Mission Trip 2027 Overview and Details
Mission Trip 2027 — Overview & Details
Step by step, I'll take you there…
Click here to join my mailing list for updates on the next trip to Bulembu.
Below is an overview of how planning and booking your trip works. I'll walk you through every step, and give you a feel for the trip itself — its content, deadlines, and costs.
The Basic Trip Package (no side trips or excursions)
Getting there. For 2027, we're taking a new route: Atlanta → Amsterdam → Johannesburg on the way out, then straight back Johannesburg → Atlanta on the return.
Amsterdam (2 nights). For the first time, we'll break the long journey with two nights in Amsterdam. This gives everyone a chance to recover from jet lag before the second leg — so we arrive in Africa rested and ready — and leaves time to sightsee and enjoy this beautiful city along the way. We'll stay at the Kimpton De Witt. A nice side benefit: it's an IHG property, so if you have IHG points, you can put them to use here. From Amsterdam we fly on to Johannesburg refreshed, and the direct flight home at the end gets us back to our families as fast as possible.
Johannesburg (Night 1 in Africa). We stay near the airport at the City Lodge, eat supper together, and change some dollars into Rand at a nearby ATM. I suggest only about $100 worth of Rand — you can use a credit card almost everywhere.
Mbabane. We travel to Eswatini's capital and settle in at the Emafini Lodge for lunch. We tour the headquarters of Challenge Ministries and Potter's Wheel Church, where one of the pastors explains "how all this got started." Time and arrangements permitting, we'll also visit an ICBC site — In Community by Community — where a starter orphanage is taking shape, and you'll learn how the ICBC sites and Bulembu itself began.
On to Sigengeni. After breakfast, we drive about two hours over some interesting terrain to reach the ICBC that Alphareta Methodist Church is helping sponsor. We will spend most of the day here, and after lunch we will return to Mbabane for the night.
On to Bulembu. After breakfast, we drive about two hours over some interesting terrain to reach Bulembu. We check in at the Bulembu Country Lodge, watch a film about Bulembu's history as a mining town, and have dinner at the lodge.
Days in Bulembu (4 nights). Each day starts with breakfast at the lodge, followed by a work project — home renovation and other jobs as needed. We spend time with the children at various venues, and on Friday we meet the kids at their supper time in the main dining hall at Dvudvusi. On Sunday, we attend church for about an hour and a half.
Safari & wind-down. We check out of Bulembu and head to Hippo Hollow, a unique hotel right on the Sabie River, for two nights. The next morning we leave early for an eight-hour photo safari. The following day we make a leisurely drive to the Johannesburg airport — our flight home is late afternoon, so there's no rush.
Costs Per Person
All room costs assume two people sharing.
Airfare: about $2,900 per person. Track fares and book when you feel prices are lowest at google.com/travel/flights — search Atlanta to Johannesburg on our planned 2027 dates. (Costs shown in red are estimates; airfare fluctuates. I paid over $2,000 on my first trip, then in 2015 caught the fare at $1,283 — a "Co-Inky-Dink" I explain here!)
Amsterdam hotel (2 nights): about $220 per night at the Kimpton De Witt. If you have IHG points, you can use them here.
Rooms, meals, van transport, safari, tips & misc.: about $1,200 per person. This will be frozen five months before the trip, once we have an exact head count. Estimate based on roughly $1 = 16 ZAR — track the conversion here.
Deadlines & Steps
Bulembu Ministries has confirmed our dates. Now we hire the tour van company and lock in a final head count. We'll reserve rooms everywhere except Amsterdam and the first night at the City Lodge in Joburg, which you book yourself (Step 3).
Step 1 — Commit by September 15, 2026. Send Larry a $500 deposit, with the balance due three months before the trip. The final per-person amount depends on how many people commit, and is set right after this deadline. You'll be notified by email about two months before we go.
Step 2 — Book your flights (we suggest four to five months before departure). Check prices at google.com/travel/flights.
Step 3 — Book your rooms in Amsterdam and Joburg… Book two nights in Amsterdam at the Kimpton De Witt (IHG). Then book your Night 1 room in Africa at the City Lodge on Barbara Road (see the 2027 Trip Plan) — via Expedia or the hotel's website. Be sure it's City Lodge Barbara Road. The hotel site shows prices in Rand only (conversion here).
Step 4 — Police background check ($20, requested by Bulembu Management) by December 13, 2026. A link to the request portal will come by email.
Step 5 — Childcare Policy & BMS Liability Release signed and emailed by December 13, 2026. Watch for an email.
Step 6 -- Review the packing list and other details.
Click here to join my mailing list for updates on the next trip to Bulembu.
Step by step, I'll take you there…
Click here to join my mailing list for updates on the next trip to Bulembu.
Below is an overview of how planning and booking your trip works. I'll walk you through every step, and give you a feel for the trip itself — its content, deadlines, and costs.
The Basic Trip Package (no side trips or excursions)
Getting there. For 2027, we're taking a new route: Atlanta → Amsterdam → Johannesburg on the way out, then straight back Johannesburg → Atlanta on the return.
Amsterdam (2 nights). For the first time, we'll break the long journey with two nights in Amsterdam. This gives everyone a chance to recover from jet lag before the second leg — so we arrive in Africa rested and ready — and leaves time to sightsee and enjoy this beautiful city along the way. We'll stay at the Kimpton De Witt. A nice side benefit: it's an IHG property, so if you have IHG points, you can put them to use here. From Amsterdam we fly on to Johannesburg refreshed, and the direct flight home at the end gets us back to our families as fast as possible.
Johannesburg (Night 1 in Africa). We stay near the airport at the City Lodge, eat supper together, and change some dollars into Rand at a nearby ATM. I suggest only about $100 worth of Rand — you can use a credit card almost everywhere.
Mbabane. We travel to Eswatini's capital and settle in at the Emafini Lodge for lunch. We tour the headquarters of Challenge Ministries and Potter's Wheel Church, where one of the pastors explains "how all this got started." Time and arrangements permitting, we'll also visit an ICBC site — In Community by Community — where a starter orphanage is taking shape, and you'll learn how the ICBC sites and Bulembu itself began.
On to Sigengeni. After breakfast, we drive about two hours over some interesting terrain to reach the ICBC that Alphareta Methodist Church is helping sponsor. We will spend most of the day here, and after lunch we will return to Mbabane for the night.
On to Bulembu. After breakfast, we drive about two hours over some interesting terrain to reach Bulembu. We check in at the Bulembu Country Lodge, watch a film about Bulembu's history as a mining town, and have dinner at the lodge.
Days in Bulembu (4 nights). Each day starts with breakfast at the lodge, followed by a work project — home renovation and other jobs as needed. We spend time with the children at various venues, and on Friday we meet the kids at their supper time in the main dining hall at Dvudvusi. On Sunday, we attend church for about an hour and a half.
Safari & wind-down. We check out of Bulembu and head to Hippo Hollow, a unique hotel right on the Sabie River, for two nights. The next morning we leave early for an eight-hour photo safari. The following day we make a leisurely drive to the Johannesburg airport — our flight home is late afternoon, so there's no rush.
Costs Per Person
All room costs assume two people sharing.
Airfare: about $2,900 per person. Track fares and book when you feel prices are lowest at google.com/travel/flights — search Atlanta to Johannesburg on our planned 2027 dates. (Costs shown in red are estimates; airfare fluctuates. I paid over $2,000 on my first trip, then in 2015 caught the fare at $1,283 — a "Co-Inky-Dink" I explain here!)
Amsterdam hotel (2 nights): about $220 per night at the Kimpton De Witt. If you have IHG points, you can use them here.
Rooms, meals, van transport, safari, tips & misc.: about $1,200 per person. This will be frozen five months before the trip, once we have an exact head count. Estimate based on roughly $1 = 16 ZAR — track the conversion here.
Deadlines & Steps
Bulembu Ministries has confirmed our dates. Now we hire the tour van company and lock in a final head count. We'll reserve rooms everywhere except Amsterdam and the first night at the City Lodge in Joburg, which you book yourself (Step 3).
Step 1 — Commit by September 15, 2026. Send Larry a $500 deposit, with the balance due three months before the trip. The final per-person amount depends on how many people commit, and is set right after this deadline. You'll be notified by email about two months before we go.
Step 2 — Book your flights (we suggest four to five months before departure). Check prices at google.com/travel/flights.
Step 3 — Book your rooms in Amsterdam and Joburg… Book two nights in Amsterdam at the Kimpton De Witt (IHG). Then book your Night 1 room in Africa at the City Lodge on Barbara Road (see the 2027 Trip Plan) — via Expedia or the hotel's website. Be sure it's City Lodge Barbara Road. The hotel site shows prices in Rand only (conversion here).
Step 4 — Police background check ($20, requested by Bulembu Management) by December 13, 2026. A link to the request portal will come by email.
Step 5 — Childcare Policy & BMS Liability Release signed and emailed by December 13, 2026. Watch for an email.
Step 6 -- Review the packing list and other details.
Click here to join my mailing list for updates on the next trip to Bulembu.