The Alpha Experience!

Abi Kajumba (above left) and Erin Winfield were the latest Guests at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia, to get roped into appearing on our Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is called The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, and airs between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs every Sunday night – it streams live on the internet too!

Why ‘The Alpha Experience’, well Abi and Erin both work for Alpha. Erin told listeners that the Alpha course is a course which seeks to explore the basics of the Christian faith, described as “an opportunity to explore the meaning of life”. Alpha courses are currently being run in churches, homes, workplaces, prisons, universities and a wide variety of other locations. The course is being run around the world by all major Christian denominations. The girls were spending a few days in Livingstone before moving on to Lusaka to attend an Alpha training workshop at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, being attended by delegates from more than nine other African countries. They were much looking forward to the experience.

Erin originally hails from Arkansas, USA but has lived in England for the past seven years, she’s married and her husband is training for the priesthood in the Anglican church in UK. Abi is still single, has a Ugandan dad and an English mum and has spent years of her life in both countries – she described her mum as ‘brave and adventurous’ – we got the impression on the show that these girls are too, as they described the activities they’d undertaken while they were in Livingstone! They’d walked out to Livingstone Island and jumped into the Devil’s Pool, right on the edge of Victoria Falls. They’d enjoyed a sunset cruise on the Zambezi, as well as undertaking a one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana. They’d also taken the flight of angels in a microlight over Victoria Falls! Brave and adventurous indeed!

The music on the show was right up to date as usual – we opened with Little Mix and ‘Wings’, back to back with Fazer’s ‘Killer’. George chose hot Zambian tracks from Roberto and JK, while Milli Jam chose songs from Taio Cruz, and up and coming R&B star Jeremy Greene. Our oldie of the week was from Beyonce and Jay Z, and the prize we give every week to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie was quickly snapped up by a certain Felistus. She won a dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge! We closed with Cover Drive’s latest UK hit, ‘Explode’.

Erin told listeners that her musical taste leans towards acoustic jazz as well as more popular artists such as Jason Mraz and Mumford and Sons – in terms of sport she loves to swim. Abi favours pop and gospel music and loves to play tennis. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now. Erin said she hoped to be living and working in an Anglican parish with her husband the priest, travelling and changing lives. Abi would like to be married with children, still involved with Alpha, as well as having become a successful author of novels for children – travelling on the royalties earned! We wished them the best of luck and thanked them for appearing on the show.


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Aussie Rules!

 
 
 
 Meet Jeremy Ng and Jo Peti, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show airing between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Jeremy and Jo are from Melbourne in South Australia although Jo is originally from New Zealand – “from Matamata” she told listeners proudly, “where Lord Of The Rings was filmed.” This engaging couple explained that they’d been married for 8 years. “Was it love at first sight”? Milli Jam wondered. They both exploded with laughter as Jo declared that the second time they’d met, Jeremy couldn’t even remember her from the first time!
Jeremy told listeners that he owns and operates his own drilling company in Australia, mostly drilling environmental boreholes, explaining that these were done in order to take core samples for inspectors to check for contamination. Jo is a project manager for an IT company and spends a lot of time away from home, as her job takes her all over Australia. Before Jeremy and Jo arrived in Livingstone they’d spent two weeks in South Africa as volunteers on a wild life farm, mostly taking care of lion cubs and they had loved it. So much so that Jo said she would love to work full time with animals in the future. They told listeners it was their first trip to Africa.
The music on the show was international, we opened with Sam And The Womp’s UK smash ‘Bom Bom’ – quite why this is such a hit I, for one, am not sure! We coupled Bom Bom with Devlin featuring Ed Sheeran and ‘Watchtower’ which samples Jimi Hendrix’s 70’s hit. George chose his own track ‘Good Times’ with Roberto at the request of our Guests, back to back with B1’s ‘Secret Ku Bed’ – “what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom”, he explained. “Not in Prince Harry’s case” I opined, which raised a laugh. Milli Jam dropped two Nigerian tracks before our oldie of the week – Exile’s ‘Oxygen’ – the prize we give every week to the first listener to text us telling us the name of the performing artist was quickly snapped up! We closed with new tracks from Ciara and Simple Plan.
Our Aussie couple told listeners that they’d had a great time since they’d been in Livingstone, the highlight of which had been a jump into the Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island. They’d taken a one day safari to Chobe in Botswana, which they’d thoroughly enjoyed especially seeing so many elephants of different ages. Jeremy had taken a microlight flight over the Falls and they’d both loved the Zambezi sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone. Asked why they’d chosen Chanters Lodge they replied that it suited their budget, seemed secure and that they’d got a fast and thorough reply to their first enquiry by e mail. Were they happy with their choice? They were and said the staff were great.
Sports wise Jo and Jeremy are into rugby – one supports Australia, the other New Zealand. Just imagine the scene! Jo said her musical tastes were mostly hip hop and r & b though she loves Lady Gaga and Nikki Minaj. Jeremy favoured old school rock including Midnight Oil.  Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Jeremy said he hoped by that time he would have increased the number of drilling rigs in his company, whilst Jo said she would love to be working 100% of her time with animals and still travelling.

We wished them the best of luck!






 

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Do Giraffe Mourn Their Dead?

This piece by Nick Collins in the Daily Telegraph caught my eye, following a report that a giraffe in Luangwa Valley had been mourning its dead calf. This fine creature was photographed in the Chobe National Park, Botswana.

“According to zoologist Prof Fred Bercovitch, the mother spent two hours with her calf after it died, splaying her legs to bend down next to it and lick it in an extremely unusual display of behaviour. The incident, witnessed by Prof Bercovitch at the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia, is only the third case on record of a giraffe mother stoically remaining with their dead calf.

It raises the question of whether giraffes, along with animals such as chimpanzees and elephants which are well known for investigating the bodies of dead relatives, may have a deeper understanding of death than previously thought. Writing in the African Journal of Ecology, Prof Bercovitch, a researcher with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation in Surrey, described how the mother had splayed her legs apart in order to bend down over her dead newborn.

She then licked the calf for several minutes before standing upright, and repeated the entire act a number of times over a period of more than two hours, during which she was alone. The behaviour was unusual because giraffes rarely bend so low other than to feed or drink, and females spend very little time away from their herd, BBC Nature reported.

The mother’s reaction to the calf’s death was less prolonged than that seen in African elephants and less overt than chimpanzees, which have even been seen carrying their dead young with them.

But it is one of three examples of apparent “mourning” by giraffe mothers, with the mother in one case remaining beside her calf for four days after its death.

Although it is not clear from such behaviour that animals understand death, the latest evidence at least shows that female giraffes have a more complex bond with their young than previously thought, Prof Bercovitch said.

By examining whether a wider range of species show a similar reaction when members of their family or kind die, it could be possible in future to answer the question of whether animals really do mourn, he added.

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The Salvation Army March to The Experience!

We were delighted to welcome Ken Hawkins and daughter Emma (above) on to the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela last Sunday night. ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show airing between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Ken is the Principal of the Salvation Army Training College in Lusaka, a post he has held since February this year. He has been with the Salvation Army for some 20 years and the Army has been in Zambia for 90 years! Emma, and her brother Paul were on a visit to Zambia, Emma is special educational needs teacher back in South London, UK. Ken and his family were staying at Chanters Lodge for a short family holiday, wife Ann, mum Alice (84) as well as Paul were back at the lodge listening to the show. Given the Olympic Games in London and the final of Big Brother Africa in Johannesburg being broadcast at the same time as our show, our listener numbers were down. Shame!
Ken explained to our audience that the Salvation Army is a Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that works in over 120 countries and has been described as a ‘Christian church with its sleeves rolled up!’ The Army is also known for its music and Ken said that he already knew of four Salvation Army bands in Lusaka which he described as being of ‘varying quality’. He and Emma are both musicians, Ken plays tuba and piano while Emma knows the cornet and horn. Ken said his musical preferences were jazz and orchestral, Emma that at the moment she just loved Carly Rae Jepsen! She’s not the only one….

Ken’s wife Ann is also a minister in the Salvation Army and teaches in Lusaka. Ken said that he and the family are very happy in Lusaka, loving the life style and the weather.

The music on our show was pretty far removed from gospel. We opened with the latest UK smash hits from Wiley and Example, followed with Zambian offerings from Petersen and Chilu Lemba. Petersen’s track ‘Ama Kwebo In Church’ George explained was saying that there are many things going on in church other than worship. I asked Ken for his opinion on these lyrics but he refused to be drawn! Milli Jam dropped tracks from R Kelly and Madonna. Our oldie of the week was Michael Jackson’s ‘Man In The Mirror’ – the weekly prize went unwon! My pick of the week was The Killers ‘Runaways’ and we closed with Example’s super ‘Say Nothing’.
Although Ken and Emma said they were not much interested in sport they had all the latest news from TeamGB’s sterling, or should I say golden, efforts in the London Olympics including the latest medals for Andy Murray and Jess Ennis! Ken admitted to watching Spurs in his youth but said these days it was very expensive to watch football in UK. The family had greatly enjoyed their one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana during their visit to Livingstone, as well as their trips to see the Falls.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Ken said he hoped to still be working in Zambia with his great team, Emma that she would like to be a trained minister in the Salvation Army, still able to visit her parents back in Zambia.

It’s interesting that the international Guests we have on our programme all love Zambia! 
No big surprise there – great country, great people! Great show!

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Aku and Alia Djedidi

 
Meet Aku (left) and Alia Djedidi (above) from Finland. Those are hardly Finnish names, I can hear you thinking! Quite right too! They are brother and sister and they are Finnish but they have a Moroccan father, hence the names – they were both born in Casablanca. “So you’re African!” Exclaimed Milli Jam at the start of the latest edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, when Aku and Alia appeared as Guests. “Yes” they replied “but now we live in Helsinki, Finland”. The Experience is the weekly radio show sponsored by Chanters Lodge, and airing between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs every Sunday night on Livingstone local radio’s Zambezi 107.7 fm. The show is popular locally as it offers a chance for listeners to win a dinner for two at the lodge with drinks – we play an ‘oldie of the week’ and ask listeners to text us the name of the artist singing the track, the first correct answer wins the prize. On this particular occasion the answer was Chris Brown singing ‘Excuse Me Miss’ and the prize was quickly won!

Aku and Alia told listeners that they’d been in Livingstone for about four days and had thoroughly enjoyed their stay at Chanters Lodge, as well as the various activities they had undertaken during their visit. They had of course got soaking wet when they went to see Victoria Falls – stunning at this time of year – and had also been on the one day safari to Chobe. They were delighted to have seen both lion and hyena during that safari, as well as scores of elephant, giraffe and hippo, common in Chobe National Park. They had, that morning, been on the rhino walk with Bwaato Adventures and had come very close to four of the rhino in the Mosi-o-Tunya National Park in Livingstone, including one of the babies. “Were you scared?” We wondered. “Just a bit” they replied. Rhino are pretty scary close up when you’re not in a vehicle!
The music on the show was hot – as usual! We featured The Wanted’s ‘Chasing The Sun’ and Faith Paloma’s ‘Picking Up The Pieces’ both high in the UK charts as we went on air. George featured one of his own tracks with Ty2 – ‘Spotlight’ – a great Zambian dance track, back to back with Mampi’s ‘Wali Lowelela’ (‘you are beyond sweetness’). Mampi, famous Zambian singing star was beyond the Big Brother Africa House on TV as we went on air – in the process of being evicted! George (her friend) shed a small tear. Milli Jam featured Zahara’s ‘Lengoma’ back to back with Craig David ft Calvin Harris ‘Good Time’. As a tribute to the late Robin Gibb we closed the show with ‘How Deep Is Your Love’.
Aku told listeners that he was an entrepreneur and had a retail shop in Helsinki selling clothes, as well artist’s materials such as brushes, paints and so forth. He had been in business for about six years. Alia is a nurse, specializing in care for the elderly and she explained that for the past 15 years she’s worked at an old peoples’ home caring for about 76 people. “Where are you going when you leave Zambia?” Milli Jam asked. “Malawi” they replied. “Why are you going there?” Asked Milli Jam. “Nature” replied Aku. I ‘snorted’ before saying “nature!” Milli Jam, “he’s going to see his girlfriend”! We laughed. Aku admitted that it was true that he and Alia were travelling to Malawi to see his girlfriend Mintu who, by coincidence, had recently appeared on our radio show herself, and who has, since then, been working in Malawi.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they both said they would still like to be travelling and meeting new people. I guess they will be. It was a lovely show.

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The Finnish Experience

I don’t remember having Finnish guests on the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela until last week’s show, so it was a pleasure to welcome Minttu Markannen (front left) and Susanna Mustonen (front right) who featured on the latest edition of our regular Sunday night radio programme on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The girls were accompanied to the studio by Minttu’s mum Pivy (back right) and her friend Marita, all of whom were Guests at Chanters Lodge. It was a lovely happy Easter Sunday show with lively chat, great music, and of course the prize of a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge for the first person to text us telling us who was singing our ‘oldie of the week’. Milli Jam’s selection was Ne-Yo’s ‘So Sick’ and there was an immediate deluge of messages most of whom had the right answer, but no-one was faster than Felistus who won!

The girls told listeners that they came from Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and were both student nurses. They were currently working in Lilongwe, Malawi for a few months as part of a student exchange programme between Kamuzu Hospital in Lilongwe and the University of Helsinki, where they were both studying, in the final year of a three year degree course in nursing. The girls were very much enjoying their experience and told us there were huge differences between health care in Finland and Malawi, for example in Finnish hospitals roughly 6 nurses to less than 30 patients, in Malawi 5 nurses for 200+ patients!
The music on the show was great – we opened with Carly Jae Repson’s ‘Call Me Maybe’ a former number 1 in Canada, debuting at number 1 in the UK charts that very day. The guys dropped this track back to back with Nicki Minaj’s ‘Va Va Voom’ from her latest Roman Reloaded album – number 1 in the UK album charts – we are nothing if not right up to date on ‘The Experience’!  George played Judy’s ‘Chikawama’ and Roberto’s ‘Osayenda’ for his Zambian tracks. Other tracks were by Micasa, a South African, with a number called ‘Heavenly Streets’, Sean Paul, and Labrinth featuring Emeli Sande.
Milli Jam wanted to know how the group had travelled from Malawi to Livingstone and the girls explained that Kenya Airways had cancelled their flights, consequently they’d been obliged to travel the whole way by coach but they’d been determined to come and see Victoria Falls! They told us the effort had been totally worthwhile as they had now seen the magnificent sight of the Falls in full flood – and gotten very wet in the process! They had a one day safari planned to Chobe in Botswana the next day. They were not sure how many other activities they would be able to fit in as they had to be back in Lilongwe by the following Thursday, and once again would have to travel the whole way back to Malawi by coach.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in 10 years time, the girls who are both single, had different replies. They said they wanted to be ‘excellent nurses’ but Minttu gave the impression she would still like to be studying, while Susanna said she hoped she would be nursing, married and have children.

We thought their African experience would stand them in good stead for the future!

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Camilla Nereid & Gunnar Bendheim on ‘The Experience’

For the third time in recent weeks we were delighted to welcome Norwegian guests on to The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – that’s our weekly radio show airing every Sunday night live between 20.30 and 21.30 hours on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a great mixture of music and chat and is also usually available streaming live on the internet.

Camilla Nereid and Gunnar Bendheim (above) had been staying at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone for part of their visit to Zambia, although they explained to listeners that they’d also spent some time in Mongu in Western Province. The reason for their trip to Zambia? Well they are both staff of Trondheim University College – Camilla is the Dean of the College of Teachers and Gunnar is Leader of Student Administration. For both it was their first visit to Zambia and they said they were loving it! They had come to check on the progress of their eight student teachers in Livingstone and eight in Mongu and they were happy to report that their students were doing very well. Their visit to Mongu had involved 35 hours on the road out of a 72 hour trip!
The music on the show was good, although there were some technical problems on this edition. We opened with two latest smash hits – Katy Perry’s ‘Part Of Me’ which had charted in the US at number one that very week – quite unusual! We coupled that smash with Nicki Minaj’s ‘Starships’ the first release from her upcoming new album. George dropped Exile’s ‘Auwe’ which Milli Jam told us is currently hot in the Zambian clubs – he should know as he’s also entertainment manager at New Fairmount Hotel in Livingstone, apart from being a regular presenter on 107.7 fm. Milli Jam chose Ace Hood’s ‘Body to Body’ together with ‘Love You No More’ from Diddy featuring Drake. Our oldie of the week was ‘I Will Always Love You’ by Dolly Parton and my pick of the week was Chris Brown featuring Rihanna with ‘Turn Up The Music’. We closed with Usher’s soulful ‘Climax’.
Camilla and Gunnar told listeners about their safari to Chobe in Botswana that day and amongst other species Camilla had been fascinated by the African Jacana bird – it is a polyandrous species, which means that one female mates with multiple males and the male alone cares for the chicks. Gunnar explained that he came from the far north of Norway – one of the coldest parts – where temperatures could drop to as low as -40C! We shivered! Camilla related that she had recently sat for a Phd in Turkish History to add to her other academic achievements.
Camilla told listeners she was married with 3 children, Gunnar that he was not married but had 6 nieces and nephews whom he regarded as ‘his kids’! This entertaining duo raved about the chicken piri-piri served at Chanters Lodge as well as the quality and friendliness of the staff, and revealed that they had even eaten crocodile meat while they were in Mongu! Asked if they had a favourite football team, they leaned towards each other, shared a microphone and yelled ‘Chipolopolo!’ simultaneously, much to the amusement of the assembled company!

In closing we expressed our gratitude to the Norwegians for their continued outstanding support of Chanters Lodge.

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Andrew Deane & Marion Gibson Experience ‘The Experience’!

Meet Andrew Deane and Marion Gibson (above) from High Wycombe in UK – guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild. ‘The Experience’ is the weekly radio show we sponsor on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. Our programme airs from 20.30-21.30 hrs every Sunday night and is a great mixture of local and international music as well as lively chat. 107.7 fm streams live on the internet and you can find the link on their site or ours. (Links are above).
Andrew and Marion told listeners they’d been in Livingstone for the past few days staying at Chanters Lodge, although they’d been so busy with activities they hadn’t spent much time there! They’d already been on a one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana and the very day of the show they’d been white water rafting on the Zambezi. They described both experiences as ‘amazing’! Marion particularly liked Chobe due to her love of elephants – Chobe NP has the highest concentration of that particular animal in the whole world – Andrew loved the rafting.

Andrew explained that he’d been a police officer with Thames Valley Police in UK for the past 13 years. “It’s true” said Milli Jam, “I’ve even seen and touched his badge!” “Stop sweating and shaking!” I advised George who looked apprehensive. Marion told listeners that she’d spent a large part of her career as a social worker but had been laid off a while ago as a result of recent budget cuts in England. Luckily she’d quickly found another job with APH Mortgages, which she loved. This engaging and lively couple told listeners they been in love for the past 6 years and although they had no children together, Andrew had a 12 year old son Joshua from a previous relationship.
The music on the show was great. We featured ‘Fireball’ by Willow Smith ft Nicki Minaj back to back with ‘We Found Love’ by Rihanna ft Calvin Harris – number one in the UK actually! George featured ‘Man Dem’ by Zone-Fam ft Cactus Agony & Macky 2 – taken from Zone-Fam’s brand new album. He coupled this with Exile’s ‘So Lucky’. Milli Jam dropped Ne-Yo’s ‘Break Up To Make Up’ and Sean Paul’s ‘She Doesn’t Mind’. Oldie Of The Week was Johnny Clegg Savuka’s ‘Scatterlings Of Africa’. Silence, no-one knew the artist until almost the end of the track when Angela texted the right answer and won the dinner for 2 with drinks at the lodge!
Andrew told listeners that he’s an Arsenal supporter – we were happy about this especially as they’d won that afternoon. Marion supports Wycombe Wanderers, her local team. They both love Take That and Robbie Williams. They were looking forward to breakfast on Livingstone Island the next morning with a swim in Devil’s Pool and had scheduled a sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone for the afternoon. Marion told listeners she’d first visited Victoria Falls some years ago and had liked it so much she’d determined to bring Andrew to see it for himself. They’d chosen Chanters Lodge after reading the reviews on TripAdvisor.

Milli Jam asked Andrew and Marion which of the many countries they’d visited they loved the most. Marion said Bermuda, Andrew replied USA, explaining that he and Marion both loved rollercoasters and in their opionion the USA had the best in the world. Asked what they’d like to be doing and where they’d like to be in 10 years’ time – Andrew said he thought he’d still be working, Marion wanted to be retired and they both wanted to still be together and travelling. Nice couple! Nice show!

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Hannah Lainton and Claire Richardson on 107.7 fm



These two ladies (above) could be sisters couldn’t they? As it happens they’re not, but they are very good friends – just as well seeing they’re spending the next 7 months together travelling the world!

Hannah Lainton (left) and Claire Richardson stopped off at the studios of Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, last Sunday night to guest on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George ‘Kaufela’ da Soulchild, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing live between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs, also streaming live on the internet. Lively and entertaining guests they were too!

Staying at Chanters Lodge, Claire and Hannah told listeners they both hail from UK and that they’d taken a sabbatical from their jobs back home to see the world. Claire is with Deloitte UK and Hannah with C,B & I. They’d met through mutual friends when they were at University – different ones – and had been friends ever since. Asked why they were in Livingstone, the girls explained that they were volunteers with The Butterfly Tree an NGO providing support for rural communities in Zambia through safe water, feeding programmes and improved health education facilities. The girls were working with ladies in Mukuni Village for a month teaching business innovation and entrepreneurship. They were very much enjoying the challenge and although they had not yet met Chief Mukuni they had met the village Prime Minister!

The music on the show was great as usual! We opened with Wretch 32 featuring Ed Sheeran – not Wretch’s UK number 1 smash ‘Don’t Go’ but a sweet track called ‘Hush Little Baby’. We coupled this with David Guetta featuring Jennifer Hudson and ‘Night Of Your Life’ – racing up the UK charts as I write! George featured tracks by Oga Family ‘Ngili Ngili’ and B1 featuring T-Boy. Milimo dropped ‘Hello’ by Game featuring Lloyd, back to back with ‘All Over’ by Gyptian. Our ‘Oldie Of The Week’ was ‘Coat of Many Colours’ by Dolly Parton and there was a great response from listeners telling us the name of the artist singing, in order to try and win the coveted prize of a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge! We closed with Mohombi’s ‘In Your Bed’.

“So”, I said to the girls “you’ve sold your houses, divorced your husbands and ditched your employers to travel the world!” Hoots of laughter! They confessed that they weren’t married but went on to greet ‘friends’ Andy and Nick listening live to the show on the internet back in UK (we love that streaming!) as well as other family members and friends.

The girls were much looking forward to an overnight safari in Chobe National Park Botswana the next day – sincerely wishing not to be visited in their tent by lions during the night. They hoped to zip line and go white water rafting during the time they would be in Livingstone. Hannah and Claire greeted their families and friends in UK and new friends in Zambia and said ‘hello’ to listeners in Tonga! Great stuff – until Hannah confessed to supporting Stoke City!

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Viviana Sorrentino & Diego Girotto on 107.7 fm, Zambia


From memory this was the first time we’d entertained Italian guests on The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George ‘Akufela’ Soulchild, so Viviana Sorrentino and Diego Girotto, pictured above, were especially welcome! The Experience is our regular Sunday night radio show airing live from 20.30 to 21.30 hours Zambian time on Zambezi FM radio 107.7, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The programme is also supposed to stream live on the internet but we understand that the connection ‘times out’ at the moment, so there’s work to be done by the station in this regard. Sorry to anyone trying, but failing, to hear us last week.

Diego is a doctor, a general practitioner in Turin and Viviana’s just completed her Phd in Natural Sciences. They met 9 years ago in the library of the University of Turin in Italy. “Married”? Asked Milli Jam. “No”! Replied Diego. “Not yet”! answered Vivi! We laughed and speculated that Dr Diego might have a problem on the horizon! When asked if they’d travelled much in Africa Vivi told listeners she’d spent a long time in Madagascar studying lemurs. During their present trip this vivacious (geddit?), entertaining couple told us they’d spent time in Malawi and then in the South Luangwa National Park staying at Flatdogs – they’d absolutely loved the lodge, the park and the masses of game they’d seen!

From Flatdogs Vivi and Diego had moved on to the Lower Zambezi where they’d spent 3 days canoeing which they also loved. The day of the show they had just returned from one night in Chobe – they’d been disappointed that on seeing lion during this trip, one fellow traveller had become scared and they’d had to drive away prematurely.

The music on the show was super as usual. We played the UK top 2 at the start of the show ‘How We Roll’ by Loick Essien ft Tanya Lacey and ‘Louder’ by DJ Fresh ft Sian Evans. George’s local selection were ‘So Simple’ by Lupo ft T-Boy and ‘Walilowa’ by Naked Face. (‘So sweet’ – we were told this meant). Milimo chose two Nigerian artists Wizkid with ‘Holla At Ya Boy’ and Naeto C with ‘Ten Over Ten’. We introduced a new feature on the show ‘oldie of the week’ – this week ‘Don’t Pay The Ferryman’ by Chris de Burgh. ‘All About Tonight’ by Pixie Lott and ‘Cherry Bomb’ by Justin Kramer wound up the show.

Diego told listeners that although he lived in Turin he supported Inter Milan and not Juventus and that his favourite band was U2 while Viviana liked REM, also recommending an Italian group called Negrita. Milli Jam asked them how they’d come to choose Chanters Lodge and they explained they’d met a Dutch couple in South Luangwa (Rein and Jeanetta Coppens) who’d told them if they were going to Livingstone they must stay at Chanters Lodge. I loved it!

We gave away the usual dinner for 2 to the first listener to text telling us where Vivi and Diego were from and there was a great response. We greeted Guests and staff at the lodge. Our lovely Italian couple told listeners that 10 years from now they hoped to be owning and running a guest lodge in Tuscany! They would ask for my help! I think I’ll hold them to that!

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