radioshow – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

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!

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

From ‘The Wilderness’ to ‘The Experience’!

Wondering about the headline? Wonder no more! It’s simple! The Guest on the most recent edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ was Carol Princess Buuse Hamaimbo who works for Wilderness Safaris as a tourism consultant here in Livingstone. ‘The Experience’ is our one hour long weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show airs at 20.30 hrs CAT for an hour and is a lively mixture of local and international music as well as chat with our Guest of the week. Streams live too on 107.7’s website (currently under reconstruction).

Carol told listeners that she’d been working for Wilderness for six years since completing her certificate and then Diploma In Tourism Studies at LIBES (Livingstone Institute for Business and Engineering Studies). She loved her job and said that the most exciting part was never knowing what different Guests would want. She told us she felt that being attentive and giving sufficient attention to detail were the most important parts of the work. Milli Jam noted that Carol had been guesting recently on Kaufela and E-Vibes’ morning breakfast show on 107.7 fm and asked if she had ambitions to be a radio presenter. She replied that before taking to the tourism industry she had thought about a career in journalism, and did not rule out going into radio later in her career.

The music on the show was exciting, fresh and new. We opened with ‘This Is What It Feels Like’ from the hugely popular Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren featuring Trevor Guthrie, back to back with Alexis Jordan’s stomping ‘Acid Rain’. George chose Chef 187 ft Mosh Money – ‘Foolish Me’ and Petersen Zagaze’s – ‘Nakupokolola’ for his local tracks. Milli Jam played Cody Simpson’s ‘Pretty Brown Eyes’ and a track from Drake. Our oldie of the week where we give a prize of a dinner for two at the lodge with drinks to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist was a Petersen track and ‘Mohammed’ won. My pick of the week was Chris Malinchak’s ‘So Good To Me’ – a hit with Kaufela.

Carol told listeners that she was not married but was dating. She loved listening to music in her free time and favoured Zambian tracks, Rhumba and R&B. She was very active on Facebook and from time to time went clubbing with friends. An Arsenal supporter she made us laugh by claiming that Manuel Almunia was the reason she supported the Gunners. Odd that the former Arsenal keeper was in the news that very day as the result of a fantastic save he made playing for Watford in an important play off match. As for tourist activities Carol has done most of them, but had never bungee jumped and did not intend to!

It was a good show with lots of interaction with listeners on Facebook while we were on air and we were delighted that we had an on-line audience in UK enjoying and participating in the show. Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, Carol said that she hoped to go back to school soon to study marketing but that by 2023 she hoped to be finished studying and to have started her own business either in tourism or marketing. “Marriage and children”? We wondered. “We’ll see how it goes” Carol replied.

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activities, Africa, education, entertainment, facebook, livingstone, music, radioshow, tourism, training, travel, Zambia

Ron Jere – Contact Trust Youth Association

We have had occasion in the past to feature Contact Trust Youth Association (CTYA) on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show on
Zambezi 107.7fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. We were, however, delighted to welcome Ronny Jere (pictured above), one of the Association’s pioneers and currently director and programme manager, on to our most recent edition. Ronny explained to listeners that the Association is a non-profit concerned with the good sexual health of young people in Livingstone, especially in connection with freedom from HIV Aids. It aims to encourage youth aged between ten and twenty four years to vote (if eligible) and to participate in government, as well as teaching young people job skills, economic empowerment and entrepreneurship.

Ronny said that the CTYA was formed some ten years’ ago out of the Cross Border Initiative now know as Corridors of Hope. Ronny had been inspired to start a youth group and hence CTYA was born.The Association’s offices are donated by Livingstone City Council in that they occupy council property rent free. There are eight full time employees. Ronny’s main job is to raise money for the programmes to be undertaken and to ensure that those resources are spent properly. He is also responsible for human resources management within the Association, including skills training. Some of the Association’s sponsors include or have included the South African Aids Trust and the German government.

The music on this particular show featured The Wanted, Rudimental ft Emile Sande, as well as Zambian artists Salma and Urban Hype. Milli Jam chose tracks from Lady Antebellum and Chris Brown. Our oldie of the week was Kriss Kross’s ‘Jump’ topical due to the untimely passing of Chris Kelly, one of the band. We were surprised that no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us the name of the artist on the track. We closed with Mafikizolo’s ‘Khona’ (Uhuru Mix) a very hot South African track.

Ronny told listeners that he is married and has three children including twins who have just turned three. “Naughty?” We wondered. “Very!” The reply. He owned up to supporting Man U, which we ignored but did say that his ‘real football team’ was the Zambian national team. That was ok! Ronny loves gospel, oldies, r&b and local music. He thanked Chanters Lodge for their sponsorship of the Association in the past and in thanking him we expressed our willingness to help again in the future if we could.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time Ronny said that as he would be moving out of the youth bracket during those years, he hoped to be serving the Zambian population at another level. Sounded like politics to us and we wished him all the best, thanking him for the great job his Association was doing for Livingstone’s youngsters!

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Africa, charities, development, education, entertainment, entrepreneurship, health, livingstone, medical, music, radioshow, training, 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!

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

Dr Joanna Lewis

We were delighted to welcome Dr Joanna Lewis (pictured above) as our Guest on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela. That’s the weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm sponsored by our lodge, featuring latest Zambian and international music interspersed by conversation with our Guest of the week. The show’s been running since 2007 and is popular locally – partly because we give away a dinner for two at the lodge every week if a lucky listener can text us the name of the artist singing our ‘oldie of the week’. No-one won on this week’s show – the track we played was ‘It’s Not Unusual’ by Tom Jones – at the request of our Welsh Guest – but it was just too old for our young Zambian audience to know the artist! We promised to make the question easier on the next show, and we will!

Joanna had been in Livingstone for more than a week in the last stages of hosting and organizing an important international academic conference about David Livingstone, to coincide with the 200th Anniversary of his birth. She told listeners that she is a lecturer in African History and African Affairs at the London School of Economics and Political Science and that this was her fourth visit to Zambia. Single, but “devoted to her boyfriend”, an officer in the British Army, Joanna said she had no children but was a full time aunty to her niece and nephew, Olivia and Thomas whom she greeted on air.

Milli Jam wanted to know more about the conference held during the week and Joanna told him that the meeting had been addressed by international experts, as well as Zambian delegates from University of Zambia all with specialist knowledge of David Livingstone. Some contributors were Ben Di Ponti, who had actually trekked the 1000 kms across Africa following Livingstone’s footsteps, as well as Julie Davidson, a travel writer, who had recently published a book about Livingstone’s wife. Others included John Mackenzie, Keith Hart and Gary Clendennen. “What’s the verdict on Livingstone?” Asked Milli Jam. “Very mixed!” Joanna’s reply.

The music on the show was up to date as usual. We opened with Avril Lavigne’s new hit back to back with Rudimental’s UK number one featuring Ella Eyre ‘Waiting All Night’. George chose Zambian tracks by Chef ft Afunika and Pilato – ‘Kumwesu’ as well as Exile with ‘Nganalikwebele’. Milli Jam served up offerings from Ne-Yo as well as Will.i.am ft Justin Bieber. My pick of the week was Time Bandit’s ‘Mozart’s House’ and we closed with Drake’s ‘Girls Love Beyonce’.

Joanna told listeners that she rather prefers rugby to soccer but when it came to English football clubs her preference was Arsenal, her favourite player ‘Theo Walcott’. ‘All the girls love Theo’ she added. Being Welsh she also likes Swansea City. Music wise our doctor said she liked classical and gospel music but she was certainly foot tapping to the tracks we played on air! Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing ten years’ from now Joanna said she would like to be a world famous novelist with a string of successful novels to her name, retired and enjoying a drink!

Joanna took the opportunity to thank on air all of the contributors to the successful conference, as well as the staff at Chanters Lodge where she said she and her colleagues had been very happy to stay.

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Africa, education, entertainment, guests, livingstone, London, music, politics, radioshow, staff, victoriafalls, Wales, Zambia

Mag44

Thanks to George ‘Kaufela’, co presenter of our weekly Sunday night radio show for this piece about Mag44 Zambia’s latest hot property!

“He’s been known for his killer beats, creative direction, knockout punchlines and minister of the gospel, a Gospel Activist. Prior to his conversion, Magnus “Magnum44” Mando, was an upcoming hip-hop artist with a love of crazy word play, but after his conversion he’s been known mostly for his crazy productions.

The 27 year old sensational hip-hop gospel singer Mag 44 has released a new single entitled ‘Shipikisha Club’ which is currently receiving airplay and is in most of the radio charts across the nation (including the Zed Hot 10 Countdown which I host every Saturday afternoon on Zambezi 107.7 fm.) The track has been received with mixed feelings – fans and most critics say that the gospel hip-hop singer/rapper in his new song speaks strongly against marriage. Others feel he hit the nail on the head by calling it like it is – agreeing that marriage takes a lot of relentless effort, patience, understand and commitment, among other things, for it to work. Those that lack these qualities perish, breakup or divorce within their first years, hence the title ‘Shipikisha Club’.

This is not the first time this gospel rapper has received such criticism – earlier this year he released a song which featured local female, heavy weight boxing champion Esther Phiri entitled ‘Me I Beat’ on the chorus. I guess controversy also works in the gospel circles!

I must also mention that Mag 44 played a major role in the production of Pompi’s latest album. Production wise he has worked on ‘Chikondi’ for Tio, ‘Bana Ba Kwa Lesa’ and ‘I Gat Game’ for Mandiva, as well as ‘Nyamula Manja’ for Gospel Activist plus many more, too many to mention. However, very few people knew this Zambian producer was as gifted as he is on the MIC!

His album launch is set for April 28 2013 – Keep your eyes open!

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entertainment, livingstone, music, radioshow, religion, Zambia

David Eliff – From Brazil to ‘The Experience’

Meet David Eliff, an Englishman living in Santos, Brazil, 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 airing from 20.30 hrs to 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. It was the first time we’ve had a Guest hailing from Brazil on the show, so Milli Jam and George wanted to know a lot about Brazil, the football, the girls, the Carnival and the Amazon! David did his best to satisfy their curiosity!

David explained to listeners that he had moved to Brazil after meeting his Brazilian wife Yara in Norway where they were both working. The couple had tried living in Scotland for a while but eventually decided to move back to Brazil. He reported that they will have been married for 25 years this year and in May planned to take a trip together back to Norway as part of their anniversary celebrations. David said that he is a geologist by training but when he and Yara moved back to Brazil he had first worked as a teacher of English to advanced level students. These days he works as a translator of scientific documents from Portugese into English, working free lance. His wife is a doctor of medicine and they have three daughters. David speaks several languages.

The music on the show was good. We opened with a track from Nina Nesbitt back to back with PSY’s new smash ‘Gentleman’. George chose Magg 44 with ‘Shipikisha Club’ coupled with Macky 2 ft K’Millien’s ‘No More Love’ for his Zambian tracks. Milli Jam dropped tracks from DJ Vetkuk and Drake. He chose Destiny’s Child with ‘Soldier’ as our oldie of the week. Listeners get the chance to text us the name of the performing artist on the track to try to win a dinner for two at the lodge. It was a tricky one as most people texted ‘Beyonce’. Milli Jam declared himself the winner! David said his favourite bands were Yes and Jethro Tull.

Our Guest told listeners that he had very much enjoyed a one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana during his stay. He was fascinated to see vultures waiting for a buffalo, killed by lions, to die, so that they could eat the remains. ‘They don’t always wait until you’re dead’ commented Milli Jam cryptically. David had found the Victoria Falls ‘stunning’ and he was very much looking forward to a rhino walk in the Mosi-o-Tunya NP the following day. He told listeners he had chosen Chanters Lodge after research on the internet. He is widely travelled in Africa and has visited African countries as far apart as Ethiopia and Morocco.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, David told listeners he would like to be in good health, living in Brazil and still having the opportunity to travel.

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Africa, Botswana, Brazil, Chobe, entertainment, guests, music, radioshow, victoriafalls, Zambia

Down Memory Lane To The Experience!

Last Sunday on the most recent edition of our weekly radio show were delighted to welcome back Evaristo Webster Mutanga (pictured above and far better known to Livingstone residents as ‘Uncle Jumbo’), for the second time as a Guest on ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’.

Uncle Jumbo (pictured above) is host of another long running show on Zambezi 107.7 fm – ‘Down Memory Lane’ where he shares his memories and his music with listeners to Livingstone’s leading local radio station. “What have you been doing since we last saw you on our show?” Milli Jam wanted to know at the top of the programme. Our Guest revealed that having retired some time back, he had been asked to resume work by Mulobezi Railways and was busy teaching their employees in the marketing department about passenger services and public relations. The teaching was being done at Mulobezi Station and he much enjoyed travelling out there by train from Livingstone. He also revealed that his weekly radio show had gone from strength to strength and had ‘stood the test of time’ – “just like yours” he added kindly.

We missed Kaufela on this show who was busy with ‘family matters’ so the play list was all down to Milli Jam and I. MJ chose Chefy ft Roxy’s ‘Kopela Swag’ back to back with Macky 2 ft K’Millien’s ‘No More Love’. On the international scene he chose tracks from Justin Timberlake ft Jay-Z and Usher. My choices were from Duke Dumont ft AME and Chris Brown. Our oldie of the week was Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh Pretty Woman’ and our pick was Lana del Ray’s haunting ‘Chelsea Hotel 2’. We closed with Zonefam’s awesome ‘Sinjonjo’ currently zooming up the Zambian and African charts.

Uncle Jumbo revealed that he had spent more than 30 years working for Zambia Railways in marketing and passenger services before his retirement. He had been educated at David Kaunda Secondary School in Lusaka leaving in 1971 (“the same year I came to Africa” I commented). He hails from Kasempa in North Western Province. He was proud of his seven children, especially Chomba and Leo both studying IT overseas, Chomba in London and Leo in West Germany. And too Nesbitt, the last born who had just scored a super 9 points in his Grade 12 exams. He was happy that Professor Clive Chirwa had recently been appointed to run Zambia Railways and all the staff were looking forward to much improved services on the railways in our country. He mentioned the days when tickets were issued for passengers to travel all the way from Zambia to Cape Town and those tickets included hotel accommodation as part of the journey!

Our Guest greeted his niece Naomi and her son Mike, as well as neighbours Anne and Serviso. His phone buzzed through the show with call and texts from his fans, delighted to hear him on ‘the other side’ of the microphone – Milli Jam pointed out that Uncle Jumbo was one of the few of his generation in Zambia who had embraced modern technology.

Asked where he would like to be and what he what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time his answer was:- “Don’t ask such silly questions my son Milimo, I shall be in heaven down memory lane”! Sweet!

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Africa, entertainment, infrastructure, livingstone, Lusaka, music, radioshow, railways, Zambia

Heartspring Pulls At The Heartstrings On ‘The Experience’!

Heartspring is a Christian orphanage located in Livingstone, Zambia and is presently the home for 28 orphan boys and 32 girls. It is overseen by a Board of Directors composed of 8 Christian men and women from Livingstone. Jacob Sianungu is the Chairman of the Board. JL Brazell (pictured above with Janice Soudbash) originally met Jacob in Swaziland when they were both involved in a mission there and together started Heartspring. We were delighted to welcome JL (for the second time) and Janice as Guests on the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station airing from 20.30-21.30 hrs CAT, and streaming live on the internet. (In this regard we were delighted to get a message during the show from Esmail Jasat in London who was listening to the stream).

Janice and JL told listeners that they were tired from dancing with the children at the Orphanage almost the whole of that day but that they had loved the interaction. They were delighted with the way the orphanage was growing and developing and they felt that the future was bright for the children in care. They emphasised that none of the children would be ‘thrown out’ of the orphanage at a certain age unless they had a secure future. Janice and JL were part of a group of six sponsors of the orphanage staying at Chanters Lodge, and in Zambia to check on the progress of the institution. JL, fund raiser supreme, told listeners that the best way to get people to help sponsor the project was to bring them over to show them the work being done. Janice lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico while JL lives in Kansas to be close to his grandchildren. We learned that both JL and Janice have been married to their respective partners for more than 50 years!

We opened the show with Zambia’s latest smash hit track ‘Sinjonjo’ by Zonefam which surely had the Chanters Girls dancing back at the lodge – and the children in the orphanage too if they were listening! Sinjonjo was played back to back with Charlie Brown’s ‘On My Way’. George featured tracks by Zambia’s JK and Salma. Milli Jam favoured Davido and Taylor Swift. George’s choice of Elton John’s ‘Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word’ as oldie of the week had everyone fooled and no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us telling us who is the performing artist on the track! We won!

JL and Janice told listeners that they and their group had spent some days in Kruger NP in South Africa before coming to Zambia on this trip and had managed to see ‘The Big Five’. They had also visited Swaziland. It was Janice’s first visit to Zambia and she had been suitably impressed by Victoria Falls. She told listeners that she had a daughter living in Burkino Fasso whom she hoped to visit next year. Her son-in-law was involved with Living Water International in that country.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be ten years’ from now, JL said he would like to be driving his own car with grand-children in the back screaming and yelling, Janice that she hoped still to be in good health and travelling. We thanked them for their work with Heartspring and for giving up their time to appear on our show.

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activities, Africa, charities, children, education, entertainment, livingstone, music, radioshow, rsa, travel, usa, victoriafalls, Zambia

Jobless, Homeless But Live On The Experience!

No, not George Kaufela, Milli Jam or even me! But the Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm in Livingstone, Zambia. Australians Lyn and Malcolm Macdonald (pictured above with Milli Jam) explained to listeners that before setting off on their round the world trip which had brought them to this country, they had given up their jobs, sold the boat that had been their home and taken off! They’d arrived in Zambia a few days earlier, having taken the Tazara train from Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. The journey takes days – the Macdonalds described it as ‘a great adventure’.

Malcolm had been a doctor specializing in tropical medicine in the far north of Australia, wife Lyn was a nurse by training, subsequently involved with public health. They had been living in Cairns and working in remote places mostly involved with treating Aboriginal people. They were also engaged in an humanitarian refugee programme. Our Guests told listeners that this was the first time either of them had been to Zambia. They had visited Tanzania as Malcolm had worked in that country more than twenty years ago and had wanted to go back and see old friends, which they had done. They had stayed for one night in Lusaka after their epic train journey, choosing Wayside Guest House with which they declared themselves to be very satisfied. They had flown to Livingstone on Proflight.

The music on the show was appealing to various tastes. We opened the show with tracks from The Saturdays ft Sean Paul (‘How About Us’ number one in UK as we went on air) and Madcon. George chose Zambian music from Roberto featuring himself (!) and then a track by T-Sean. Milli Jam went for Alicia Keys and Jessica Sanchez ft Ne-Yo. He chose a track from Eric Benet as the oldie of the week and the prize of a dinner for two at the lodge was quickly snapped up! My pick of the week was Kodaline’s ‘High Hopes’. We closed with John Legend’s ‘The Beginning’.

Malcolm and Lyn described their first view of the Falls as ‘a bit of a fairy tale’. They had loved the full flow of water prevalent at this time of the year and described the experience as ‘spectacular’. They had climbed down to the Boiling Point as well going on to the main bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, resisting the temptation to bungee jump – they had a myriad of excuses for not doing so! As one does have! They had rounded off their day with lunch at The Royal Livingstone which they had loved. They were looking forward to a microlight flight over the Falls as well as the sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone the following day. They were planning a few days in Botswana before flying back to Australia for a short break, then heading off for China and the Far East.

This lively, interesting and outgoing couple told listeners that they had been married for 12 years and that there had been nothing like love at first sight! Between them they had seven children and six grandchildren whom they adored! Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they said they would like to be retired, living in tropical Northern Australia, raising chickens, growing fruit and vegetables and all the while spoiling their grand children.

Sounded like a good idea to us!

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activities, Africa, Australia, Botswana, Chanters, Chobe, entertainment, Lusaka, medical, music, radioshow, Tanzania, travel, victoriafalls, Zambia

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