Renata Guglielmetti

Renata was great at providing various updates through the planning process, and dealing with some changing schedules.
But we ended up doing a lot of the work that we thought a travel agent would assist with. For example, we often found the better way to travel throughout the country and which flights to take instead of relying on her. Also in the past travel specialists have provided us with "must do" things or provided more guidance, and we were kind of left to do a lot of that ourselves.

Further, there were some things - like making sure water bottles were in the cars - were completely overlooked.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Intercity Manaus

Manaus

It was fine, but nothing special. Good breakfast.

Juma Amazon Lodge

Autazes

It was fun staying in the tree lodges. But, there was no a/c.

Belmond Hotel das Cataratas

Foz do Iguaçu

Worth the extra money to be in the park. Sunset in the tower is a must do.

Activity Reviews

Transfer by hidroplane & immersion in the rainforest (JL - Day 1)

Brazil

Adventures in the Jungle Lodge (JL - Day 2)

Brazil

Some great activities. Wish there was a little more to do.

Iguaçu Falls Hike on the Argentina Side & Gran Aventura Boat Tour

Foz do Iguaçu

Amazing and our guide here was awesome.

Trip solid, but not perfect.
Renata was super helpful and very responsive. She was very good, and a pleasure to deal with in setting things up. A big thank you to her!!

The hotels were good, and very much inline with what I had asked for. That worked well. I am happy with the quality of the hotels given the quality/star level I requested. They fit the bill and were what I wanted and needed.

The logistics and information about contacting guides, and WhatsApp info was great, and very helpful in staying connected with guides.

The guides were all satisfactory to very good. It varied. Their English was all very good, and so there was no communication problem. Orico Soni Machado was fine to ok in Foz. He did was was needed, but he was busy preparing to leave on a personal trip the next day, and seemed distracted by that. He did though get me to the helicopter excursion, and that worked well; he clearly knew the area. His nephew helped to the final transfer to the airport, and helped me get boarding passes; he was responsive and communicative. Orico was fine, but I think he was ready for his personal trip the next day. The use of a group tour for the Argentine side worked very well, and the local guide, I've forgotten his name, did a fine if outstanding job keeping us moving and keeping track of us. This also kept costs down, and did not need to be a private trip. Good decision on that.

The best guide was Rocco Belletti. He also did both transfers to and from Paraty. He was very kind, and helped me understand Brazil, and gave me much information in general about his time as an immigrant to Brazil from Italy. He was top notch. He also gave me great recommendations on restaurants, and food to try and enjoy. He also went above and beyond and recommended a free Samba concert in Paraty. This ended up being one of the highlights of my entire trip because it was so nontouristic and filled with locals.

In Rio, Patricia was very professional, and did her absolute best to keep me safe and interested. She was very protective as I mentioned my concerns about safety. In my one free half day, things were fine, but I almost had my cell phone stolen from my shirt pocket on a street with people on it, during daylight. I only mention this to make you aware of this as Rio clearly remains a semi dangerous city. There is nothing Patricia could have done differently, and she was not on this half free day. It was after the group tour to Sugarloaf and Cristo the Redeemer. Again, it was a good decision to do those as group tours, and there would be no advantage to do those privately. The transfer to the airport was fine, on time and safe.

Overall, however, the private tours in both Paraty and Rio just seemed to lack something. They were only ok, and not terrifically interesting. In particular, the gold tour in Paraty just did not seem to have much of a point other than a short hike, the tasting at the end was rather perfunctory, and not super interesting. In addition, the Rio tours were ok, but I guess I did not learn too too much, but I did get good photos. Maybe I was expecting too much, but the private tours, though I did see what was advertised in the trip information I was given, just seemed uninspired. Not sure if I would not have been better off with more group, public tours to different areas rather than private tours in those two areas.

Lastly, the travel book info packet was very helpful having all the info in one place and in one document. It was very well organized and had all the info I needed in an organized fashion. Thank you Renata for that, and answering all my questions.

If any questions about my comments, feel free to contact me. I'm happy to elaborate.

Hotel Reviews

Pousada do Principe

Paraty

Loved this hotel. Best on the trip.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Taroba Hotel

Foz do Iguacu

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Windsor Martinique Copacabana Hotel

Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro

Authenticity & Character

Safe place

Location

Great location between Copacabana beach, with easy walk to Ipanema beach

Staff

Very courteous and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

I felt very safe in this hotel

Activity Reviews

Full-Day Group Tour Argentinean Side Falls

Foz do Iguaçu

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Walking Tour of Paraty

Paraty

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Exploring the Brazilian Falls & Bird Park

Foz do Iguaçu

I did the bird park on my own, and Orico was helpful during the Iguazu Falls portion of the half day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Gold Trail Tour

Paraty

Rocco was great, just the activity did not seem to have a lot of point to it other than a short hike outside of Paraty

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Carioca Lifestyle and Carnival Culture (by Public Transport)

Rio de Janeiro

Not sure what we really were seeing, but just walked old part of the city and saw many churches. Did not really seem like we had a precise plan of what we were going to see. It was ok, but no real theme to it.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full-Day Group Tour Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer + Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf)

Rio de Janeiro

Group tour was best way to see the iconic sights where there is not much to add other than seeing the two landmarks.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an amazing trip. Everything was seamlessly taken care of for us. This is my first time not doing an organized group tour (I have done more than 40), and this was by far the better way to travel. Renata was able to find things that we never would have been able to do. Our locals guides were exceptional. Manuela, our Pantanal guide, was friendly, reliable, knowledgeable, and honestly really fun. Our stay at Barra Mansa was by far our favorite part of the trip. The folks there legitimately made us feel like we were at home. Manuela, also followed up to assist us in making bookings in Sao Paulo. She was fantastic.

Dai, our Bonito guide, was funny, had so many interesting stories, and was not afraid of jumping in and doing the adventure stuff alongside us. She made sure everything was taken care of for us.

Rocco, our Paraty guide, not only drove us all the way from Sao Paulo but also had extensive knowledge of the local history. He also recommended some places for our favorite meals on the entire trip. He went above and beyond to assist us in booking a last minute boat tour.

Bruno, our Sao Paulo guide, was extremely knowledgeable and able to read our group and pivot on a dime to make instant changes to our itinerary that suited us (MASP was amazing!). We all loved Sao Paulo by the end of the day.

Overall, it was an excellent trip. I can't say enough about how kind the people were, how delicious the food, and how beautiful the scenery. I would highly recommend using Kim Kim. We'll certainly be booking with them again.

As a minor detail, the GRU airport transfer and airport hotel we stayed at twice was the only negative experience we had the entire time. The GRU hotel van transfer was nearly impossible to figure out, especially after an overnight trip. We ended up getting a taxi, which was much quicker and more convenient. I wish we had just done that up front and saved us trekking all over the airport while exhausted only to not find the connection.

The airport hotel we stayed at in GRU was conveniently located and had a good breakfast but was otherwise somewhere I would not recommend to anyone. We ended up in the same room a week apart and it very clearly hadn't been cleaned other than the beds being remade. The bathroom was dirty and unhygienic, the table tops sticky, and something I had accidentally left 6 days earlier was still on the floor (which, I guess was lucky). It was also extremely loud and had an odd smell in the rooms.

The adventures were fantastic. All guide and drivers were amazing. I would like to specifically thank Lucas. He was a fantastic guide. We really enjoyed all the things he showed us and taught us. Especially the local phrases and we got to use to communicate. Fun was had by all. Thank you so much.

Hotel Reviews

Pousada Naturalia

Angra dos Reis

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Windsor Califórnia Copacabana Hotel

Rio de Janeiro

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Day Tour of Sugarloaf Mountain (walking trail) and Christ the Redeemer Statue

Rio de Janeiro

This was an awsome experience.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boat Tour Halfway Around Ilha Grande (Group Tour)

Ilha Grande

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hike to Lopes Mendes Beach

Ilha Grande

Quality of Experience

Food

The restaurant on the water was excellent

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport