Zambian Music On The Chanters Lodge Experience

Zambian Music On The Chanters Lodge Experience


On yesterday’s blog about our weekly Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Soulchild – I mentioned that my knowledge of Zambian music is so poor, and lack of venacular language capability so total, that it would be nice if Soulchild (George Mukwita above), could give us the weekly lowdown on the Zambian music we play on the show. I have a Zambian award for the promotion of local musicians and I really feel I should go on with the work! In future we’ll also picture some of the artists and whenever we can, feature them as Guests on the show, as we have sometimes in the past. Anyway here’s George’s first post, and of course we’ll welcome your comments: Thanks Soulchild!

“Firstly, all local producers deserve to be given a merit for their work. Production of Zambian music is no longer the same as it was seven or ten years ago, a clear sign of development in the industry and in the mind set of the producers and creativity of the artists. Local radio stations are now filled with Zambian music from different Artists, out showing their skills and talents in their productions. At least we are all proud that some local productions even have the capability to be aired on Radio Stations outside Zambia. Zambian music has a rich heritage which falls roughly into three categories: Traditional, Popular and Christian.

The first Zambian track we played on Sunday was by Ston featuring Judy titled Fire! It’s a great track, sung in english and produced at K-amy studio in Lusaka, both artists are under that recording studio. Judy dropped her first album some time last year and is currently working on her second. Ston is yet to drop his first project…it could be before the end of the year we just have to wait and see..

Second track we played was by the very well known K’millian titled Mailo meaning “Tomorrow” – the track is in Bemba.The song is talking about helping out someone, a friend in need. It’s lifted off his 4th album. K’millian is currently in the studio cooking up a new album which should be out some time in October this year.

P-jay’s track titled ‘Contolo’ slang for “Control” was our third and final Zambian track on the show. The track talks about a guy losing his control every time he is in the presence of his women! Don’t get it twisted its an all round love song that will keep you dancing!

(‘Contolo’ – now there’s a nice new word for me! And no, don’t get it twisted! Ed)

14
JUL
2

Africa, blog, entertainment, innovation, music, radioshow, Zambia

Kariba Bush Club

Kariba Bush Club


Overnight we were lucky to have as Guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Carmen and Geoff Greenwood and their two children. Carmen and Geoff have connections with Kariba Bush Club . The Club is managed by Peter Nel an old friend of ours and his dad Brian is one of our fish suppliers too! Bream Fillets asap please!

“Established in 2003 originally as a back-packer’s lodge and guesthouse able to accommodate 32 guests, Kariba Bush Club has grown extensively over the years with the addition of another guesthouse, four luxury chalets and two houseboats, now being able to accommodate a maximum of 76 guests excluding the campsite.

The lodge has something to offer everyone – whether on a tight budget or not. And of course there are the many activities for all to enjoy, as well as various facilities that the lodge has to offer guests. These facilities include a swimming pool, volleyball court, bar, restaurant and much more. Wildlife to be seen around the lodge includes bushbuck, puku, impala, duiker, zebra, bush-pig, warthog, ostrich and the ever-so-inquisitive monkeys, to name some. Baobab and Marula are both unique in their own way, but both are fully furnished and self-contained, offering a perfect retreat for groups of families or friends.

Baobab House (check the photo) is a double-storey thatched cottage built atop a ridge alongside a massive Baobab Tree. This house sleeps 6 people, is equipped with DSTV and offers private parking. It has shown to be a favourite amongst guests, with its large verandah elegantly wrapping around the front of the house, showing off the spectacular views of Lake Kariba that this house has to offer. Facing west, it is perfectly situated allowing guests to watch the infamous sunsets over Kariba without having to move further than the verandah. It is also ideally located in the sense that it is a mere 100m walk from the main lodge swimming pool yet still tucked away in its own corner, maintaining that true feeling of tranquility and privacy.”

That’s the blurb. I’ve never been there but it sounds stunning. How do you get there? Ah! Going from Livingstone turn right at Batoka and it’s about 200kms I was told! I also notice there’s no map on either the brochure or the website! Lol! I’ll find out sometime and let you know!

10
JUL
0

accommodation, Africa, guests, innovation, Lake Kariba, management, wildlife, Zambia

Udaipur Times

Udaipur Times


Udaipur, also known as the City of Lakes, is a city, a Municipal Council and the administrative headquarters of the Udaipur district in the state of Rajasthan in western India. It is the historic capital of the former kingdom of Mewar in Rajputana Agency. Lake Pichola, Fateh Sagar Lake, Udai Sagar and Swaroop Sagar in this city are considered some of the most beautiful lakes in the state.

Apart from its glorious history, culture and scenic location, it is also known for its Rajput-era palaces. The Lake Palace, for instance, covers an entire island in the Pichola Lake. Many of the palaces have been converted into luxury hotels. It is often called the “Venice of the East” and is also nicknamed the “Lake City”.

My friend Zazo has a new blog – Udaipur Times! Check it out, it’s great!

25
MAY
0

friends, India, innovation, internet

Management Offices, Chanters Lodge, Livingstone

Management Offices, Chanters Lodge, Livingstone




The new executive office suite at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone is finished and only has to be furnished. There are pictures of the outside, the new curtains and the ‘curtain ladies’ above. The suite comprises two offices, one for the ‘director’ and one for the assistant manager (eventually manager) and a lou. I’ve often been asked why we’re spending so much money building apparently non-revenue earning rooms – well, there’s method in our madness.

Two of the original ‘main house’ bedrooms are small and one is currently used as an office (except in ’emergencies’). In the early development of the lodge we never got round to making an office, and only lately has the need become more evident. The plan is to convert these two original main house rooms into a suite with a pool facing sitting room, a large double bedroom, and a totally renovated bathroom with the installation of a new bathroom suite and seperate shower.

Why? Well, pool facing rooms are our most popular accommodation, and with our current room rates we’ll be able to let the suite for a total of what we can now earn from the two existing small rooms – when they’re let – which isn’t very often. In addition, we’ll have a suite suitable for VIP’s which we should be able to let for much more when it’s requested, and if there’s a demand for long term accommodation, which there often seems to be, the new suite would also be suitable.

Apart from the bathroom renovation which we want to begin next week, to finish the suite we only have to knock down three walls, raise a roof, relocate all the satellite dishes, install new entrance steps and a new front door from the poolside. Then, fit a pool facing picture window in the existing external wall and build a new dividing wall between the sitting room and bedroom incorporating a fitted wardrobe!

Oh! And the suite won’t be cheap to furnish either!

A very Happy Easter to you all!

4
APR
0

accommodation, Africa, Chanters, innovation, management, victoriafalls, Zambia

Office With A View

Office With A View


Check the view from the window of our new offices at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia – looking west up Obote Avenue. Isn’t that nice? Have you moved in? We hear you ask.

Errrmmm, no, not quite, but we will, the moment the curtains are up!

Then we’ll post a view of the interior too – minus the beer crates we might have to be sitting on!

31
MAR
0

Africa, Chanters, entrepreneurship, extension, infrastructure, innovation, leadership, livingstone, victoriafalls, Zambia

Why Offices?

Why Offices?



Most visitors to Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, when they see the new office building pictured above (with a roof on, you’ll note), ask “are you building new rooms?” They’re usually surprised when we reply “no, they’re offices”.

We then go on to explain that back in 1998 when we were developing the original 3 bedroomed house into a restaurant with some rooms, money was very tight. An admin office seemed to be the last thing we could afford in the light of having to provide private bathrooms for the 3 bedrooms, refloor the whole building (parquet tiles throughout), provide public toilets, convert and extend the servants’ quarters to become the stores, kitchen, laundry and staff changing facilities, and the small existing domestic kitchen into the bar. We also had to landscape (there was nothing), equip the kitchen, bar and restaurant then fully furnish the rooms and public areas.

So, where did we work? Well, initially I worked on the end of the terrace, from where I had good peripheral vision and the accountant worked under one of the seven rondavels we’d erected in the garden as an afterthought! These were soon to become, and still are, one of the most popular features at the lodge! Accounts moved to share our tiny reception area. As for me, I got fed up with having to move from the terrace due to Client demand – the terrace was our second most popular feature – so I moved into the restaurant. When I first got a laptop in 2005/6 it was too risky to leave it lying around the restaurant and I sort of moved into room 2 (we had expanded to 8 rooms at this stage), and later somehow became firmly ensconced!

In 2009 it seemed to me daft to continue occupying a guest room when we did have space and just about enough finance to build offices, and reception is still too small for two people to work in comfort! So in late December we started the construction of two offices. The exciting plan once we’ve moved in, is to convert two of the original rooms into a pool facing suite. This won’t be simple and won’t be cheap but it will be the most innovative challenge since we built the first two pool facing rooms in 2006!

We’ve posted a photo of the original building to give you perspective! Oh! And I was writing this the builders arrived to start plastering the office block.

6
FEB
0

accommodation, Africa, Chanters, extension, innovation, offices, victoriafalls, Zambia

James Cameron – New Age Entrepreneur

James Cameron – New Age Entrepreneur


You can always count on the Staff Blog at Fresh Inc for some business wisdom. Check this:

“With Avatar recently becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time, Hollywood is looking to learn what it can from the mystical blue people of the Na’vi. Entrepreneurs, however, might want to look at the film’s director, James Cameron, for some business advice.

Finance blog, BloggingStocks, has an interesting post about the business lessons entrepreneurs can learn from James Cameron. In their words, “Cameron is a New Age entrepreneur–that is, combining creativity, unconventional wisdom, over-the-top optimism and good business sense.” They advise entrepreneurs to find a way to charge a premium. By making a 3D film, Cameron was able to charge 30 percent more than a regular movie ticket.

It also took Cameron 10 years to make the film, which BloggingStocks says proves that “while some entrepreneurs can make a quick fortune, this is rare. Instead, building real value takes time.”

5
FEB
1

art, entertainment, entrepreneurship, innovation, management, usa

Offices

Offices


Our new small office block is taking longer to build than we’d hoped at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone. But there’s some progress as evidenced by this picture.

Most of the roofing materials are now to hand (if not yet paid for!) And we hope the roof will be on this week, weather and builders permitting. If we’re occupying the offices and solvent by the end of February, we’ll be happy enough! Even if it means sitting on beer crates with laptops on laps!

1
FEB
0

Chanters, electricity, extension, infrastructure, innovation, livingstone, victoriafalls, Zambia

Zambia Reserves

Zambia Reserves


From ThePostOnline

“There’s no underlying need for Zambia to build reserves beyond the current US$1.8 billion hence the surplus should be directed at infrastructure investment to stimulate the local economy, observes Standard Chartered Bank head of research for Africa Razia Khan. And Khan has said there are possibilities of extra-budgetary expenditure in the run-up to the 2011 elections that may see the government to overshoot its planned domestic debt issuance.

Khan challenged the government to put in place measures that would ensure the economy to be ‘firing in all cylinders’ to result in satisfactory and meaningful growth that would subsequently reduce poverty levels in the country. Last year, Zambia recorded US$1.8 billion, which is about four to five months import cover due to increased inflows from the International Finance Institutions, mainly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which boosted the country’s foreign exchange reserves.

However, financial market experts and analysts have questioned the motive behind the continued stockpiling of the reserves, saying Zambia should just save slightly above what is required as import cover and use the surplus for infrastructure development such as roads. It is also understood that there were several challenges in maintaining large currency reserves, which included fluctuations in exchange rates, low international interest rates and reduction in purchasing power of the reserve currency due to inflation.

The financial experts, who preferred anonymity, stated that there was no need for Zambia to continue stockpiling foreign reserves when the country’s infrastructure capacity which is key to enhance economic growth was not being developed. “Why do we want to keep so much money doing nothing instead of investing it into infrastructural projects that will help stimulate the country’s economy?” questioned the experts.

Commenting on the issue and giving a foreign exchange market outlook for Zambia last week, Khan said the Zambian Kwacha had started 2010 with a powerful advance, leaving the US$/kwacha at 4.2 per cent below turn-of-year levels and at 22.7 per cent below the K5,750 which was the 2009 peak.”

And that 22.7% represents the Kwacha income loss we’ve suffered in a year as a result! What a lot of sense this piece makes, though I don’t suppose anyone will listen!

29
JAN
0

Africa, infrastructure, innovation, leadership, trends, Zambia

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