Dittmar Adventures

Within just 13 days of our trip to Patagonia, there're already two incidents that could have serious consequences:

1) On the day trip to Upsala Glacier, we first took the boat to Estancia Cristina. Soon after onboard, the local tour guide distributed the coloured bracelets for indication of the tour we were going when arriving Estancia Cristina. We logically thought that it was going to the Upsala Glacier Lookout by 4x4 vehicle, as clearly stated in Kimkim's itinerary. We then moved around and took photos on the boat as normal tourists would do. Incidentally, one of our group had casual chat with the guide, and was shocked when the guide told him that the tour booked by Kimkim was just hiking around Estancia Cristina, and for going to the Lookout, each one had to pay USD50 extra. She also cautioned that 4x4 vehicle might be hard to arrange at such late stage, and it was the only means to see the Glacier. As there's no wifi on boat nor mobile signal, it was difficult for us to contact Kimkim to clarify. Rather than a relaxing voyage, our time on boat was turned to be worrying and anxious. At very late moment we could get the the signal to contact Kimkim but was told that we had to pay by ourselves first. After some negotiations, Kimkim finally managed to pay directly and luckily the vehicle could be arranged. If there was no chatting with the guide, or the guide did not say more about the tour when arriving, or seats in 4x4 vehicles were fully booked, or extra 4x4 vehicle was not stationed in this remote area, or the driver with the skill to drive 4x4 vehicle in the difficult terran had gone elsewhere, we would have missed this major attraction, which any amount of money cannot compensate. Therefore, it was purely by luck we could see the glacier as planned.

2) As our flight to return home was rescheduled to later time, the pickup vehicle should arrive at 8am, instead of previously scheduled 6:30am, which we confirmed with Kimkim again on the day before departure. At 7am on the day of departure, when we came to hotel restaurant to have breakfast, we learned that the driver had been waiting since 6:30am. Furthermore, the hotel staff also got the information that we would depart at 6:30am and prepared packed breakfast for us. Even after we had told the staff about the correct time to leave, she still insisted that we could only take the packed breakfast to eat outside, not in the restaurant. Such miscommunication between Kimkim and partners not only embarrassed us and deprived our enjoyment of a relaxing dine-in breakfast, but could have serious consequences if our flight schedule was changed the other way, i.e. changed to earlier time, as the driver might arrive at the original scheduled later time and we could have missed the flight.

Overall, without a tour guide to follow through, we were more like travel on our own. If you can spend more time to do some research on the internet, and take the trouble to book the hotels, day tours and transport by yourself, you can already get exactly the same kind of tour experience, at a much lower cost. If you already have some knowledge about the place to visit, it's absolutely not necessary to arrange the tour though Kimkim.

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.

Paul from Calafate is an excellent guide. Besides his English is excellent and no communication issue, his caring and attentiveness to the group is perfect.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Lago Grey

Torres del Paine

The room view was spectacular. Room was clean and bed was comfortable. All staffs including front desk, housekeeper, bell boy and the Resturant staff were wonderful and friendly and courteous. Love the Resturant food and services. Lots of wine selection. The only complaint is no WiFi in the room and we all need to go to the lobby area to get WiFi, but then there’s an opportunity to meet and chat with other hotel guests

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Sierra Nevada

El Calafate

The location of the hotel is very convenient. The room needs to be remodel or upgrade a bit. It was a warm days when we stayed in the hotel so we tried to open windows to get some fresh air. There were no screens for the window and lots of mosquitoes came in. We ended up with closing all windows and it was hard to sleep. And the breakfast did not have good selection. Very little choice. We stayed for dinner for the first night and the food was not good, needs improvement

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Weskar Lodge

Puerto Natales

Good location has good views from each room. We ate in the Resturant twice and one night was good and one night was bad, so inconsistent. Wonder if there were different chefs! The waiter/waitress in the Resturant need to have more training. Room is clean and bed is comfy. Each room has different unique design as I compared the rooms with other people in my group.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Poincenot

El Chalten

Location is excellent for some of us wanted to hike at Lago. Plus easy to walk to the supermarket and restaurants. We had the downstairs room and it faced the parking lot. Think it feels safer if there’s a fence built in between. We had to have the shade down and the window closed for the entire time. The breakfast was good. Staff was nice. We got to leave early like 430am and thanks for the breakfast last to take care of us before leaving. Big thanks

Authenticity & Character

Location

Convenient

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Explore the Wildlife of the Magellan Strait

Punta Arenas

Love the breakfast Resturant environment. Suggest they should reduce the limit of people in the boat. We have over 20 people in the boat and not much room to move around. 15/16 CAP based on the boat size. The boat ride was very rough that day and hardly saw any creatures. Everyone was all wet and some got seasick. Special kudos to the owner to make a stop for bathroom run. It wasn’t easy to park on shores and we were appreciated

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Visit the Isla Magdalena Penguin Colony

Punta Arenas

Just okay. We basically just arrived to the island and walked in the circle to look at all these penguins in the island. Not much action

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Explore the La Leona Petrified Forest, Transfer to El Chalten

Patagonia

We didn’t think watching the stones can be so informative and interesting. Thanks to our tour guide Paul is an experienced and excellent tour guide. He brings the tour very interesting. Kudos to him.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

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!!!!

Hotel Reviews

Lodge Caleta Gonzalo

Staying at the Lodge Caleta Gonzalo was wonderful. The cabins were cozy and fit perfectly with the surroundings of Pumalín National Park. The hospitality and location added greatly to the experience of being in the stunning natural landscape.

Hotel Lago Grey

Torres del Paine

Hotel Lago Grey was simply fantastic. Our room had a breathtaking view of the water, glacier, and mountains. Even though I missed out on the glacier tour due to being sick, sitting and enjoying the view was a perfect experience. The setting in Torres del Paine is exactly why we came to Patagonia.

Hotel Albatros

Punta Arenas

Our stay at Hotel Albatros was disrupted by noise from construction work. In the windy city of Punta Arenas, the noise from corrugated metal roofing kept us up at night. Though I appreciate that they were working on it the next day, the timing was unfortunate as it hindered our nap to make for the sleep lost the night before. Once the construction is completed, I'm sure the experience would be better.

Laguna Condor Mountain Lodge

El Chalten

Laguna Condor Mountain Lodge in El Chaltén was simply beautiful. The lodge was perfectly situated and elegantly designed, offering a serene and stunning mountain retreat.

Activity Review

Multi-day Fly-in Hiking Tour of Pumalín National Park

Pumalín National Park

I absolutely loved the multi-day hiking tour at Pumalín National Park. The little cabin we stayed in was fantastic, and Marco, our guide, was amazing. We explored a small activity center about the volcano and the history of the area, which was fascinating. This part of the trip was truly one of my favorites.

Jimena helped us to make true our dreamt honeymoon. She helped us to make the most of our days in the region based on our preferences and requests. We did not have to worry about anything during those days, just being on time. Special shout out to Rodrigo our guide in Ushuaia who made those days extra special.