The Richard C Nyathi Experience!

Meet Richard Nyathi (above) – half South African, half Zimbabwean, born and brought up in Zambia, Richard has spent the past fifteen years or so in the far north of Norway – if that doesn’t make him truly Zambian then I’d better look for another reason! Got it! Richard arrived at the studios of Zambezi 107.7 fm to feature as the Guest on our radio show about ten minutes after we’d gone on air with the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring Jay Hillz last Sunday. Truly Zambian as I said! Milli Jam stood in for Richard at the start of the show telling us about his son’s gold and bronze medals in an Under 16’s athletics meeting in Botswana. Great stuff!

The Chanters Lodge Experience airs every Sunday night from 20.30 – 21.30 hrs on Livingstone’s leading local radio station. At the top of the show Milli Jam wanted to know how Richard and I had come to know each other, and we explained to listeners that Richard was one of the first Guests at Chanters Lodge when we opened way back in 1998.

I went on to tell Milli Jam that Richard, and one or two of his friends, were very keen on a group of Norwegian volunteers working in Livingstone back then! The Norwegian girls spent a lot of time at Chanters accompanied by Richard and his friends – so much so that Richard ended up marrying one of them – Marianne Olsen (who has also been a Guest on our show) – and moving to Tromsoe in the far north of Norway. Richard, a civil Engineer by profession, now works in maintenance for Moi i Rana town council. Mo i Rana is a town and administrative centre of the municipality of Rana in Nordland county, Norway. It is located just south of the Arctic Circle. Richard told us that socially Norway is a non racial country but professionally it can be difficult for people with non-Norwegian qualifications to get ahead. Things, however, had been better for him since he moved to Moi i Rana.

The music on the show was good with latest tracks from Mr Probz and Indiana at the top of the show, followed by tracks from KCee, Owl City, Katy Perry and Chiko Wise. Our oldie of the week was Beyonce’s ‘Naughty Girl’ and the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was MNEK’s ‘Every Little Word’ and we closed with a new track from Joel Compass.

Richard told listeners that he had definite plans to move back to Zambia and revealed that he had recently remarried – his new bride was Zambian and the couple were busy trying to finish building their house in Livingstone. Richard had also acquired a plot in Kazungula on the banks of the Zambezi. Milli Jam and I were happy that for once we had a fellow ‘Gunner’ alongside in the studio. Richard revealed that he had been to the Emirates Stadium many times to watch Arsenal ‘live’. His favourite player at the moment – Tomas Rosicky, favourite all time – Dennis Bergkamp. About the manager. “Why can’t he re-invent himself?” was Richard’s question! Music wise Richard is into jazz and reeled off a list of favourite artists, unknown to the rest of us!

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years from now our Guest said he would like to be retired, living in his house on the Zambezi and fishing! Milli Jam, who had stood in for our Guest in the early part of the show said he wanted to be the owner of a radio station. “This one?” I wondered. “Why not!” The reply. It was a good show.

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Chris Taxis and Tours

It is inspiring to see how Chris Mweetwa (above) has expanded and developed his company over the past five years. The latest addition to his ‘fleet’ being a luggage trailer (parked at our lodge) – and they are not cheap. Chris looks after most of our Guest and staff transport requirements and comes highly recommended. Here’s the link to his website. Don’t forget to review his operation on Trip Advisor if you have used his services. Here’s the blurb:

“We are a travel and leisure company offering excellent and cost effective Tour and Car Hire Services in Zambia. We are located in Livingstone home to the Mighty Victoria falls.

The Company, since its establishment represents transport products, which have been carefully, selected from major activities provided in Livingstone. Acting this way, Chris Taxi & Tours Ltd has managed to continually enrich its product line, from simple ordinary taxi business to the modern transport system of the new millennium and to recently expand its activities to offer tours to the tourism sector.”

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Stephen Gillespie and Mark Scarbrough

Meet Stephen Gillespie (above left) and Mark Scarbrough from Indiana and Tennessee, USA respectively, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The ‘Experience’ is our radio show that airs weekly every Sunday at 20.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Stephen and Mark told our listeners that they had only arrived in Livingstone by coach two hours before the show started, they had been ferried quickly to the lodge from the coach station, fed and then whisked off to the studios of 107.7 fm. Actually and surprisingly they showed no signs of tiredness and were only too happy to explain why they were in town. It was Mark’s 15th visit to Zambia – he has been involved in many projects in the past – but for Stephen it was his first time in Zambia and first time in Africa too!

Stephen and Mark explained that they had already been in Zambia for about five days and had spent time in Lusaka and Mazabuka. Their goal is to build a clinic in Pemba, Southern Province in an area where the nearest medical facility is some 50 kms from the the village. The clinic would aid the poor and needy and would include medical, dental and optical facilities. Financed through donations and fund raising in USA, the clinic would be staffed year round by medical and nursing staff from USA on a volunteer basis, but would of course employ some local personnel as well. “How did you link up?” Milli Jam wondered and Mark explained that they had met at a conference held at Two Rivers Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. The purpose of this particular visit to Zambia was to receive all the planning and other permissions necessary for their venture, as well as to make a video of the proposed project which would assist in raising funds and attracting volunteers. Video making is Stephen’s area of expertise, construction Mark’s.

The music on the show was good featuring tracks from Kiesza, Chris Brown, Emily Sande, Elyar Fox as well as DJ LBC, Zero, Katy Perry and Macky 2. A great mixture of Zambian and international tracks to reflect the eclectic nature of the music on our show. The prize we give each week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week was very quickly snapped up by Emma. She won a dinner for two at the lodge for texting us speedily to tell us that Lou Bega recorded Mambo No 5. A track and an artist totally lost on yours truly! You live and learn!

Milli Jam wondered how Mark was always able to bring Richard the latest Charley Pride music whenever he stayed at Chanters and Mark explained that he is a friend of Danny Hutchins. Danny Hutchins is a lead back-up musician with the Charley Pride Band. He plays strings and keyboard with Charley Pride, a country music recording artist who is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Mark revealed that he is single with two grown up daughters, Stephen is married and also has a daughter. Whilst in Livingstone Stephen would be editing the material he had recorded in Pemba for the video, he also hoped to visit Victoria Falls and to go on safari to Chobe NP in Botswana. The guys had also brought soccer kit with them from the States as a donation to one of Livingstone’s local teams. Mark showed some interest in UK football and revealed support for Manchester United. Fairly normal for our show guests. Jay was cock-a-hoop that his beloved Liverpool show every sign that they will be EPL champions in UK this year, Milli Jam and I were happy that Arsenal had won.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Mark said he would like to be in Livingstone with his daughters Melanie and Jennifer staying at Chanters Lodge, Stephen would like to have led multiple visits to Zambia and to have seen their clinic project staffed, thriving and fulfilling a desperate need.

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Mike and Anne Gough

Meet Anne and Mike Gough (above), Guests 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 20.30-21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Teachers both, Mike works at The Arnewood School, New Milton, Hampshire in UK while wife Anne is at The Island Learning Centre on the Isle of Wight. Mike is also head of the IT centre at Arnewood as well as the international co-ordinator. Anne’s learning centre helps children with learning difficulties prepare for a return to ‘regular’ school.

“How long have you been married?” Milli Jam asked at the top of the show, Mike sighed (though he denied it) and replied “thirty five years”. Anne and Mike told listeners that they have three daughters and one seven year old grandson – clearly the apple of his grandparents’ eye!

The Goughs explained that they were in this country to research a proposed trip to Zambia for Arnewood students in 2016. They were planning to bring a group of 12/15 youngsters for a month. They told listeners that the students’ itinerary would hopefully include time spent at Hillcrest School in Livingstone with Hillcrest students later travelling to UK on an exchange basis. There would be time spent working at the Butterfly Tree projects at Mukuni Village, building structures with money raised by the students in UK for the project. There would be a safari in Botswana as part of the trip and a week spent volunteering at lion encounter.
Mike and Anne told listeners they had arranged many successful trips in the past to countries as varied as Bolivia, Siberia and Tibet. There was a lot of work involved in planning, as well as selling the trip to prospective students and parents.

The music on the show was good with latest hit tracks from Sigma, The Vamps, David Guetta and Ed Sheeran. Jay and Milli Jam chose recordings from One Direction, Chris Brown and Zambian artists Eddy and Judy. Our oldie of the week was Brook Hogan’s ‘For A Moment’ and the prize we give to the first person to text us telling us the name of the performing artist was won by Mitch, who earned himself dinner for two with drinks at the lodge.

Mike revealed that he was a Liverpool supporter which pleased Jay who is too, and these people spent time congratulating each other on that afternoon’s win again Manchester City. Milli Jam and I were rather irked by this mutual admiration, and felt pleased that the lovely Anne had no interest whatsoever in football. As a couple Mike and Anne love cricket and are executive members at Hampshire County Cricket Club.

They told listeners that they had returned from a two day safari in Botswana that afternoon, they had very much enjoyed the outing and had been lucky to see a vast array of wildlife including lion and, Anne’s favourite, warthogs. They hoped to have time to do some of the many other tourist activities available around Victoria Falls during their stay, but ruled out the bungee jump!

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time Anne said she would like to be on the silk trail exploring China, while Mike wanted to be revisiting communities he and his students had helped in the past, in different countries around the world. We thanked this interesting happy couple for guesting on the show and wished them well in the planning for their trip. We looked forward to welcoming some of their students as Guests on our programme in a couple of years’ time!

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The Massaj Experience!

Meet Davison Munsanda Junior, better known to Livingstone residents, especially club goers, as Pivot Massaj, well known DJ, MC as well as clearing and forwarding agent, pictured above centre with Jay-Hillz (left) and Milli Jam (right). Pivot was our Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz, our regular Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hours for an hour every week on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Pivot told listeners that he had chosen the stage name ‘Pivot’ because he felt at the time that the music scene in Livingstone revolved around the music he was playing in clubs, and the rap he was singing in shows. He added ‘Massaj’ because his music soothes the nerves as well as the soul. He is not a young man ‘backward in coming forward’ as my late mother might have said! Currently he is studying events management, whilst being a regular DJ at East Point, one of Livingstone’s most popular night spots, located near the temporary bus station close to the old North Western Hotel. He is also working in the family’s clearing and forwarding business.”How do you find time to do all that you do”? Milli Jam wondered and Pivot’s quick reply was “99 Jobs”! He was referring to a hot Zambian hit of that name recorded by Chef 187 about the need for young Zambians to move from one job to another every day to make a living!

Pivot went on to explain that when he first started in the music business his family had been very keen to for him to have a ‘proper job’ and although he’d initially resisted the call, later he’d been obliged to work for the family’s clearing and forwarding agency ‘to keep the peace’. “What’s your biggest problem”? Milli Jam wondered. “Getting enough sleep!” Replied Pivot.

The music on the show was great. We opened as usual with ‘Hey Brother’ from Avicii, quickly followed, after the introductions, by Aloe Blacc’s ‘The Man’ and John Martin’s first solo single ‘Anywhere For You’. We followed with tracks from Kapansa, Rihanna, Daft Punk featuring Jay-Z as well as Mampi, one of Zambia’s hottest singing divas. The track we featured was ‘Nikutantule’.

No-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week, we featured ‘Bird On A Wire’ from The Neville Brothers. Not even Man U supporters! Our pick of the week was The Wanted’s ‘Glow In The Dark’.

Milli Jam wondered which UK football team supported but when he said ‘Man U’ our presenter quickly moved on to a different subject, wondering whether Pivot was married. He replied that he was spoken for and that he had both a girl friend and a child. This caused some ladies to post on our Facebook page demanding that Pivot should ‘name the girlfriend’ – he failed to do so! We wondered what was the biggest event for which Pivot had been the MC and he replied that a function for the UNWTO general meeting in Livingstone in 2013 had been the biggest. He named his greatest inspiration as our very own Milli Jam explaining to listeners that it was he Milli Jam who had given him his first chance as a DJ and taught him the job. Milli Jam was chuffed to bits!

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Pivot said that he would like to be marketing the country outside Zambia ‘on a bigger platform’, that his future was in God’s hands and that he wished to avoid a lot of the health hazards around in Zambia for the sake of his daughter.
It was a pleasure to welcome this self-confident, hard working, personable young man as the Guest on our show.

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The Mark Namakando Experience!

We were happy to introduce a young Zambian musician to our audience when Mark Namakando (above) was our Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz. Our show airs every Sunday evening at 20.30 hrs for an hour on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a lively mixture of music and chat, hosted by one of Livingstone’s best loved DJ’s – Milli Jam, ably assisted by up and coming Jay Hillz, co-host of 107.7 fm’s popular Breakfast Show.

Mark told listeners that he is a rap artist and that he mostly performs with another young artist known as PMT – they perform under the name of ‘3 Lettered Kings’. The boys have so far recorded about seven tracks. Mark explained that he raps mostly in English but sometimes in his native Lozi language ‘about how I look at life and society, as well as how I feel’. “Do you rap about relationships?” Milli Jam wondered. “Not yet” came the reply. “Are you in a relationship?” MJ persevered with this line of questions and shyly Mark admitted that yes he was. He revealed his age as 20 and told us that he had completed Grade 12 at Hillcrest Technical Secondary School in Livingstone. (One of Livingstone’s best secondary schools). After Grade 12 Mark had studied for a certificate in marketing from a Livingstone college.

As Mark had revealed to listeners that one of his Zambian musical influences was CRISIS, the guys dropped his latest ‘That’s The Way It Is’ on the show. We also played tracks from Davido, Chris Brown ft Aliyah, General Ozzy, Sam Smith, Martin Garrix, 5 Seconds of Summer and Faul ft Wa Dad vs Pneu.

Mark revealed that he, like Jay Hillz, is a big fan of Liverpool FC in UK and both were delighted that their team had that evening risen to the top of the EPL. They were totally convinced that the team could stay there until the end of the season and become champions. Mark and Jay Hillz revealed they had met as co-members of Zambezi 107.7 fm’s ‘Fan Club’, when they had auditioned for the station on the same day. They had remained firm friends ever since. Mark told us that after his marketing course he had spent some time on attachment with Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation in sales, but had found it tough selling advertising on the national broadcaster to small Livingstone companies. Although they had wanted him to continue after his attachment he had decided to stop and help run the family business.

Still single and the youngest of nine siblings, Mark said that in ten years’ time he hoped to be his own boss, to have started his own business and to have finished his marketing studies, as well as being a big success in music. We wished this personable, likeable, hard working young man all the best in the future and thanked him for appearing on our show.

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The Swimming Experience!

We were delighted to welcome Ian Newell (above), international swimming coach and Chief Coach at Shiverers Swimming Club in Brighton (“Hove actually!” Ian corrected us) as Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz, our regular weekly Sunday night radio show airing from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Ian explained to listeners that he was in Livingstone for the weekend, on a break from helping Lusaka Dolphins Swimming Club coach swimmers likely to be in the Zambian team taking part in the Africa Games in Uganda next April. It was Ian’s first time in Zambia, first time in Africa and of course his first time to see the magnificent Victoria Falls. He told us that he would be in the country for a total of about two weeks. He had been comfortable staying at Chanters Lodge and had thoroughly enjoyed the Lady Livingstone sunset cruise on his first afternoon, as well as a microlight flight over the falls during his stay. He had eaten a fantastic high tea at the Royal Livingstone Hotel that very afternoon, and had loved the view from their deck, of the spray from the Falls spreading right across the mighty Zambezi.

Milli Jam wanted to know how the connection had been made between Shiverers Swimming Club in UK and Lusaka Dolphins thousands of miles away in Lusaka. Ian said that it had come about due to a Zambian family visiting UK being allowed to temporarily join Shiverers and train during their stay, and subsequently issuing an invitation to Ian to come to Zambia. Ian told us that he had been a swimming coach for a total of about 45 years having been a good swimmer in his youth before turning to coaching as a career. Jay and Milli Jam wanted to know why generally white people seemed to be better at swimming than black people, and Ian explained that it came down to their different muscle length and bone structure required to become top class swimmers. Ian mentioned that he now had several up and coming black swimmers under his wing at Shiverers.

The music on the show was good, featuring tracks from Enrique Iglesias, Duke Dumont, T-Pain, Roberto and Kanji (both Zambian artists) as well as Tyga. Our oldie of the week was a track from JK 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 Sia’s ‘Chandelier’.

Ian told listeners that he had never been married and did not have children, he blamed these facts on the intensity of his career – his features only slightly tinged with regret. He clearly regards his swimmers as his ‘children’ and delights in their success all the way up to Olympic standard. He has several youngster whom he thinks may well go all the way to the top of the sport in future. Ian loves football as well as swimming and said he supports his local club Brighton and Hove Albion, as well as Manchester United. We moved quickly on. His musical tastes go mostly back to the 60’s. He’s a fan of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Ian told listeners that as 2024 would be an Olympic year, he would like to be wherever the games would be held with two or three swimmers from Shiverers and some Zambian swimmers competing in the Games!

 

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DJ Obby Sims

Meet DJ Obby Sims, (above) leading DJ and supervisor at Livingstone’s hottest night club East Point, and guest on the most recent edition of our weekly Sunday night radio show, the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. Obby’s real name? Obrien Simbwalanga, Tonga by tribe! ‘The Experience’ is sponsored weekly by Chanters Lodge and airs for a hour every Sunday at 20.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s best loved local radio station. The show is popular with local residents, partly because it offers the chance to win dinner for two at the lodge, to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our regular ‘oldie of the week’ spot. The prize on this show was quickly snapped up when we dropped Tina Turner’s classic ‘I Don’t Wanna Lose You’.

Obby told listeners that he had been DJ at East Point for about two years since the hot spot opened, prior to which he had been at Fairmount Hotel in Livingstone as entertainment manager. He still regarded the Fairmount disco as East Point’s major competition especially since their recent renovations. He recounted to listeners how he had started in the entertainment business in Lusaka at Moon City night club in the 80’s with the help of the late Eddy Groove who had taught him how to DJ with vinyl – “nothing like CD decks in those days!” He said. (This stirred some of your writer’s memories!) Later Obby had worked at Lusaka’s huge Black Velvet night club. This was a controversial place in the end, but in its’ heyday it had held more than 1200 revelers at one time! After working for Hanif Adams and Clouds in Lusaka, later Obby had come back to Livingstone and, as mentioned, started work with the Fairmount Hotel.

The music on this show was good. We opened with latest hits from Tinie Tempah and the Chainsmokers. Milli Jam and Jay chose tracks from Stevo, Shaggy featuring Ne-Yo, Lorde and Karasa with Cleo Ice featuring Zone Fam. Our pick of the week was ‘Dangerous Love’ from Fuse OGD featuring Sean Paul, and we closed with a hit from Enrique Iglesias’s latest album.

Obby sadly revealed that his fiancee had passed away the previous month and that he was still enduring the grieving process. He did not have any children. He also told us proudly that he had done the bungee jump and that he was a regular on sunset cruises on the Zambezi. His football team is Arsenal (as shown by the above photo!) and his favourite all time player Thierry Henry. He was really hoping his team would win the FA Cup this year. His favourite music is tracks from the 80’s and 90’s – his favourite international artist the late Michael Jackson, Petersen his Zambian pick. We were surprised at the latter choice as his first cousin is B1 – also a famous Zambian musician.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time (Milli Jam’s favourite question to our weekly guest) Obby said he would like to be in Livingstone, running his own club with his own workers, married to a beautiful woman and to have lovely children. We wished him the best of luck and told him to keep on rocking his patrons!

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Around The World Experience

Meet Jill and Paul Carter (above) who left Fremantle, Western Australia in April 2010 on their yacht SV Elevation to sail around the world and who, in March 2014 ended up in the studios of Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, as Guests on our weekly radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz! ‘How did they manage that when Zambia’s land locked’? You’re wondering – Jill and Paul explained to listeners that they had always wanted to see Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world, so they had berthed the Elevation in Cape Town, jumped on a plane and flown up to Livingstone, so they could do just that! Staying at Chanters Lodge it was natural for us to invite them on to the show to tell us something of their around the world trip so far.

Jill informed us that they had recently sailed from Reunion to Cape Town having previously visited many countries in the Far East on their travels. From the long list they singled out their trips to Borneo and Cambodia as two of the highlights especially the rain forest music festival in Borneo. (For more details you can read Jill’s blog here). Milli Jam wanted to know if this adventurous, personable couple were still working and on leave from their jobs. Paul told us that he had retired from his work as a marine engineer in 2009, while Jill explained that she had been in the banking industry for 33 years but was made redundant following the world crash in 2008. They had decided to build a state of the art yacht and sail the seven seas!

The music on the show was good. We were celebrating the birth of Tamera, Milli Jam’s brand new baby daughter – his other 5 children are all boys. We opened with ‘My Love’ from Route 94 featuring Jess Glynne, top of the UK singles charts as we went on air, back to back with ‘Hunter’ a track from Pharrell Williams’ hot album ‘GIRL’. The guys chose tracks from Salma, Chris Brown, B1 featuring Pentagon as well as Nelly Furtado. Our oldie of the week was ‘Motivation’ by Kelly Rowland and the prize we give each week of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist, was quickly snapped up by a certain Charles. My pick of the week was Phillip Phillips’ ‘Raging Fire’.

Jill and Paul revealed that they had been married for thirty three years. They said they had much enjoyed the activities they had undertaken since they had arrived in Livingstone including a visit to Victoria Falls which they described as ‘even more stunning than they had expected’. They had also taken a one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana. They had loved the sunset cruise on the Zambezi on the Lady Livingstone as well as a fifteen minute helicopter flight over the Falls. They thoroughly recommended the Bushtracks dinner train, as well as the traditional dancing at Cafe Zambezi on a Friday night.

Asked about their future plans, the Carters told us that they would fly back to Cape Town the following week and would then sail to Ascension Island and St Helena, before crossing the Atlantic and spending time in the Caribbean. “Isn’t it scary sailing the oceans in bad weather?” Milli Jam wondered (it was pouring with rain outside the studio!) and the couple agreed that yes, sometimes it was. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they both said they hoped to be together, happy and still enjoying their adventures. Fantastic couple, fantastic adventure, great show!

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The Young Australian Experience!

Meet Emma Arians (above right) and Ciana Wills, young Australians, and Guests 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 which goes out live on air every Sunday on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The programme is a lively mixture of music and chat – especially lively on this edition with these two pretty, bubbly Aussies! Milli Jam wanted to know if this was the girls’ first visit to Zambia, they replied that for Emma it was, but that it was Ciana’s second time to come to the country. Ciana’s first visit had been some seven years’ ago on a family trip with her parents and brother. The girls told listeners that they had spent the first week of their visit at Chanters Lodge, the second week they were based at Jollyboys, Livingstone’s famous backpackers’ hostel. They said they loved Zambia calling it ‘safe and friendly’.

The ladies informed us that they were both from Melbourne, Australia, and both working. Emma for Village Cinemas and Ciana for Menzies Aviation. Emma is trained in tourism management and Ciana in childrens’ services. Ciana revealed that all her family work at Melbourne Airport including her brother, her mum works for Singapore Airlines as well as her dad who is a Customs and Excise Agent. Both the girls said they had boyfriends back in Melbourne, both in the building industry which made me wonder whether they had an eye on being built a house ‘later’. The girls did not deny it! Ciana and Emma told us they had met when they were kids playing for the same girls’ soccer team. Both girls had previously travelled to USA and Europe.

The music on the show was up to date featuring new singles from Zambia’s own Samantha Mumba, as well as Haim, Pharrell Williams and Tiesto. We also featured Zone Fam’s ‘Lobola’ stopping to explain to these Australian girls that lobola was the price a potential husband would have to pay their parents for their hand in marriage – if they were Zambian! They laughed and said they would speak to their respective dads! Tracks from Ne-Yo and John Legend followed. My pick of the week was a track from Pharrell’s new album featuring Daft Punk. Jay chose the oldie of the week – and stumped the audience first time up as no-one won the prize!

The girls said they had been very busy since they’d arrived in Livingstone. They had much enjoyed the lion encounter and had loved the walk with cheetahs. One of the highlights had been lunch on Livingstone Island and the girls had posted pictures on Facebook of themselves very close to the edge of Victoria Falls, scaring their parents back in Australia! They had quad biked too, and had much enjoyed a visit to Lubasi Orphanage that day. They were looking forward to a gorge swing and an abseil later in the week.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Emma said she hoped to still be with her boyfriend Ben and travelling. Ciana meanwhile wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, still with boyfriend Dave and to have children of her own.

It was a lively show with lots of laughs!

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