Chanters – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Wendy And David Duncan Grace ‘The Experience’

After a couple of weeks highlighting local talent we were back to Guests from Chanters Lodge appearing on our weekly radio programme last week, and we were delighted to host Wendy and David Duncan (above) from Winnipeg, Canada. Wendy and David are both recently retired, David from his job with the Canadian Federal Government as a marine biologist and Wendy as a resource teacher. This was their first major overseas trip since retirement which had already taken them to Tanzania, Zanzibar and Johannesburg. After a brief stop in Livingstone – time enough to do the sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone which they had loved, and to see Victoria Falls which had amazed them, they would be off to South Luangwa NP in Eastern Zambia the day after the show, for about four days – then on to a week in Cape Town. Wow! We said. Had they done the bungee jump at the Falls, we wondered? “No” was the reply “but we heard the jumpers screaming when we were down at the Boiling Point”!

Our weekly radio show, sponsored by Chanters Lodge, airs each Sunday evening on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, from 20.30 – 21.30 hrs CAT and streams live on the internet too! One host is George Mukwita aka Soulchild aka Kaufela, one of Livingstone’s up and coming rap musicians, apart from being a full time presenter on 107.7 fm. Main host is Milimo Mudaala, aka Milli Jam, club DJ, radio presenter and entertainment manager – a public figure in Livingstone. We give away a dinner for two at the lodge on each show – to the first listener to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie of the week. On this show the artist was the late Paul Ngozi, famous Zambian musician. The prize was quickly won.

The music on the show was ‘latest’ and good. We opened with John Newman’s UK number one ‘Love Me Again’ back to back with 14 year old Gabz’z smash ‘Lighters (The One)’. George chose Zambian tracks from Karasa and Flex Ville Marley, while Milimo preferred Michael Jackson and Daft Punk for his selections. My pick of the week was ‘It’s You’ by Duck Sauce – different anyway. We closed with Russ Chimes and ‘Turn Me Out’.

Wendy and David told listeners that they’d been married for 39 years and had two daughters, Jocelyn 29 and Rachel 23. Jocelyn is a chemistry teacher while Rachel is still studying. Wendy told listeners how much she admired Zambia’s efforts to preserve their fantastic wildlife by creating so many protected National Parks, and this charming couple had been delighted to see animals in and on the Zambezi as they sailed the sunset cruise the night they arrived in Livingstone. They made special mention of Winston, game guide on the Lady Livingstone, for his great knowledge and good public relations. They were happy with the service from their Livingstone taxi drivers too! And, the sunset over the Zambezi had been dramatic!

Music wise Wendy said she preferred movie themes and Celine Dion, David – Willy Nelson and the Stones. Sports wise they were interested in Volleyball as both their daughters were players, as well, of course, as ice hockey! How had they come to choose Chanters Lodge? One of their daughters and some friends had stayed there some years back, so it was a natural choice, also recommended by their travel agent.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, David said he hoped still to be living in Winnipeg as their home base but travelling frequently, as well as cheering Winnipeg Jets to a Stanley Cup victory (ice hockey for the uninitiated). Wendy said she would love to have grandchildren, as well as still travelling with David. We wished them the best of luck and thanked them for appearing on our show.

If you missed the show and would like to listen, here’s the link to the podcast.

12
JUL

activities, Africa, Canada, Chanters, entertainment, music, rsa, South Luangwa, Tanzania, victoriafalls, wildlife, zambezi, Zambia

Young Riko

Here’s a nice piece from George Soulchild Kaufela, co-host of our weekly radio show ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ airing every Sunday on Zambezi 107.7 fm at 20.30 hrs CAT. We are always keen to promote up and coming young Zambian musicians! So:

Young Riko (aka Riddick Riko) is the name of a rapper signed to Brathahood Music Label, and also a member of the internationally recognized group ‘BrathaHood Crew’ – made up of great musicians, namely BrathaHood CEO General Ozzy, Manas, Mandela, & Roberto (also Riko’s manager/ producer).

Young Riko has quickly become a sensation on radio and TV in Zambia and often the topic of discussion and conversation in saloons and barbershops popular amongst teenage girls! The Lusaka based rapper is determined to make history and hopes one day to win a BEFFTA and Channel O award as well as maybe one day a Grammy. “Anything is possible!” He says.

Riko has gone from performing at the 2011 Born’N’Bred video awards ceremony to having a video on Channel O. You might remember him on Roberto’s song ‘Osanisiya So’ which has a great video. I must add that he also boasts of his own video to his smash hit ‘Akoyesa Boi’ which premiered on Channel O Africa on 30th August 2012 on a show called ‘O Premiere’.

Young Riko is featured on two songs on Roberto’s 3rd studio album ‘My Name Is’ namely ‘Osanisiya So’
and ‘So Good’ which also features award winning Hip Hop video of the year Mr Veezy aka LV on the same song. Riko is set to make Zambia the home of Southern African Hip Hop, his music is playing around Southern Africa in countries like Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi etc.

Young Riko’s two new songs titled ‘Ma_Pange_Ya_Kwa_Lesa’ and ‘Alipanda’ featuring Stan have continued to received great praise.

10
JUL

Africa, awards, Botswana, Chanters, entertainment, music, Namibia, radioshow, rsa, Zambia

Ndubi Mvula – Personally

Why Ndubi personally? Well, when Ndubi Mvula (pictured above) appeared in person as our Guest on the latest edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ last Sunday, one of the tracks we played was Nigerian duo PSquare’s latest smash ‘Personally’. Few of our listeners had heard it before and it was an instant hit – especially with the Chanters Girls dancing back at the lodge! ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show airing for an hour at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Ndubi is a media consultant, having for a long time been Zambia Daily Mail’s bureau chief in Livingstone, he is now busy helping 107.7 fm revamp the editorial department of their news and current affairs department, and is also involved in the weekly discussion programmes aired by the station. Is there a big difference between the print and audio media in terms of the way they handle the news we wondered? “Well” said Ndubi “one is about what you see and the other is about what you hear!” “Ah!” We said! He went on to explain that in the print media there isn’t always the urgency that there is in radio “you have rather more latitude and chance to work on a story in print” he said, “whereas with radio, the news has to be broadcast instantly”.

Ndubi told listeners that he had studied journalism at the Evelyn Hone College in Lusaka and had joined the Zambia Daily Mail in 1996. He had served until 2012 when he retired. His inspiration to embark on a career in journalism had been the late Charles Mando, a very famous Zambian journalist renowned for his hard hitting Sunday Interview programme and his ability to make famous Zambian politicians squirm in their seats, Republican Presidents included!

Apart from PSquare and ‘Personally’ on this show we played tracks by Dizee Rascal ft Robin Williams, Jason Derulo, Macky2, Pompi, Chris Brown and Avicii. My pick of the week was John Legend’s beautiful ‘Made To Love’. Our oldie of the week was Michael Jackson’s ‘Liberian Girl’ and the prize we give to the first person to text us telling us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up.

Ndubi told listeners that he had two beautiful daughters aged 15 and 10 and that his taste in music was reggae as well as ‘old Zambian’ mentioning artists like late Akim Simukonda and late Paul Ngozi. He told listeners that he had done most of the tourist activities available in Livingstone, apart from the bungee jump, when he had been running ‘Tourist Destination’ a feature in the Zambia Daily Mail bewteen 2004 and 2009. He supports Nkana Red Devils and Liverpool – the latter pleased George! He had been lucky to travel widely around the world when on further training with the Mail including to India, Egypt and South Africa often sponsored by Reuters.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, this personable ‘real journalist’ replied that he would like to be owning and running his own radio station. We wished him the best of luck.

28
JUN

Africa, Chanters, communications, entertainment, football, livingstone, media, music, politics, radioshow, Zambia

Bob, Cindy Orr and The Butterfly Tree

Meet Bob and Cindy Orr, both mathematics teachers from New Jersey, USA, and currently Guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone as well as volunteers with the Butterfly Tree Charity working out at Mukuni Village near Livingstone, Zambia. Bob and Cindy were Guests on the most recent edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’, our regular Sunday night radio show on
Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Bob and Cindy told our listeners that, founded in 2006 by Jane Kaye-Bailey, The Butterfly Tree Charity supports rural communities in Zambia decimated by the HIV and AIDS pandemic – providing safe water, feeding programmes and improved health and education facilities as well as an orphan sponsorship programme. Had they been teaching maths out at the village? We wondered, but this charming couple explained that they’d been busy interviewing and filming the children at the Mukuni Village School with the aim of making a video, and also to help them in the preparation of a programme for students. The video would also eventually be used for fund raising purposes back in the USA.

Bob and Cindy said that not only was this their first visit to Zambia but also to Africa and that they were thrilled with the experience thus far. While most of their time had been taken up out at the village they had had time for one or two tourist activities, namely a one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana and the rhino walk that very morning in our own Mosi-o-Tunya NP in Livingstone. They had enjoyed both trips immensely especially being able to see the animals close up. “Any rhino, elephant and hippo in New Jersey?” We wondered. “Only in zoos!” The predictable reply.

The music on the show was great as usual. We opened with new tracks from Redfoo (of LMFAO fame) and Wiley. Kaufela’s Zambian selections were Roberto’s ‘Eponaba’ and Starn’s ‘Wachimfya’. No translations available! Milli Jam dropped Robin Thicke’s smash ‘Blurred Lines’ back to back with Ne-Yo’s latest ‘Keep Talking’. Our oldie of the week was Beyonce’s ‘Halo’ and the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Estelle’s ‘Call These Boys Up’ for the Chanters Girls at the lodge.

Bob and Cindy told listeners they had been married for 27 years and had a son and a daughter David 21 and Kate 25 respectively. No grandchildren as yet. We wondered if they had been affected by horrible hurricane Sandy that hit New Jersey recently and they told listeners that although they had lost some 25 trees on their property, otherwise theirs had been a lucky escape, compared to the decimation suffered by other people. The couple were looking forward to seeing the Victoria Falls before they left for the USA and hoped to make a return visit to Zambia in 2014. Music wise Cindy said she loved jazz, Bob that he was more into 60’s and 70’s rock.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Bob told listeners that he hoped to still be teaching maths but also being helpful to people in Africa in need of clean water and other assistance. Cindy said she hoped to be travelling, developing her second career as a poet, as well as making a return visit to Zambia.

We wished them the best of luck and thanked them for appearing on our show.

21
JUN

activities, Africa, Chanters, charities, Chobe, education, entertainment, guests, livingstone, radioshow, seniors, travel, usa, victoriafalls, Zambia

Looking For Mrs Livingstone – And Chanters Lodge!

We were delighted to get a recommendation for Chanters Lodge right at the end of this piece from The Herald Scotland which I have shortened a little. The writer is Julie Davidson and the picture shows the front cover of her new book.

Elephant-viewing by taxi.

They don’t do zebra crossings in Livingstone, they do elephant crossings. You need to know where and when to look, as there are no road markings giving the great beasts right of way, but the local taxi drivers will take you to the junction of their favourite route. Each day, a mile or two from the new Shoprite mall, just after sunrise and just before sunset, the elephants cross the town’s main drag: Mosi-oa-Tunya Road, which is not only its lively commercial hub but the road to the Victoria Falls.

“You mean,” asked a new visitor to Zambia, as a family of five cows and three teenagers sauntered from verge to verge while we crouched behind the bright blue taxi taking pictures, “they don’t stay inside the national park?” Our driver chortled. “The park is not a zoo. They are wild. They go where they want. They go into farmers’ fields and eat the crops. And sometimes they are dangerous. Just last week an elephant was wounded by poachers in Zimbabwe, swam across the Zambezi and killed a woman in a village 20 miles up river from here.”

For all its elite lodges and luxury hotels, Livingstone remains wild at heart. How did the tribal lands of the Toka-Leya and the old colonial settlement of a British land-grab become a celebrated tourist hub and the “adrenalin capital of Africa?” It’s all down to a phenomenal geological fault and the marketing skills of a famous Scot, with a bit of unsolicited help from Robert Mugabe.

Until the late 1990s, the town of Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwean side of David Livingstone’s self-proclaimed “discovery” was the honey pot for visitors. It is much closer to the eponymous cataract (Livingstone is seven miles from the river on a rising hill) and its tourist industry was better organised. But since my own early visits to both I have seen the Zambian town become the beneficiary of Zimbabwe’s political instability, and expand and prosper without losing any of its charm. In fact, its new affluence has saved many of its historic buildings, including the Edwardian clubhouse of Livingstone Golf Club, which re-opened in 2006.

I was back in Livingstone for the bicentenary programme’s academic conference: “Imperial Obsessions: David Livingstone, Africa and world history: a life and legacy reconsidered”. The boy from Blantyre doesn’t only live on in Zambia, he has a global afterlife that is apparently eternal. For three days, European, American and African scholars chewed over papers that ranged in theme from “Livingstone’s dialogue with the rainmaker and the legacy of the Scottish Enlightenment” through “The empire of sentiment: David Livingstone’s 1874 funeral and Africa at the heart of the nation” to “David Livingstone: Prophet or Patron Saint of Empire in Africa?” Not all the speakers were academics; I was there on the back of my book, Looking for Mrs Livingstone, to remind the scholars that the great man had a wife whose contribution to his early journeys is often overlooked.

Closeted in a hotel conference room for three days while the sun shone on the glittering plumes of the Victoria Falls, I was expecting a certain amount of frustration, if not tedium. But by and large it was all stimulating stuff, and when we were released into the brilliant light and sumptuous greenery of the Livingstone suburbs I felt I needed none of the manic attractions of the town’s adventure tourism – bungee jumping, gorge swinging, riverboarding, abseiling, white water rafting, flipping over the falls on a microlight – to improve my mood.

Only the falls could do that. I’ve never felt they needed any of the extreme sporting accessories they have acquired to intensify the exhilaration of their spectacle. I have flown over them in a helicopter and swum in the Devil’s Pool on their very lip, looking into the abyss as it gulps down epic draughts of the Zambezi. (This is something you can do, at a price, from Livingstone Island, but only when the river level drops in the dry season, usually between August and January). But I’ve had my best moments simply walking along the rim of the gorge beside the five mighty cataracts, my insides trembling with their Plutonian thunderclap, daft tears of emotion mingling with gusting douches of rainbow spray.

Different seasons bring different volumes of water over the Falls, but there is no such thing as a wrong time to see them. When the Zambezi is in full flood you get towering columns of spray and boiling cataracts; as the dry season progresses the spray dwindles, the curtain of water parts between the main cataracts to expose the 300ft cliffs, and you get some sense of the geological force which, millennia ago, tore a rift a mile-and-a-half wide in the flat Zambezi valley; and in every season the forest walks on either side take you through storybook Africa, alive with monkeys, baboons and exotic birds.

So once again, with three of my fellow conferees, I negotiated a $10 dollar taxi ride down Mosi-oa-Tunya Road to the Victoria Falls National Park, paid the $20 entrance fee for foreign nationals, saluted the statute of Livingstone, stern and questing, just inside the gate, and set off along the forest path to the incomparable viewpoints. Sure feet were needed on the rough stone steps and slippery earth; the Falls were full and it was the first time I’d crossed Knife-Edge Bridge in spray so dense the figures ahead of me slipped in and out of view.

Then a wonderful thing happened. This scary footbridge, maybe 200ft high and 100ft long, is a link across a vast bowl of emerald bush on the edge of the cauldron. As I slithered along, holding tight to the handrails, the spray was cleared by a persistent eddy of wind, the sun flooded the steep slopes of the bowl and a rainbow arched over the forest. As I paused to look, a lone swallow pierced the spectrum, darting in and out, swooping and soaring until it had climbed over the rainbow.

Why couldn’t I?

Getting there

There are no direct flights from Europe into Livingstone but it is easily reached from South Africa and, as of this month, from Kenya, with connecting flights from the UK. British Airways (ba.com) and South African airways (flysaa.com) have daily flights via Johannesburg, while Kenya Airways (kenya-airways.com) has opened a new route three times weekly via Nairobi.

Where to stay Livingstone and its environs cater for everyone from penny-pinching backpackers to well-heeled retirees. At the top end are exclusive, all-inclusive riverfront lodges like Tongabezi, the River Club and Stanley Safari Lodge, or the five-star Royal Livingstone Hotel, with its enviable site beside the Falls; in the middle is a range of three-star hotels and private guest houses; at the budget end are clean if boisterous hostels like Fawlty Towers and Jollyboys Backpackers. And then there is Chanter’s Lodge, which on my last visit became home for five days without stretching my wallet. Check it out: chanters-livingstone.com.

19
JUN

accommodation, Africa, Chanters, livingstone, zambezi, Zambia

Jay Fuse On The Experience

It’s not often on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela that we have a live performance, so on the latest edition we were delighted when Jay Fuse (pictured above) sang the lead single off his latest album live on the show. ‘The Experience’ is our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, from 20.30-21.30 hrs and streaming on the internet. Jay also gave us a copy of his new CD to give away as a prize on the next show. We give a prize every week to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie of the week. On this show George chose ‘I Love You Daddy’ by Ricardo & Friends. Sneaky! No-one won, all the responders thought it was Michael Jackson!

Jay Fuse (real name Jay Phiri) is an up and coming Zambian musician, the lead single on his new CD is ‘Little Child’ – a touching track about the plight of orphans in Zambia. His album is titled ‘After Light’ and a jolly good listen it is too! It has nine tracks and is a mixture of English and vernacular. “Fused in fact” said Jay Fuse! “How did you get that name?” Milli Jam wanted to know and Jay explained that he gave himself the name because he loves to fuse his own feelings into his music. Jay is currently in cabaret at Chrismar Hotel in Livingstone and performs a three hour show every Friday and Saturday nights. “Gosh, you must need a huge repertoire!” We commented, and Jay agreed that he did need a lot of material to fill the time. He mixes covers with his own songs. More fusion!

Apart from Jay’s great live performance, George dropped the new ‘Zonefam’ single ‘Lobola’ featuring Shom C in the Zambian sector of the show. We opened proceedings with ‘Antenna’ by ODG featuring Wyclef Jean, a huge hit in UK. Milli Jam played ‘Carry You’ by Union J back to back with Beyonce’s ‘Rise Up’ as well as Naughty Boy with Sam Smith and their hit ‘La La La’. My pick of the week was Miley Cyrus’ ‘We Can’t Stop’.

Jay told listeners that he was single and not dating. “Calm down!” I urged the Chanters Girls listening back at the lodge, before doubting whether any musician anywhere could be single and not dating! He explained that he had been introduced to music by his late dad, a member of the very successful 80’s Lusaka band ‘Rising Stars’. He told us that he had been playing the guitar and singing for about 9 years. His own music preferences are oldies, South African tracks and ‘Kalindula’ (Zambian). His greatest influence in music in Zambia he listed as ‘Uncle Rex’.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, this good looking, personable and talented young Zambian musician said that he would like still to be a musician going to more places and doing new and different things. We did not doubt his future success!

13
JUN

Africa, Chanters, entertainment, hotels, livingstone, music, radioshow, Zambia

Trip Advisor Certificate Of Excellence 2013

As reported earlier in the week, we were delighted to receive a Certificate Of Excellence for 2013 (pictured) for Chanters Lodge. We would like to take this chance on the blog to say thank you to all the Guests who took time to review our operation during the year, particularly those who gave us ‘5 Stars’, but also those who pointed out where we could improve. Guests see the operation so clearly and their advice is invaluable.

On a personal note I would like to thank each and every one of the eleven workers at the lodge for their contribution – almost every Guest checking out of the lodge compliments us on the care and courtesy of the workers. They are a very hard working team led by Annastasia, Susan and Melinda but each and every one has played their part. They are also now a long serving and loyal work force!

There is fierce competition in Livingstone these days in the ‘lodge business’ – there is, most of the time more supply than demand brought about by the resurgence of Zimbabwe as a destination as well as the mushrooming of small lodges and guest houses in Livingstone. We regard good reviews on Trip Advisor as ‘money in the bank’ in terms of marketing and once again we say a big thank you to all the Guests who have contributed their thoughts.

26
MAY

Africa, Chanters, reviews, staff, TripAdvisor

Alicia Rocks The Experience!

Meet Alicia and her mum Valerie Sutherland (pictured above), Guests on the most recent edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ – that’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing from 20.30-21.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. At age nine, I think I’m right in saying that Alicia was the ‘youngest Guest ever’ to grace our show! Shy? No way! Mum Valerie appeared recently on a video with our very own Kaufela featuring Roberto on a track called ‘Good Woman’ – here’s the YouTube link if you’d like to watch. We played the track on the show and Alicia surprised us in the studio by knowing all the words of the song and rapping along! Great stuff. The cute little girl is a student at Musikili Primary School in Mazabuka, on an extended ‘holiday’ due to a recent operation to remove her tonsils.

Valerie told listeners that she had initially qualified in the tourism and hospitality sector following her education at St Mary’s Secondary School in Livingstone and had subsequently joined Bushtracks Zambia as an assistant manager in their activity centre at Sun International Hotels. During this time she undertook most of the available tourist activities including, to our surprise, the bungee jump! After a two year stint with Bushtracks she decided to branch out on her own and recently opened Bee Hive Cafe in Livingstone, (opposite Protea Hotel) – a trendy bar and night spot with a live band – Stag Vibration – at weekends. The Bee Hive has recently introduced a menu of Zambian speciality foods with a view to attracting tourists keen to sample our traditional dishes.

The music on the show was great, Kaufela coupled his track ‘Good Woman’ with T-Sean’s ‘Boza’ (lies). At the top of the show we featured Daft Punk’s ‘Lose Yourself To Dance’ back to back with ‘Heart Attack’ by Demi Levato. Milli Jam played tracks from Lawson ft B.o.B and Carly Rae Jepsen. Our oldie of the week was ‘Where Did Our Love Go’ by The Supremes, but no-one won the prize of a dinner for two at the lodge given to the first person to text us telling us the name of the performing artist. My pick was Stooshie’s ‘Slip’- fairly reminiscent of that Supremes track?

Valerie said that she’d written the lyrics to loads of songs and we urged her to start performing with the live band at The Beehive. She also told listeners that Alicia has a younger sister and, on being asked if her appearance with Kaufela on the video meant something deeper replied unsmilingly – ‘I am in a relationship’! We swiftly moved on! Music wise she said she likes tracks ‘with a good meaning in the message’ and that her favourite artist was Usher – she had recently been to one of his shows in Johannesburg which she had loved. She was not into football but was into motor sport especially F1. She admitted to enjoying a night out in a club once in a while and favoured East Point of the available night spots in Livingstone.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing in ten years’ time, this young, vibrant ambitious entrepreneur said she hoped to be happy, healthy, wiser and thriving, going forward to meet her goals! We did not doubt it!

23
MAY

activities, Africa, Chanters, children, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, food, livingstone, radioshow, restaurants, Zambia

Rafiki Village on ‘The Experience’!

Meet Karen Aufderhaar, (pictured above) school principal of Rafiki Village School in a rural area of Zambia some sixty kilometers from Lusaka, and Guest on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela. ‘The Experience’ is our weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Karen was staying at Chanters Lodge for some well deserved rest and relaxation having completed almost a year of her two year assignment at Rafiki Village. “Why Chanters Lodge?” Wondered Milli Jam. Karen explained that when she first accepted the voluntary assignment, one of the former directors of the village had told her that when she wanted some time off, a visit to Livingstone and Victoria Falls was a must, and that Chanters Lodge would suite her accommodation requirements. We were pleased to hear that Karen was happy with the recommendation and the lodge.

Karen told listeners that she came from a town near San Antonio, Texas in the USA, and had previously volunteered with Rafiki Foundation at a village in Kenya. She was delighted when the Foundation contacted her asking her to undertake the position in Zambia. She has been an ‘educator’ all her working life, but not always in a school situation, having undertaken education assignments in hospitals and an outdoor centre in the past, as well as teaching senior adults with learning difficulties. She explained that Rafiki Village in Zambia catered for some seventy orphans and was one of ten such villages in Africa. It was a childrens’ home and a training centre as well. It was hoped to expand the school to include secondary education in the near future.

The music on the show was good. We opened with Daft Punk’s number one UK hit ‘Get Lucky’ back to back with Macklemore’s follow up to Thrift Shop called ‘Can’t Hold Us’. Kaufela chose JK ft Petersen with ‘Kanyimbo’ coupled with Mampi’s ‘Wali Lo Welela’. Milli Jam featured Nikki Minaj and Sean Paul. Our oldie of the week was Rihanna’s ‘Umbrella’ and the prize given to the first listener to text us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up! Innocent won a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge.

Karen told listeners that she had enjoyed her days in Livingstone. She was tired from a lot of walking around the Falls area including climbing down to the Boiling Point (Rapid Number 1). She had visited and very much enjoyed Livingstone Museum and had loved her one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana. She was looking forward to a sunset cruise on her last evening in town. Single, without children, Karen said she was a devoted aunty to her two nieces back in Texas. Music wise she favoured James Taylor and Neil Diamond, sports wise famous basketball team San Antonio Spurs. “Spurs” queried Milli Jam and I (Gunners to our boots). We laughed. She said her favourite player was Manu Ginobili.

Karen said she most missed her friends, family and Mexican food in Texas and that she loved Zambian people the most. Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing in ten years’ time Karen answered ‘I would like to be back in my home town in America doing the next thing that God puts before me’. “Sweet” we said!

3
MAY

activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, charities, development, education, entertainment, livingstone, Museum, music, radioshow, tourism, victoriafalls, Zambia

Imperial Obsessions

From the LSE Blog

Joanna Lewis (above) is one of the organisers of the international conference, Imperial Obsessions: David Livingstone, Africa and world history: a life and legacy considered which takes place in Livingstone from 19th to 21st April. We are happy too have Joanna and many of the other delegates staying at Chanters Lodge. The conference starts today. Joanna writes:

There are few notable figures who are not dogged by controversy and the Scottish explorer and missionary David Livingstone is certainly not one of them. It is probably the reason why, 200 years after he was born, historians, literary critics, geographers, anthropologists, artists, explorers, writers and humanitarian activists are gathering in Zambia in the town that still bears his name. Scottish explorer David Livingstone is the subject of much celebration on the bicentenary of his birth.

Imperial Obsessions: David Livingstone, Africa and world history: a life and legacy considered takes place from 19 to 21 April 2013 in Livingstone. This international conference has been organised jointly between LSE, the National Museum Board of Zambia in association with the David Livingstone Bicentenary, Zambia.

HRH Senior Chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo II of Chongwe District is one of several Zambian dignitaries attending the conference and will deliver the opening keynote address.

My choice of the title, Imperial Obsessions, refers to Livingstone’s particular self-belief and drive, the cult that developed after his death which defined Britain’s engagement with Africa for over a century and the determination of scholars to pursue him to this day.

A man of huge contradictions is the theme of Tim Jeal’s seminal lecture, Livingstone’s most famous biographer. Jeal exposed his many flaws to a Western audience when he first published his painstaking research in 1974. The second day will end with another keynote address: British historian Professor John Mackenzie, who pioneered the role of the empire in British history and popular culture, will deliver a verdict of Livingstone as the figure who dramatically changed the political weather and attitudes towards Africa in the Victorian era and beyond. Finally, on the last day, Professor Keith Hart with a doctoral student from Pretoria will present a vision of a 21st century humanised economy in Africa – delivering an upbeat view of the realisation finally of the potential of African entrepreneurship within a globalised economy – a vision Livingstone himself shared .

But there are histories of pain and suffering here too. Slavery and human trafficking is a scourge on our collective record on human rights, now as then. Yet then as now, individuals decide they can make a difference. In Livingstone town, a local minister pioneered a campaign to draw attention to the use of child slave labour to break stones for bricks in the luxury hotel industry. As he once told me “sympathy is not enough”.

Likewise the conference will be a chance to hear women on women in history. Writers and novelists will be talking to new audiences about their work highlighting the key role and nightmare of being one of Livingstone’s women, from his long-suffering wife Mary, to the women-slaves in the caravans like Halima, who cooked his food and tended his sores. Their contribution was almost instantly erased in the memorialisation after his death in 1873.

Also, the conference brings a range of inter-disciplinary scholarship to an African audience. For example, Dutch artist Sybren Renama’s painstaking search for the fragments of the African mpundu tree under which Livingstone’s African followers/co-explorers buried him.

Critically the conference is a platform for Zambian historians to present their latest research. Dr Walima Kalusa has returned to the unique and binding relationship between Livingstone and local chiefs, deconstructing the paper trail created. Dr Friday Mufuzi reveals the struggle involved in exhibiting Livingstone for western tourist consumption versus local views. Finally, it is a great chance to find out what Africans think about Livingstone and the colonial past. In addition to the formal conference, a free lecture and round table will be open to the public held the Town Hall early next week. It will be chance to see how far my research on the memory of Livingstone in Zambia for a book (Livingstone: a life in death) is true. So far it suggests a new diversity and scepticism in attitudes to him and the colonial past; and that today his importance and significance are waning.

Yet perhaps, it remains significantly strong in towns like Livingstone where he is the patron saint of tourism, offering an economic lifeline. He is a hugely important figure to their Senior Chief, who regularly tells tourists about the swallowing of the “Living-stone” ceremony. Livingstone remains a sketchily-known figure among Christian congregations of Anglican/Scottish lineage. Significantly, many Zambians recall a personal connection with him, via stories passed down through oral histories. One former ruling party official loved remembering how his great grandfather told him Livingstone explained the rain cycle to them. Another African minister tracked me down to divulge how his ancestors translated the first bible into the local vernacular, inspired by his presence in their area. That personal connection; that believed sense of intimacy (however misplaced, reconfigured for political uses or exaggerated by missionary texts) was encapsulated by the verdict of former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda: “he was one of us”.

This conference has been supported by LSE Annual Fund as part of the LSE Africa Initiative which seeks to exchange knowledge with African institutions and scholars and ensure that it maintains its place in the global debate

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Chanters, livingstone, London, uk, Zambia

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