cricket – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

Zambezi 94.1 fm ft Aaron Mertz

Meet Aaron Mertz, guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. There were two things different about this show. Firstly, Zambezi fm has changed its frequency from 107.7 to 94.1 fm. Apparently this is a temporary change – the station hopes to obtain a frequency lower than 90.0 fm to make it more accessible to local taxi drivers whose radios only reach that range. Secondly, Jay stood in for Milli Jam on this show, so he was the Ingredient and I featured! We managed. Milli Jam had been struck down with an eye infection. There’s also a rumour that he’s started jogging!

Aaron told listeners that he’d arrived in Livingstone that afternoon from South Africa and would just be in Zambia for about 48 hours, before taking the night train from Victoria Falls to Bulaway, then on to see Harare and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. Whilst in Livingstone he would be taking the one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana, as well as swimming in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island right on the edge of Victoria Falls. He was also looking forward to spending a few hours at the Livingstone museum. Aaron hails from Chicago but is currently living in New York City. He is a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University working in the laboratory of mammalian cell biology and development. “Ah!” We said! Aaron did his undergraduate degree (summa cum laude) at Washington University in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) and his doctorate (with distinction) at Yale University. He is also a Rhodes Scholar from Oxford University in UK. He told us that he had very much enjoyed the two years he’d spent in England but had not learned how to play cricket or to support Arsenal FC…..

The music on the show was good as usual. we opened with new tracks from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, and Oliver Heldens ft KStewart. Both current smash hits in UK. Jay dropped items from Doc Shebekza, Afunika, Kritic and DJ Khaled. Our ‘oldie of the week’ was a track by Jo Klassic ft PJay. Listeners have to text us the name of the artist on the track, but on this occasion no-one won the prize. One contestant forget to mention their own name and another knew the name of the track – Method 2 – but did not text the name of the artist. So, no-one won the dinner for two with drinks at the lodge on offer! There’ll be another chance on the next show.

Aaron revealed that when he’s not working or travelling (his first love), he plays the cello and in fact had recently given his first concert with a friend. He loves classical music and opera and living in New York gives him the chance to go to live shows. He also loves cycling and makes full use of the ‘Public Bikes’ now available in the city for the public to rent, cycle and return to a cycle bank. He revealed that he’d found out about Chanters Lodge from the Lonely Planet Guide Book and TripAdvisor on the internet. He was happy with the choice he’d made to stay with us. Aaron is still single and has one older brother.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Aaron said that he’d like to be a University Professor in Physics and Biology with his own research laboratory. Given Aaron’s academic achievements already, in our opinion that’s a ‘nobrainer’!! Unlike Mr Mertz who is clearly super brainy!

19
DEC

activities, Africa, broadcasting, Chanters, Chobe, cricket, education, entertainment, livingstone, radioshow, usa, Zambia, Zimbabwe

The Travel Camel Experience!

Meet Shane Dallas (above) aka The Travel Camel, Australian, traveller, public speaker, adventurer and Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The Experience is our weekly radio show airing every Sunday night from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a lively mixture of great music, and chat with our guest of the week.

Shane told listeners that he and travelling companion Maureen had been in Zambia for about a month, having arrived in Zambia from Dar-es-Salaam via the Tazara railway. Scheduled time for the trip? 48 hours. Actual time for the trip? 67 hours! Nevertheless Shane said they had both loved the experience. Having reached Lusaka they set off again for South Luangwa NP where they stayed for about two weeks at Marula Lodge which they had loved. They were lucky to have witnessed both a leopard and a lion kill. This adventurous couple had arrived in Livingstone about ten days before the show. The highlight of their time in Livingstone had been seeing and photographing the fantastic August lunar rainbow at the amazing Victoria Falls. Shane’s Tweets on Twitter featuring the moonbow had been a big hit with his 10,000 or so followers!

The music on the show was good and had our guest and his companion dancing in the studio! We opened with latest offerings from Enrique featuring Sean Paul, as well as Twin Atlantic. Milly Jam and Jay chose tracks from Zambian star Cleo as well as Coldplay, Jay Rox another Zambian artist, and the late great Castro. Our oldie of the week was One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful and the prize we give to the first listener to text us the name of the performing artist on the track was quickly snapped up. Mpazeni won dinner for two with drinks at the lodge. My pick of the week was by Meaghan Trainor and we closed with Benediction from Hot Natured.

Shane told listeners that although he is partially based in Dubai, he had in fact been travelling for the past 600 days! He also told us about the travel radio show on Dubai High fm which he guest hosts from time to time. Shane blogs as he travels and earns his living by training people in public speaking as well as in the art of social media. His expertise is in high demand. He and Maureen were due to leave for Zimbabwe a few days after the show, and would travel to Bulawayo by train. They were scheduled to arrive in Harare in time to celebrate Shane’s 50th birthday in September also attending the tripartite cricket tournament there at that time between Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Cricket is Shane’s great love! Music wise he told us that his favourite artists of all time is The Beatles.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years from now, Shane said he would like to have a permanent base somewhere, but still to be travelling – with Maureen we assumed.

21
AUG

activities, Australia, broadcasting, Chanters, cricket, entertainment, livingstone, lunar rainbow, music, radioshow, railways, South Luangwa, Tanzania, travel, wildlife, Zambia, Zimbabwe

The Experience On Call!

Meet Lonny Henderson (left) and Simon Tolmie (above), co-ordinator and trustee respectively of On Call Africa, an NGO founded in Scotland and very active in the Southern Province of Zambia in the field of the provision of mobile medical clinics to the villages in the province. Lonny, an American from Connecticut USA and Simon a Scot from Glasgow were Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our weekly radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show airs every Sunday night at 20.30 hrs CAT and features latest Zambian and international music, combined with lively chat with our guests of the week. Chanters Lodge and On Call Africa met on Twitter! Is there any better place to meet?

Lonny told listeners that he and partner Ellen (an education co-ordinator with On Call) had been in Zambia since May this year and were thoroughly enjoying their time in the country and the work they were doing. Simon is a full time doctor in one of Glasgow’s largest hospitals and was using his two weeks’ leave to assess progress on the project. He revealed that he’s largely responsible for generating finance for the NGO through donations, and was happy that recently Rotary International and On Call Africa had forged links that should see the organization move forward and expand. Lonny had been recruited through an on line advert and subsequent interviews via Skype. How times do change!

The music on the show was great and featured tracks from Bastille and Killers at the top of the show. Local tracks from Slap D featuring JK as well as Danny rocked the studio! Milli Jam chose Robin Thicke’s summer smash ‘Blurred Lines’ back to back with a number from John Legend. Our oldie of the week was a local track ‘Coca Cola’ by Oga Family and there was a host of text messages correctly telling us the name of the performing artist, so the prize of a dinner for two at the lodge that we give away for the first right answer, was quickly won!

Simon told listeners that he and his fiancee were planning to get married in June or July so 2014 would be a big year for them. He professed no real interest in football but told us that he followed rugby and cricket. Music wise he said his tastes were very broad. Lonny said the same thing, but in a surprise turn of events he revealed that he was a dedicated Arsenal supporter – ‘unusual for an American but very welcome’ thought Milli Jam! So, we discussed Arsenal’s current place at the top of the EPL while George, a Liverpool supporter, listened! The guys said they had enjoyed a night or two at some of Livingstones’ clubs since they had been in town and enjoyed Zambian music and night life.

As far as challenges were concerned they said that the biggest challenge for On Call Africa was distance. Both the distance that people had to walk to the villages to get basic medical assistance and the distance that the NGO’s not new Land Rover had to travel to meet the needs of the people. The NGO is very much involved in training clinical officers to help meet the rural peoples’ medical needs.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, both Lonny and Simon said that they would like to be part of a a very successful expanded On Call Africa. We thanked them for appearing on our show and for the great work they were doing for the rural population of Southern Zambia.

28
NOV

2014, Africa, Arsenal, Chanters, cricket, education, entertainment, health, livingstone, medical, music, radioshow, training, Twitter, victoriafalls, Zambia

Norway Rules!

Once again it’s our pleasure to introduce you to Norwegian guests staying at Chanters Lodge. Meet from left to right Erna Ravn, Silje Helland and Line Mannerud who featured last Sunday on our radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. The show goes out between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi Radio 107.7fm, Livingstone’s most popular local radio station. We feature music and conversation in just about equal proportions, chart news from around the world and the latest from Lodgeblog, as well as giving away a weekly prize of dinner for two at Chanters to the first person to text us the answer to a deliberately simple question. This week we asked which country our guests hailed from and towards the end of the show Joyce quickly answered ‘Norway’ and won!

Erna, Silje and Line are 3rd year students at the University of Tromso in chilly Northern Norway, studying teaching and currently in Zambia for a month to complete their course practicals at Nansanzu Basic School in Livingstone. The girls will be educating Grade 8 pupils in history, home economics and maths respectively. They were due to start teaching on the Monday following the show having completed a week’s acclimatization, and we weren’t sure whether they were more nervous about starting work or appearing on radio! Mind you Line seemed nervous about nothing! The girls said they were staying at Chanters following a recommendation from fellow students who had stayed with us last year. We liked that!

“How long have you been in Livingstone?” Milli Jam wanted to know. The girls replied that they’d been in town just over a week. “What activities have you done?” He carried on, and here began the partial tale of woe! The girls told listeners they’d been for an elephant safari on Saturday morning and whilst they’d had a good time, as they were dismounting Line fell off the beast and cut her leg. On Friday evening they’d taken a sunset cruise and Erna had been stung by a wasp – her wrist was still sore and swollen as the show went on air. The girls said “these things go in threes, we’re waiting for something to happen to Silje”! We hoped not! “Had they been clubbing already?” They were asked. “Not yet” they replied expectantly… “but we’ve flown microlights over Victoria Falls and seen the Falls from the ground as well, getting very wet in the process.”

The music on the show was great. We opened with Enrique’s latest smash featuring Ludacris and DJ Frank E ‘Tonight I’m Loving You’ back to back with Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Where You At?’ Our Zambian tracks were Zeck Dizzy with ‘Danger’ coupled with T-Sean’s ‘Wonder Why’. Ne-Yo’s ‘One In A Million’ and Keysha Cole’s ‘I Ain’t Thru’ featuring Nicki Minaj went down well and so too did Christina Perri’s ‘Jar Of Hearts’. We asked the girls which band was ‘hot’ in Norway at the moment (as if you could be – lol!) and they told us Kvelertak. “You be careful” said Line “this is dark rock”! We promised we would be!

Inevitably Milli Jam and George wanted to know if the girls had boyfriends pining for them back in Norway. Erna had, Silje and Line hadn’t. “Where would you like to be and what would you like to be doing ten years from now?” We asked these three lovely, lively ladies. Erna wanted to be married to her boyfriend and teaching in Norway. The much travelled Line still wanted to be travelling and quite fancied teaching in Zambia. Silje wanted to be at home with 40 cats listening to classical music! (Yes 40!)

Amidst studio discussion about Arsenal’s 2nd half debacle the previous Saturday afternoon and Manchester United’s first league loss the same day, together with Liverpool beating Chelsea (Torres and all) that evening, the girls admitted they didn’t follow football but just loved skiing, though they supposed people in Zambia didn’t ski much! We confirmed that……..

Were the girls happy at Chanters? Milli Jam wanted to know. They were and just loved the Chanters Girls!

8
FEB

activities, Africa, cricket, education, leadership, livingstone, Norway, radioshow, victoriafalls, volunteers, wildlife, Zambia

The Ashes Are Coming Home!

Congratulations England on a stunning 3-1 series win in The Ashes cricket in Australia! First time England have won it on Australian soil for 24 years and it was achieved in some style! Basically mates, you were thrashed!

Above Alastair Cook, man of the series with a batting average of around 126 and more than 700 runs, is pictured with satisfied skipper Andrew Strauss.

To our many Australian friends and Clients we say, hard luck! (Or something like that! Lol!)

7
JAN

Australia, cricket, guests, uk

Barmy Army! Barmy Army!

Great day for the Barmy Army down under as ‘The Poms’ go up 1-0 in the Ashes! I’m so pleased that my getting up at 02.00 hrs to watch the last day’s play was not in vain. Luckily Graham Swann finished it off quickly for England and I was able to go back to sleep sweetly!!

Congratulations to KP – Man Of The Match! They said he’d come good down under!

On to Perth!

Oh! For the uninformed! It’s about cricket!

7
DEC

Australia, cricket, uk