Cami Sarmiento

Booking this trip through my guide, Cami, was the best decision ever. She took care of everything. I had the piece of mind knowing that all my activities were taken care of. She was always accessible and responded very quickly. I had zero issues during my 2 weeks by myself in the Phillipines. She was even kind enough to give me suggestions for my off days. I wouldn’t go with any other company. 10/10 would recommend to anybody. I’m already planning my next trip and can’t wait to book with Cami again!

Cami put together a great vacation for us to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. The format of the offering was different than what I had previously gotten from KimKim, namely she put together an itinerary but did not book the trips (I don’t know if this is the new format KimKim is adopting.) While I would have preferred a more full service offering, Cami put together an excellent itinerary and give us detailed information on how to book activities and other reservations easily on our own. She hit... read more

Cami put together a great vacation for us to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. The format of the offering was different than what I had previously gotten from KimKim, namely she put together an itinerary but did not book the trips (I don’t know if this is the new format KimKim is adopting.) While I would have preferred a more full service offering, Cami put together an excellent itinerary and give us detailed information on how to book activities and other reservations easily on our own. She hit all the highlights at both sites, including some fun side excursions. The night sky tour at Lowell Observatory was a highlight! I also appreciated that she followed up with us even after the itinerary was built, to let us know about new tour and activity openings as Arizona opened up from the pandemic. Thanks Cami for putting together a great itinerary and helping us plan a family vacation that we all loved!

Our recent family vacation to Palawan and El Nido was a delight for this group of "landlubbers". The arrangements-hotels, travel arrangements and activities were top notch. Our local guide Stephen Tuboc was friendly and an epitome of knowledge.
I have never seen such beautiful turquoise beaches before which were not swarming with tourists. The activities were planned with a lot of thought, so nothing seemed rushed. Snorkelling in the midst of lovely corals and multicoloured tropical fish was... read more

Our recent family vacation to Palawan and El Nido was a delight for this group of "landlubbers". The arrangements-hotels, travel arrangements and activities were top notch. Our local guide Stephen Tuboc was friendly and an epitome of knowledge.
I have never seen such beautiful turquoise beaches before which were not swarming with tourists. The activities were planned with a lot of thought, so nothing seemed rushed. Snorkelling in the midst of lovely corals and multicoloured tropical fish was a "once in a life time experience". I would definitely reccommend this trip to anyone who loves nature!!

We had a wonderful trip to Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon national parks, and to the Antelope Canyons. The self-guided guide prepared by Cami was very useful in pointing us to places to stay and dine, and popular areas to visit/see based on our schedule. We just followed the guide and had the best time! Thank you Cami!

Thank you to everyone at Kimkim, especially Cami who was so helpful in putting together my trip to Colombia.
I visited bogota, Santa Marta, Cartegena and did the Lost City Trek.
Cami helped put this altogether as well as arranging trips, tours and transfers meaning all I pretty much had to was get on the plane and the rest was taken care off.
Special mentions to the tour guides of Jhon and Alvaro for showing me around Bogota and Cartegena.
For the Lost City Trek I'd like to thank Denis,... read more

Thank you to everyone at Kimkim, especially Cami who was so helpful in putting together my trip to Colombia.
I visited bogota, Santa Marta, Cartegena and did the Lost City Trek.
Cami helped put this altogether as well as arranging trips, tours and transfers meaning all I pretty much had to was get on the plane and the rest was taken care off.
Special mentions to the tour guides of Jhon and Alvaro for showing me around Bogota and Cartegena.
For the Lost City Trek I'd like to thank Denis, Gostavo, Luis and Samir who were amazing guides and helped make the whole adventure truly memorable.
Thank you to Kimkim for being a major part of giving me a fantastic Colombia experience!

We had a fabulous time in Columbia. Cami did a super job in setting up
the middle part of our week, which I think was so successful because of the several conversations we had on kimkim.

We were picked up promptly by our driver, Luis. I know he was called in late, as our our original driver was unable to. My one concern was that he had driven through the night to get us and we had a 6-7 hour drive ahead of us. In spite of that, he was a very cautious driver, talked with us, stopped when we... read more

We had a fabulous time in Columbia. Cami did a super job in setting up
the middle part of our week, which I think was so successful because of the several conversations we had on kimkim.

We were picked up promptly by our driver, Luis. I know he was called in late, as our our original driver was unable to. My one concern was that he had driven through the night to get us and we had a 6-7 hour drive ahead of us. In spite of that, he was a very cautious driver, talked with us, stopped when we needed to, or when we had to though out the construction zone. I learned much from him about Columbia and never felt in danger.

We arrived late to Hacienda Venecia, but still took lunch and had a very informative tour of the coffee farm by Johan. Again, we learned a lot and he was most generous with his time.

We loved this place and wished we would have had more time there, if only to watch the birds! Just beautiful and the accommodations and staff very nice.

Milton and Victor picked us up promptly in the morning for our trip up to Nevada. Milton gets an A+ in my book. He has a broad and deep knowledge of the region and was eager to share that with us. The paramo was awe inspiring, but I think he felt that way about it too. I did not expect him to stay with us long when we returned to Manizales, but he did and we enjoyed our tour there as well.

The one place I had mixed feelings about was the place we had lunch at. We decided not to take in the hot springs, so enjoyed watching and feeding the hummingbirds in the garden. I also enjoyed talking to one of the employees about the hummingbirds, who obviously was quite taken by them as well.

Milton had asked if we could have lunch in the warmer room, and it seemed that they agreed to it, but when we returned they had put our food in the colder room (we had just come down from the paramo) even though there were no other guests. Two of us had also wanted the traditional soup and lunch, and our driver I think wanted something off the menu, but we were told we could only order off the menu and that Milton and our driver had to have the traditional food. It did not seem quite right, but I do not know if that is culturally accepted. If not, I feel the treatment would have been enough for me to not want to use this place (which is too bad because the hummingbirds were such a treat). By the way, the little cafe we stopped at on the way to the paramo was a treat where we had the traditional cane soup and cheese. Perfect!

After touring Manizales, we were dropped off at the Quo hotel. Very modern and nice-much more than we needed, but very comfortable.

Victor picked us up the next morning and promptly delivered us to the Pereira airport. It was fun to talk to him about the area.

Thank you SO much for putting together a package that so perfectly suited our needs. We loved Columbia! Everyone we met was so friendly, kind and helpful. I hope we get back someday, but in the meantime will highly recommend it to friends (and kimkim). We wish the country and its people well.

With much gratitude,
Cindy

Our guide Milton was absolutely fabulous. A wealth of knowledge, and a great human being. In my opinion, the day we spent with him was the best day of our trip. Visiting the paramo and the volcano was an experience of a lifetime. Being introduced to this beautiful country and unique ecosystem, while at the same time talking about social and contextual issues was quite meaningful. While everything worked out quite fine, I do want to raise one personal concern. Our driver from Medellin... read more

Our guide Milton was absolutely fabulous. A wealth of knowledge, and a great human being. In my opinion, the day we spent with him was the best day of our trip. Visiting the paramo and the volcano was an experience of a lifetime. Being introduced to this beautiful country and unique ecosystem, while at the same time talking about social and contextual issues was quite meaningful. While everything worked out quite fine, I do want to raise one personal concern. Our driver from Medellin to the coffee region, Luis, was quite fine. There was lots of road constructions o we were forced to go very slowly. I was concerned, however, that he had driven through the night to get to Medellin to pick us up, and then drove us at least 6-7 hours back, with still 2 more hours of driving to get home, all without any sleep. Not only is this a safety concern, but I hope KimKim does not expect this of its drivers. Our entire experience was fabulous, but I wanted to make sure to mention this.

The trip we experienced had some wonderful highlights. However, the hiking on the second and third days, was not properly described. This created a dangerous situation in which my wife was hurt. She had to stop hiking. The only way she got out was on horseback. Luckily, she has experience riding and the farmer who owns Jordan finca was skilled at guiding the horse down 10k of extremely steep, rocky paths and then through 5k more of just wet, slippery paths to safety.
Specifically, the... read more

The trip we experienced had some wonderful highlights. However, the hiking on the second and third days, was not properly described. This created a dangerous situation in which my wife was hurt. She had to stop hiking. The only way she got out was on horseback. Luckily, she has experience riding and the farmer who owns Jordan finca was skilled at guiding the horse down 10k of extremely steep, rocky paths and then through 5k more of just wet, slippery paths to safety.
Specifically, the description of the second day: from Petosi to Jordan is very misleading. The description says: "you will arrive at Jordan farm by "mid-afternoon." The hike is 22K! The second half starts with slippery, muddy trails and quickly turns into steep rocky pathway for about 5 miles. It took us 11.5 hours to complete. A group of younger hikers did it in 10 hours. What's so crazy is that the third day continues with 6.2 more miles of steep, slippery rocky paths. So no way could Carol, who twisted her knee on the 22k leg complete the hike back to the road.I have hiked 100s of miles. Really (Wonderland Trail completely in 8 days, the Superior Hiking Trail, Pukasqua, etc.) If this trail had an accurate description I would not have taken my wife (who I clearly described as 73 years old and normal fitness) on this trail. I'm not asking for a refund, but days 3 and 4 were a frightening and extremely unpleasant experience for me and bad for Carol too, because the safety of my wife was at risk.
If you do not change the descriptions of these days, I will spend time and effort to expose the carelessness of your agency. Check with the guide Freddy if you think any of this is innacurate.
GOOD STUFF: Our guide Freddie Cardona (I will check on his last name) was excellent and was invaluable in getting Carol through this dangerous situation. The bike riding day was great fun. The Cocorra valey was beautiful. The packaging lists were accurately and helpful. Both hotels were nice, with Quo in Manizales having an excellent room and exceptionally helpful staff.
The score for Cami is based on the description of the hike, not on her being helpful.
I guess the bottom line is that what could have been a great trip was ruined by an innacurate description of the risks. Fortunately Carol got by with a very sore knee. Take the hike yourself, then write the description. Explain that this hike is appropriate for experienced hikers who can handle 22K of steep, rocky, muddy pathways that can be trecherously slick, at altitudes over 10000 feet.
Finca Jordan is lovely. Finca Petosi is a pit. Dirty, toilets withot seats that are barely clean. The owners of both fincas were friendly but Mary Luz at Jordan is an exceptional host, as was her husband Mario.

I loved my trip to the Philippines—especially the two-day boat trip from Coron around the Calamian Islands. Spending the night on tiny, nearly-deserted Pass Island under a sky full of stars was beyond memorable, and our guide Jhonas planned each day to perfectly avoid the crowds at popular spots. I've never seen coral reefs like the ones I saw there, and we had the opportunity to learn free diving, kayak from the boat in quiet lagoons, etc.

The day tour of Bohol with Scarlett was also very... read more

I loved my trip to the Philippines—especially the two-day boat trip from Coron around the Calamian Islands. Spending the night on tiny, nearly-deserted Pass Island under a sky full of stars was beyond memorable, and our guide Jhonas planned each day to perfectly avoid the crowds at popular spots. I've never seen coral reefs like the ones I saw there, and we had the opportunity to learn free diving, kayak from the boat in quiet lagoons, etc.

The day tour of Bohol with Scarlett was also very interesting, and it was made easy with a seamless airport transfer and made comfortable with an air-conditioned van (it gets HOT there!). A Bohol highlight was the Lomboc River lunch cruise—it sounds touristy and I never would have booked it for myself, but it was actually a total delight. The Butterfly Sanctuary was not for me, though perhaps worth a stop for the homemade ice cream on site (try the Cacao or Durian flavors!).

My one piece of advice to travelers booking with Cami is to be explicitly clear about the type of hotel and transport you want throughout your trip, as this was the only issue we ran into. Get the hotel names and look into them ahead of time to be sure they meet your expectations, and if possible, get on the phone with Cami to confirm everything—she is great at answering questions asked before the trip. In terms of tours, food, activities, etc, you're in fabulous and knowledgable hands.

Miguel was a very competent careful driver. The driving part of the trip was longer and tougher than expected - 9 hours day 2, 7 hours day 3, 6 hours day 4. There was a lot of extreme poverty with many beggars requesting water and rice because they were so hungry. The main sites to visit were nice enough but the scenery along the way much less interesting than I had imagined. Taroa dunes beach is lovely. Places we stayed at understandably very primitive. Food monotonous but we did not... read more

Miguel was a very competent careful driver. The driving part of the trip was longer and tougher than expected - 9 hours day 2, 7 hours day 3, 6 hours day 4. There was a lot of extreme poverty with many beggars requesting water and rice because they were so hungry. The main sites to visit were nice enough but the scenery along the way much less interesting than I had imagined. Taroa dunes beach is lovely. Places we stayed at understandably very primitive. Food monotonous but we did not get sick.
We very much enjoyed the boat trip in camarones. Carlos, our boatman and guide was well informed and we saw many flamingos and red ibis. Learned about Wayuu which interested me. Would NOT recommend trip to others unless they have some real reason to be interested in area.

Step Tuboc was a fantastic guide. He gave good explanations and really knew his flora & fauna, especially birds.
The individual guides were good with 3 being exceptional. The 2 girls that took us to Rasa Island and Mike in the El Nido region.
We enjoyed the hiking, going to the caves, and boating. The highlights were hiking through the rivers to the village, traveling to Rasa Island, & all of El Nido.
We had a great time. We have traveled a good bit (I think this makes 46 countries) and we would rate this in our top 3 travels.
Thank you.

Overall, this was a rewarding trip, however, not without some issues. In general, too much time was spent traveling from place to place, especially with some of the long car rides for activities that were only a few hours in length. EVERY flight we took on Avianca experienced delays, significant delays or cancelation. By and large, our guides were excellent, except for our experience on Day 2 going to Chingaza (see below). No events / activities were planned for any of the evenings and it... read more

Overall, this was a rewarding trip, however, not without some issues. In general, too much time was spent traveling from place to place, especially with some of the long car rides for activities that were only a few hours in length. EVERY flight we took on Avianca experienced delays, significant delays or cancelation. By and large, our guides were excellent, except for our experience on Day 2 going to Chingaza (see below). No events / activities were planned for any of the evenings and it might have been nice if we had been able to attend some sort of cultural event or to be directed to a special restaurant. Some specific comments follow:

Day 1- Edgar met us at the Hotel just as the World Cup match ended with Colombia's victory. He was excellent. He took us around the park nearby, to a Sunday craft market, and he made several good dining suggestions. He was also our guide on Day 3 which was also an excellent tour of places in Bogota. At our request, he brought us to the main food and flower market and introduced us to numerous indigenous fruits. In retrospect, we should have flown to Pereida at the end of Day 3 to give us more time in coffee country.

Day 2 - Chingaza was interesting but not worth the long trip. We met our guide in La Calera but the vehicle was not large enough for all the passengers. At the park, it was cold, raining, windy and at high altitude. We needed extra layers of clothing and waterproof footwear. Our guide was completely immersed in her discussion of the surrounding environment, would not stop talking for the entire time we were with her and didn't properly assess my wife's level of discomfort and desire to return. The park was interesting but I think it likely that there may have been other activities near Bogota that would have be more interesting.

Day 4 - By far the best day of the trip. The visit to the coffee farm was without a doubt the highlight of the trip. We very much liked our guide, Juan.
Day 5 - Salento and the Cocora Vally hike were nice but we needed to end early to fly to Medellin. Worst day of travel on the entire trip. No direct flights on Avianca so we needed return to Bogota. Our first connecting flight was cancelled and the later flight was 2 hours delayed. In all, it took us 8 hours. It would have faster to drive and even faster to fly on EasyFly direct in 1 hour.

Day 6 - Medellin, we had a nice morning touring Medellin but it probably should have been the entire day. We did not see as much as we would have liked. Then we spent two hours driving to Guatape, a beautiful town with some stops along the way. Unfortunately, we arrived in Guatape late in the day and during a rain downpour and were not able to walk around much. The visit to the town should be been the priority of the trip, not the side stops. Long drive back resulted in a very late dinner.

Day 7 - Rafting. The trip itself was great and worthwhile but our departure from Medellin should have been earlier, not 11am. Consequently, we didn't get back to Medellin until it was almost too late to go out to dinner.
Day 8 - Cartagena. Excellent day touring the City with Richard.
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Day 9 - Isla del Encanto. Two problems. 1) We were not instructed to bring towels and I had to rent them for 60,000 COP. 2) The guides explained the set up of the resort to all the passengers in Spanish on the boat before docking. After docking, they repeated the explanation to a group in English. It was a busy day (national holiday). By the time they finished us giving information about the resort, more boats had docked and every cabana chair on the beach and near the beach were taken by people who had exited the boats earlier. We asked the staff to help but pretty much got a cold shoulder. Given that we probably paid twice as much as everyone else, we were fairly irritated by this sequence of events. Otherwise, the visit was nice.
Day 10, we spent in the old city on our own before going to the airport.