Bariloche - Very nice hotel and restaurant. Great views across the mountains and very friendly staff.

Hainen Hotel - Nice place but obviously not meant to be overly luxurious. It was great, served our purpose and the staff were friendly and accommodating when issues occurred.

Lunajuim - Really nice hotel, very friendly staff who really made us feel welcome.

Hotel Peron - Nice hotel, although clearly a lot busier than others we had stayed in so breakfast was a lot louder. Good views across the bay. Staff spoke less English, but we managed to check in.

Hotel NH Florida - Nice hotel and polite staff. Breakfast was incredibly busy with people finding it hard to find somewhere to sit and staff seemed to be struggling to keep up with providing enough cups and glasses etc.

Other small notes -
There were a few costs that we hadn't budgeted for nothing major but may be worth making clear to people in future -
Park Entrance Fee for Canoeing (300 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Mini-Trekking (600 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Glacier Boat Tour (600 pesos each)
Park Entrance Fee for Whale Watching (520 pesos each)
City Tax in Bariloche (approximately 300 pesos)

Total of approximately 4,340 pesos. All of the above also needed to be in cash. Once we'd resolved the withdrawals issue it wasn't a problem. Also worth noting that the fees are much reduced for residents of Argentina.

It is worth noting that while there were a few issues we had the telephone number of our local specialist who managed to resolve the issues as they occurred and generally put our minds at rest when we were concerned.

Overall this experience was incredible and one not to be missed.