Clare Alderson, The Guest who was booked to appear on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the DJMJ Ingredient ft Soulchild last Sunday – the radio show which I co-host every Sunday on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station – unfortunately fell ill just before the show, so Eric Fischer, pictured above was kind enough to step in at the last moment! In fact Clare and Eric had travelled together from Namibia, where they’d been part of a two week Biosphere Expedition looking at the relationship between people and wildlife in a rural part of that huge country. Had Eric enjoyed it? Yes he had!

Eric’s a lawyer who hails from Philadelphia, USA where he has his own practice ‘Disability Law Clinic‘ a no-win no-fee set up for disabled people with problems getting claims payments from Government. We took the chance to ask him about the current health care debate in the US, and were shocked to hear that for himself and one of his employees he must pay annual health insurance premiums of some US$33,000. Had Eric voted for Obama? Milimo and George wanted to know. Yes he had! Eric told listeners that he wasn’t married and had no children, but when we asked if we could introduce him to some nice Zambian girls he started talking about a girl called Paris he’d met in Namibia! We laughed!

The music on the show was nice as usual. We played ‘Take My Heart’ a new track from Gen. Ozzy as well as ‘I Wonder’ by P.J, to give Eric a taste of Zambian music, which he enjoyed. He told listeners of his travels to some 27 African countries over the years and professed a liking for music from the Congo as well as Hugh Masekela, Johnny Clegg, and other African artists. We played ‘The Way You Love Me’ by David Guetta ft Kelly Rowland and ‘Never Leave You’ by Tinchy Stryder ft Estelle. We played two Miley Cyrus tracks – ‘Party In The USA’ and ‘Before The Storm’ which she sings with Nick Jonas. Eric was appalled, but we pressed on! ‘Down’ by Jay Sean is super and my current ringtone, and ‘I Look To You’ is the title track of Whitney Houston’s new album due for release on 31st August and widely tipped to be a great comeback album. We closed the show with ‘Candy’ by Paolo Nutini.

Milimo and George wanted to know what it had been like for me listening to the show the previous Sunday and not appearing on it and I told them I’d enjoyed it, but that they talked too much! We asked Eric about his two day one night canoeing trip on the Zambezi the previous night organised by Wild Side Safaris and Makora Quest. Would Milimo and George fancy camping at night on the banks of the Zambezi amongst hippo and crocodile? Mmmm, not really! What else had Eric lined up to do while he was in Livingstone? He was going white water rafting with Safpar and a river safari with Batoka the next day, then a micro-light flight on his last morning.

How many staff did Eric employ in the States? I wanted to know. “5” was the reply “and I have a ‘crackerjack’ team” he said. “Crackerjack?” I wondered and Eric told me it means great staff. “So do I” I replied and that gave me a good chance to say “hi” to the Chanters Girls and to thank them for their hard work and support while I’d been ill. I was also able to say thanks to Ireen and those at home, as well as everyone at 107.7 fm. So what did Eric think he might do next trip? Well, he told listeners that he wanted to come back to Zambia and find out more about the culture and traditions in Western Province. “Great stuff!” We said “and here’s the Loziman to help you” as we pointed to George Soulchild!