Why the Victor Hambayi ‘Overland’ Experience? Well, Victor Hambayi, pictured above, was our guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient ft Jay Hillz, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs for an hour live on Zambezi 94.1 fm’ Livingstone’s longest established local commercial radio station. Victor is an overland driver/guide with Nomad Africa Adventure Tours, hence the headline! Nomad boasts a fleet of around 40 vehicles, 150 staff and 40 scheduled departures a month all over Africa. Victor told listeners that he had worked for the outfit for about three years.
Whilst the group has lots of different tours Victor told us that he most often does the trip from Cape Town to Victoria Falls, via Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. He drives and guides and is accompanied by a chef who cooks for the Clients – between 19 and 26 people per trip, sometimes camping throughout, sometimes lodge accommodation throughout, sometimes a combination. Victor clearly likes the guiding side of the job more than the driving which he described as ‘tough’. “Breakdowns?” We wondered. “Occasionally” replied Victor, “but Nomad are well organized when the situation arises and vehicles are seldom stuck with a breakdown for more than 24 hours. Clients are warned in advance that such things do sometimes happen!”
The music on the show was good with tracks from WSTRN, 99 Souls ft Destiny’s Child and Brandy, Years and Years, as well as Format B. Jay dropped two Zambian latest smash hits, ‘Kabouvelo’ by Lloydee and ‘Cocoa Butter’ from Kaladoshas ft Petersen. There was also a remix of Adele’s ‘Hello’ and a South African track from Galza. Victor, whose nick name as a younger man was ‘Mr Smooth’ (“it’s a long story”), told us he likes R&B and that his favourite artists are Bobby Brown and Lionel Richie.
Brought up in Southern Province as his dad worked for Zambia Railways, Victor was educated at St Raphael’s and Hillcrest Secondary Schools in Livingstone and had also been trained in panel beating and spray painting at a local college. By the time he was qualified, Livingstone Motor Assemblers had closed and there were no jobs in his line. He then trained as a driver and worked for Bushtracks in Livingstone before doing a favour for Nomad, ending up working for them. The overland season lasts from February to November so at the time of the show he was enjoying spending time with his wife and family whom he missed a lot when he was on the road. He has four children ranging in ages from 19 to 1 year 2 months!
Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years’ from now, Victor said he would like to have a share in an overland tour business with superb guides offering wonderful service, coupled with extraordinary knowledge.
NOV
