Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our Manaslu Circuit trek in Nepal was everything I imagined it could be. Beautiful scenery, kind and interesting people, friendly and professional guide and porter, smooth logistics. Ngima Dorji Sherpa did an outstanding job for us arranging the trek, and was always responsive and accommodating. Tshering and Kaji, our guide and porter, kept a watchful eye on us on the trek and showed patience at every turn. I highly recommend this trekking agency.

As already mentioned, Ngima provided outstanding service in a professional, responsive, and accommodating way from my initial inquiry through the end of the trek.

Thanks Tiago, Cathy and I really enjoyed our week (post whale watch). We plan to return to visit other islands in the future.
You and your team were great!
Thanks so much - Joe

Overall, the trip was very good. There could have been a lot more communication about the daily itinerary and I wish that there had been more optionality provided for what was done each day. For example, when visiting the Elephant Sanctuary, there were several tour options that the sanctuary provided, but one of the tour was just selected for me without providing me an option (when I would have preferred to be on another tour). Also, I feel like many of the days ended the activities earlier than expected without any option to visit more sites or deviate from the itinerary. Overall, while the tour was great, I was expecting more for the money that I paid (even despite the fact that I realize I paid a premium for being a solo traveler).

Andy was phenomenal in some respects, especially when I was presented with a health issue. But again, some of my comments about the optionality of the trip and the communication could have applied. I think we could have come up with a more tailed trip for me if I had been provided more options and there had been more communication.

The trip was amazing. Loved the tips on stops and restaurants. Really happy with most of the accommodations. Will definitely be using Kimkim in the future

Only complaint was we weren't the happiest with the car rental place, didn't seem the reputable. Also the accommodations at the centric house, while centrally located, were very dirty for the price paid. Other than that, very happy.

Loved working with Chris, however would like an heads up when credit card would be charged so we could make sure the money was in the account.

Great guides, great itinerary

Amanda was the best and most helpful especially when things didnt go as planned. Like when the airport was closed 8-)

The actual trip itself was amazing - can not fault it, and the guide and porter could not have been better. There was good communication, and Amanda was helpful with all of my questions along the way. The only bit of advice I would offer is around clarity - for example, at the start (not having ever done this before) I didn't realise I was signing up for a solo/private trip. In the end, someone joined, which made the trip 500% better than it would have been, as there were not the opportunities to talk to other trekkers at the teahouses that I imagined there would be. The other one is around timeliness - the actual details (pickup time and where etc) I didn't receive until I was en route to Nepal - a bit nerve wracking as I wasn't sure what kind of internet access I would have. Might seem silly from the point of view of someone living in Kathmandu, but I like to have everything locked in as much as in advance as possible. But these are just very minor points to consider, especially for first time trekkers, and more than made up for by the quality of the trip itself.

Aside from previous comments = always helpful, always as quick as possible in the replies, met with me prior to both trips (trek and half day trip) .

We highly recommend Amanda and team. We had a fantastic trip and everything was organised seamlessly​

Amanda and team were always there looking after us. We really didn't need to worry about a thing. Our trekking guide was the envy of the rest of the group's we met on the trek so we felt very well looked after and in capable and safe hands.
We highly recommend a helicopter to get you to the where the best trekking starts if your budget allows.
Amanda and her team went above and beyond to make our trip to Nepal unforgettable.

We had the BEST time! Thanks so much Chris!

It was weird that I just got one travel agent, and that there was no choice at all -- an agent that ended up being good, if not perfect. I felt there was no particular reason I got this agent as opposed to any other--why this person? What was so great about them? What was special about who they were, or why I they were the person who should plan my trip?

Communication could have been better. We went 3 days without hearing anything, and then found out that our itinerary needed changes. Trip was still amazing, but going through that was nerve racking.

We were really pleased with Chris's response time and the trip schedule for making our way around the country. It was clear that Chris was not aware that a few of the sites and one of roads were closed for the winter. I also specifically asked about Glymur falls in the winter and if the log was across the river and what it would be like in March. Chris said the log would be there, however it was clearly marked on the sign at the trailhead that the log is not there in the winter. The hike was very snowy. We were prepared for that. Good hike either way but again some misinformation given the time of year. Our accommodation was generally excellent and very comfortable for our family of four. The OK hotel was good but the "pull out couch" was not long enough even for me to sleep on (I'm 5 foot 5 inches) let alone two 17 year old boys. Just good to know if you are putting a family in there it would work for two young kids.

Everything was well organized and explained in the itinerary

They checked in in the trip when I was there and ensured everything went as planned

We had a wonderful experience in Nepal with the help of KimKim and Ngima Dorji. KimKim helped plan the trek and answered lots of questions. Joost of KimKim gave us itinerary and hotel ideas, all of which were great. When we arrived in the Kathmandu airport, we were met by Ngima's son and later Ngima himself. During our entire 3 week stay in Nepal and throughout both of our treks, Ngima made us feel as if we were his only clients, even though he had many groups and trekkers there at that time. I would definitely use KimKim to help plan another trip. Ngima Dorji was amazing in Nepal and I cannot imagine using any company other then Nepal Myths and Mountain Trails.

Chris was very helpful and insightful. Always repsonded promptly.

Loved his suggestions and his possible itineraries he laid out for us. There were options and comments to help us gauge how we can cover all that we intended to see.

We were very pleased with our experience in Cartagena and Isla Mucura. We did not appreciate the difficulty of the 13.3-mile hike planned for our second day in Colombia. (For example, we did not know how long the hike would be. We had an estimate of how many hours in would last, but not of the difficulty.) We are in good shape, but this was a daunting scramble though and over boulders and with a 300-meter plus gain in altitude in a tropical jungle.
We were disappointed in the Casa Lina Hotel in Palominos and in the Casa Amarilla Hotel in Mompox. The language barrier was high in both locations, the beds were uncomfortable and the staff were correct but not friendly.

We seemed to have difficulty understanding each other. When we needed help with a billing dispute (in Mompox) and in adjusting our itinerary (in Palominos), she was not readily available.
As in other aspects of the trip, we were to blame for some of this. We should have pursued more subjects before we left, regarding temperatures, hiking difficulties, sunscreen, etc. I was also disappointed when we were asked for full payment earlier than I expected.

David was responsive, friendly and helped with his expertise of travel and the country. I felt like he completely understood the needs of my family and what it took to make our trip the best ever. He answered every single question I had and helped to make our trip even more memorable with his suggestions of where to stay, eat, and what areas of Ecuador we should see. He helped to make sure every little detail was thought of and taken care of. I didn't have to worry about anything. I would plan every trip I had with David.. he was great!

Ngima took care of all of the planning and everything worked out perfectly (apart from the weather!)

Ngima gave us a great service, make everything painless.
The guide and the Porter where really nice, they did a great job. Definitely we did love the experience

I can't say enough what a pleasure it was working with these folks for our trip into the Amazon for our honeymoon. From the time I made the initial contact with KimKim until the end of our adventure, we felt like we were the only concern they had. We worked with Nathalie on the front end for lining the trip up and making sure we had everything we needed. She was very thorough and polite, and kept in excellent contact with me prior to the trip.
Once we arrived at the airport in Leticia we waited a few minutes for our ride to show up and then were taken straight down to the office to get ready for our 4 day trek into the Amazon jungle! Thats where we met with our guide Ramiro, were promptly issued some rubber muck boots, and went over some necessities for our trip. We didn't bring enough mosquito repellent or rain ponchos, so we made a quick stop at the store to grab some and then had a nice lunch with our guide at a restaurant there in town. Once we were ready to roll, we hopped in a cab and were driven about 20 minutes outta town, where we got out and the 3 of us began walking through the jungle. Immediately I was feeling grateful that they gave us the rubber boots and told us to grab more Deet!! We eventually started fondly calling the bug repellent "Amazonian Cologne". It worked great though and really as long as we kept some on, the mosquitoes really didn't bother us that much.
We walked for maybe a couple hours into the jungle to a Maloka and met with some of the native people there working on the plantation. Our guide Ramiro knew the people well and immediately introduced us and explained what they were working on. We had some supper and just hung out for a little bit until it got dark. Then we went for a hike into the jungle to look at the nocturnal wildlife, which was really awesome to see everything!! We saw all kinds of cool stuff! That night we met with the Shaman and shared his Mumbai. We had a good talk with him and learned a bit about their culture, which we found very interesting!
The next day we woke up & had breakfast & then hiked for several hours through the jungle to a remote Lodge where we showered & relaxed for awhile. After supper we hiked for about 15 minutes to a huge tree where we repelled UP about 100 feet to a big platform just above the jungle canopy. Ramiro was given instructions by the company to leave us alone in the tree house for a few hours, since it was our honeymoon, so he set us up with some rose petals, grapes & chocolates, and a bottle of champagne, and then they went back to the lodge for a few hours so we could have some privacy ;) The next morning we woke up to see the sun rise over the jungle, zip lined out of that tree into another tree platform, and repelled down to the ground. What an experience! We hiked for a couple hours to the river and boarded some kayaks and took off paddling. It was high water season so the river was swollen up and into the jungle so we had a lot to look at from the kayaks. We paddled a couple hours and finally made it across a big lake to another Lodge where we ate lunch and met our boat captain. The last leg of our journey was in a small boat where we got to see a bunch more wildlife, including sloths, toucans, monkeys, pink dolphins, grey dolphins, green parrots, and piranhas! We fished for and caught piranhas and took them back to the lodge where they cooked them for us! They were great! We drank some cachacas with the folks who run the lodge and then went off to bed. The next day we boarded the boat again and made our way back to Leticia to conclude our trip.
All in all I would say our Amazon jungle experience was truly amazing! The people that we met were all so nice, courteous, and respectful, and you could tell they sincerely appreciated our business. We feel that we made lifelong friends with our guide Ramiro, and hope to stay in contact with him through Facebook. He had everything lined out perfectly and even cooked most of the food we ate on the trip! What seemed like an amazing trip to us was literally just another day to him. He has done hundreds if not thousands of those trips and we felt safe the entire time.
I would highly recommend this company for your trip into the Amazon. They did a great job for us and was worth every dollar we spent on it!!! A+

Chris was there to help me with everything with a fast response!

The Guides were fantastic and I was impressed Harpa put it together exactly to our needs with so little notice