Whitney & Dave DeCamp

 
Meet Whitney and David DeCamp (above) from the USA. Whitney is a strategic planning analyst with the American Red Cross and Dave is a business system manager with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation, both based in Washington DC. Dave’s job involves the implementation of the Smartcare programme in conjunction with the Centre for Disease Control.

Whitney and Dave met about 11 years ago and in 2005 got married. They have recently been enjoying a short vacation at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone, so we took the opportunity to invite them to guest on our regular Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – airing live at 20.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. On this occasion the ‘Milli Jam Ingredient’ was not feeling well so it was the ‘Kaufela Ingredient’ featuring Richard! Whitney and Dave were a little apprehensive but in the end happy to accept our invitation and they were great Guests!

“What have you been doing since you arrived in Livingstone?” George wondered early on in the set. Whitney and Dave explained that they had only arrived from Lusaka the day before, but had already managed to fit in a sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone, which they had loved, especially as they saw quite a lot of game during the trip. They had, they explained, that very morning been on the rhino walk with Bwaato Adventures, and considered the activity to be really good value for money. They had seen six rhino, including one of the babies as well as loads of other game, including cape buffalo, giraffe and zebra. Dave told listeners that he’d been attending a conference in Lusaka before they arrived in Livingstone, Whitney had, on this occasion, been able to join him for a holiday and had persuaded him to come and see Victoria Falls and he was delighted she had. They had seen the Falls and got soaking wet in the process! “All part of the fun!” They said.

The music on the show was good. We played tracks by Jeremy Greene featuring Usher as well as from Miley Cyrus, Roberto and Kaufela, moving on to Pitbull featuring Shakira – or was it the other way round? Newton Faulkner featured too. Our oldie of the week was by Shabba Ranks. We give away a dinner for two to the first person to text us telling us who’s the artist on our weekly oldie and this week a certain Albert win the prize. Our pick of the week was Call My Name – Florence and The Machine’s first every UK number one, featuring Calvin Harris and we closed with Taio Cruz’a latest ‘Fast Car’.

Dave told listeners that he loves country music and baseball, while Whitney likes alternative rock and American football. Their favourite teams are both from Baltimore. Asked how they had found out about Chanters Lodge Whitney explained that they had found the lodge well reviewed on TripAdvisor and that they were more than happy that they had made the lodge their choice.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, this lively and loving couple expressed an interest in coming back to live in Zambia with their, as yet, unborn children. We wondered if it was hard for Whitney with Dave travelling so much in his job, but they explained that the internet, Skype and things made it much easier than it used to be! Were the guys on Facebook or Twitter? Yes both, but Dave claimed he had no followers on Twitter! We determined to do something about that!

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Zams in Zim!

George da Soulchild Kaufela, co-presenter of our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm writes of a recent Zambian night in Zimbabwe.

Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station seems to have a huge listenership across the Zambezi River in Victoria Falls town, Zimbabwe (above). In fact our neighbors seem to enjoy our station, as well as our Zambian music, much more than Zambians themselves do! So, with this in mind, three Zambezi 107.7 fm deejays and one local artiste graced the Wild Thing Action Bar in Vic Falls, Zim, on Friday July 6 2012.

Local Artiste Shyman accompanied by radio presenters George Da Soulchild-Kaufela, E-vibes and Chin-I were picked up from the Zimbabwean border at 21:26 by Bruce and Akim after spending close to three hours at the Zim border in talks with the officers because Chin-I was almost denied entry but that’s another story for another day……(apparently it all had something to do with ‘saggy pants’ but…..donchi kubeba!!! – ed)

From the border we went straight to the venue, the “Wild Thing”. After such a stressful border crossing, we wondered whether our night would lighten up and also whether the Club would live up to its name. This was our second visit in two years – the only person missing from the first trip was ‘Tendai with an I’ who was well replaced with Shyman, a fitting replacement if you ask me! (No-one did – ed) As it turned out the Club really lived up to expectations, there were more people who attended compared to the last time we were in Vic Falls.

By 11pm Chin-I stepped up to play house music with a mixture of Zambian and Ragga, the crowd loved him. E-Vibes came in next getting the same reaction, then me just before Shyman, who put up a memorable performance. I believe we all did our best and had a great time in the end despite the earlier border misunderstandings. The Club was well attended and the party went on till 3am.

We seem to have satisfied the locals and I bet we met their expectations pretty well, as we earned ourselves an invitation to Chinotimba Township that also has a lot of love for Zambian music. The Township is about 30km away from Vic Falls Town – next month end. Even though they can’t get Zambezi FM they have heard of it and speak highly of its radio presenters and programming.

Can’t wait!

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Guestless!

I don’t suppose ‘guestless’ is a real word but it applied to the latest edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. Christabel Kashumba, a young Livingstone lady trying to break into broadcasting, who had been lined up to appear, unfortunately ‘had a funeral at her home’ as they say in these parts – her cousin had died that day – so she understandably had to cancel her appearance at short notice. So, Milli Jam, George (pictured above) and I were the Guests! We chatted, we played extra tracks and generally had a relatively stress free show!
Our ‘Experience’ show airs every Sunday night between 20.30 and 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm and is usually a great mixture of latest international and Zambian popular music as well as chat with our Guest – often someone staying at Chanters Lodge, sometimes local Livingstone or Zambian personalities, and occasionally members of Chanters Lodge staff. The show began in 2007 shortly after Zambezi fm took to the air waves, and was launched to keep the name of the lodge in the public eye as well as to support Livingstone’s very first local radio station. The programme has been a huge success and on air continually during the 5 years with just a short break at the end of 2009, beginning of 2010. When were off air we were urged by so many people to ‘bring back your show’ we didn’t have much choice and were happy to do so.
Milli Jam has been a presenter with Zambezi fm almost right from the time the station launched and is also entertainment manager at the New Fairmount Hotel in Livingstone. He’s been dropping tracks for the Livingstone public as a DJ and entertainer for almost 20 years so knows exactly what people want to hear – and to dance to. George is a full time presenter with Zambezi fm and hosts the Breakfast Show Monday to Thursday and is also a talented musician and rapper with lots of hit singles to his name in Zambia. Together they host our show brilliantly!
On this particular play list we featured tracks from Olly Murs, Gossip, Maroon 5, Far East Movement, Puff Daddy, Flexville, Mr Vezzy, Alicia Keys and Paloma Faith. Each week we give away a prize of a dinner for two at the lodge to the first person to text us, telling us who’s singing our oldie of the week. The prize isn’t always won, but this week it was snapped up. We also give chart updates on the show, UK and US album and singles charts – latest – as well as the most popular Zambian tracks on 107.7 fm when the information is to hand. We update listeners on news of Chanters Lodge blog, as well as from Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Klout scores too!

At the close of each show we greet Guests and staff at the lodge, as well as families at home, thanking the station for making the show possible. For me it makes a nice change from the daily routine at the lodge and there has always been a DJ in me trying to come out!!

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Perth People!

Meet Judy Smetherham and Di Rapson (standing at the back, left to right in the picture) and Di’s daughter Calli (sitting left) with friend Kristen ‘Kettle’ Lane plus a whole herd of elephants, as they appeared on last week’s edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. ‘The Experience’ is our regular Sunday night radio show. Actually for the second week running the show featured me, as George was off sick following Milli Jam’s absence on business last week. It was Judy and Di’s third appearance on our show as they are regular visitors to Livingstone, but for Calli and Kettle it was a first. “Why Kettle?” We wondered. “She’s boiling hot” was her friend’s swift reply! Later in the show, when the girls were asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, “Kettle” replied “baby making”. Hot indeed! Calli wanted to be rich. Girls!

The group are ‘Perth People’ from Western Australia. Calli told listeners that she worked in a call centre for Crown Casino in Perth taking reservations for their hotels Crown Metropole and Crown Promenade. Did she like the job? Not really! Kristen is the manager of a fast food chicken outlet. Music wise the girls said they were into Glee, Disney, Spice Girls, Aqua and Backstreet Boys. “Oldies!” Said Milli Jam perking up interest “just what I like”! The girls said they also liked Flo Rida and Usher, but the latter only when he had his shirt off. “Have you seen his chest?” They asked. “He’s got more ripples than a washboard!” I don’t think we had seen the chest in question, but we got the idea!
We opened the music on the show with Will.i.am’s latest UK number one ‘This Is Love’ featuring Eva Simons, back to back with Chris Brown’s international smash ‘Don’t Wake Me Up’. Milli Jam featured local hits from Slap Dee and Judy (appropriately), as well as international tracks from T-Pain ‘5 O’Clock’ and Nicki Minaj with Chris Brown – ‘Right By My Side’. Our oldie of the week was Gnarls Barclay’s ‘Crazy’ – no-one could text us the right name of the artist on the track so no-one won the dinner for two at Chanters Lodge that we give away on each show. Our pick of the week was Jennnifer Lopez and Pitbull with ‘Sweet Spot’ and we closed with Jordin Sparks latest ‘I’m Out Tonight’.
Judy and Di were in front of the mikes for a short time telling listeners about their jobs back at a primary school in Perth. Judy has been busy with pre-school children while Di helps with children having learning difficulties. Their children love the elephants that these ladies move with, shown in the picture. The group told listeners about their one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana, their microlight flight over Victoria Falls. Kristen had done the bridge swing and Judy the ‘Flying Fox’. Crazy indeed! They had toured the local markets scouring for chitenge material and souvenirs and were much looking forward to seeing the lunar rainbow on the following Tuesday as well as riding the jet boat in the gorges below the Falls.

Great people, great show!

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Kaufela

 
 
You might have thought you’d seen the last of Kaufela in Ty2’s ‘Spotlight’ but just like a remix, he’s back! Kaufela, for the uninitiated is George Mukwita, otherwise known as Soulchild – talented co-presenter of our Sunday night radio show ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience’ on Zambezi 107.7 fm, is pictured above at a show in Chief Mukuni’s Village, just outside Livingstone.

George is back on on his latest song “Good Times” featuring Roberto on the hook. “Good Times” is the latest song from his forth coming long awaited debut album titled “Kaufela Music” and it’s his third collaboration with Roberto on the forthcoming CD. The song talks about taking time off work and other things that keep one busy, simply to spend some quality time with your significant other, it’s all about taking a holiday and breaking off everything to enjoy each others company. George’s significant other? At this stage there’s no news on that front!

Kaufela spins tales of life and love in a variety of Zambian languages including Lozi, Bemba and Nyanja as well as English. His unique voice resonates with vibes that will keep you hooked on; his delivery on every song is simply artistic. Some of the songs on which he shines include TY2’s ‘Spotlight’ and Brotherhood’s Team ‘If its Lovin’. His debut single ‘Smile’ featuring Roberto hit the airwaves two years ago announcing his arrival. Kaufela has also worked with Leo Muntu of Black Muntu fame, Ozzy, K’Millian, B-Flow, Masi, Scarlet, Petersen, Shyman, Cofi (South Africa, Durban) and Hamoba.

Kaufela also triples as a music producer and radio presenter in Zambia’s tourist capital city Livingstone. He began his professional career in 2003 and first received recognition when he was featured on a Leo Muntu track titled ‘Ntawi’. A couple of features from TY2 and Crystal Shaun then followed in 2006-2007, before he began to pursue his desire to write and record his own album.

We hope to see it finally released very soon!

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Handleys Rock Zambezi 107.7 fm

There are three generations of Handleys in the photo above – patriarch Len on the right, daughter Jenna next left, and grandson Jobe on his mum’s left. Completing the picture, replete in his Springbok shirt, is family friend Greg Mortimer. The shot was taken in the studios of Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, when the guys appeared on the latest edition of our weekly Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience. The show was hosted by George da Soulchild Kaufela on this occasion, due to Milli Jam’s absence on business. Great job Kaufela did too, at short notice.

The Handleys hail from Bendigo in Australia and were visiting Zambia and Livingstone for the first time. Len told listeners that he was a semi-retired solicitor, but that he still does occasional work for government funded legal aid. Jenna explained that she was working for a local council in facilities for the aged and disabled. Lively Jobe – the star of the show – said he was 11 years old, in grade 6 and that that very afternoon he had been riding elephants out at Mukuni Big 5 Conservation Park! Had he been scared? Not a bit of it! Had he ridden the same beast as his mum? Not at all – they had each had their own jumbo! Greg told us that he is a South African who had been living in Australia but was now domiciled back in South Africa. He works in a business consulting company dealing in patents and trademarks.
The music on the show was good. We opened with Maroon 5’s latest ‘Wipe Your Eyes’ just as their smash ‘Payphone’ featuring Wiz Khalifa, debuted at number one on the UK singles chart – the group’s first UK number one. We coupled that back to back with Eric Church’s US number one country track ‘Springsteen’. Local selections were from Ruff Kid and Slap Dee. Our oldie of the week was a local track ‘Dyress’ from Amayenge. We give a prize of a dinner for two at Chanters Lodge on every show to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing the oldie of the week, and this time the prize was quickly snapped up. Other tracks were from Paloma Faith and Train.
The group told listeners that they had enjoyed seeing Victoria Falls and were excited about seeing the Falls from the air the next day when they were scheduled for helicopter and microlight flights. They had loved the sunset cruise on the Zambezi and were looking forward to a one day safari to Chobe National Park in Botswana during their holiday. While Jobe and Jenna had been riding elephants, Greg and the rest of the group, including Len’s daughter Tatum and grandson Caleb, had ridden the white water rapids on the Zambezi from rapid 10-25 that very afternoon. “Did you spill?” We wondered and they told us theirs was the only boat on the river which did not! Had they enjoyed the experience? You bet they had! Were they tired and sore? Errr…..yes!

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time Len said he hoped to still be playing lawn bowls and travelling, Greg that he hoped he would still be travelling but with his children who would then be old enough to enjoy it, and Jenna hoped also still to be seeing the world. Jobe gave the impression that he would like to be married by then! We laughed! 

Great show with lovely people!

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The Calgary Crowd on Zambezi 107.7 fm

Actually this wasn’t the whole ‘Calgary Crowd’ who’d been staying at Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia, there were a couple more back at the lodge! They are big people and it’s quite a small studio! Meet (left to right) Julie and Dallas Mauck with Hobie Schmautz. All hail from Alberta, Canada and were visiting Zambia – and for that matter Africa – for the first time. They were a little hesitant about appearing on our regular Sunday evening radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela – but I twisted their arms and I believe they enjoyed ‘The Experience’ – though it was, perhaps, one of the last things they expected to do while they were visiting Livingstone and Victoria Falls!

During their visit to Zambia, apart from appearing on the radio, Julie and Dallas, married for 20 years this year and celebrating the anniversary with their stunning trip to Africa, as well as Hobie and the rest of the crowd, had taken a 30 minute helicopter flight over the Falls which they described as ‘amazing’. On their second day they’d rafted the famous Zambezi white water rapids – numbers 14-25 which are those open while there’s ‘high water’ – as it is at the moment. I asked Hobie on air if he’d enjoyed the ride and he said ‘well, yes, I did seeing I can’t swim’! The group had also ‘zip lined’ from the famous railway bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe but had, apparently, drawn the line at bungee jumping!
 
The music on the show was good, we dropped Cheryl Cole’s UK number one hit ‘Call My Name’ back to back with Flo Rida’s ‘Whistle’ at the top of the show. For the Zambian part of our play list we chose Dandy Krazy’s ‘Dangana Nkupule’ as well as B’Flow’s ‘Efyo Waba featuring P-Jay. Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Spotlight’ was our ‘oldie of the week’ – listeners have to text us telling us who’s singing the track if they want to win a dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge – they do and they did, so the prize was quickly won. Milli Jam featured Camp Mulla’s ‘Party Don’t Stop’ – they’re a Kenyan outfit – and for our Canadian Guests we played ‘As Long As You Love Me’ Justin Bieber’s dubstep smash, featuring Big Sean.
 

Julie and Dallas told listeners that they run their own business back in Calgary – it’s a quick service garage that offers complete oil and filter changes in 20 minutes for US$60. We believed them!! And so too did we believe that you can get used to -45C degree temperatures though I’m not sure I’d want to! The group also told us they’d had a great time in South Africa on safari for almost three weeks before they arrived in Zambia, and that they would be headed back for Canada the day after the show. Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time Julie said she and Dallas would like still to be healthy, wealthy and travelling! Hobie was ‘hoping for the best’.

Great show!

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Chela Katwishi Rocks! (In London)

Thanks to George da Soulchild Kaufela for this nice piece about my old friend Chela Katwishi who will MC at the 2012 UKZAMBIANS Excellence Awards In London this Saturday!

Chela blossomed from the literary world at a tender age of 18 and found himself in the world of broadcasting. His broadcasting career took off as an assistant producer in 1989 at Zambia Broadcasting Services, later renamed Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC). He subsequently rose through the ranks to senior producer, Radio Two & Radio Mulungushi. Having acquired his advanced diploma in broadcast journalism at the Africa Literature Centre in Kitwe, Chela was awarded best overall public relations student upon graduation.

At 28, he was appointed youngest senior private secretary to former Zambia President late Dr. Frederick Chiluba at State House. He spent the next 10 years working for privately owned Radio Phoenix in Zambia. He steadily rose through the ranks to assistant supervisor. He attained a masters degree in international journalism at Cardiff University in Wales and subsequently taught & trained at various radio stations in Zambia, under the Media Institute of Southern Africa as programme officer: radio & good governance.

Chela became the first Zambian radio presenter to promote Oliver Mtukudzi’s ‘Tuku’ Music single-handedly on Zambian airwaves and he has won various radio awards in different categories. Appointed director of programmes & marketing for the first privately-owned television station in Zambia, MUVI TV, he was later appointed as director of news, current affairs & marketing for MUVI TV. He accepted a further appointment as general manager for MOBI TV in Zambia.

Chela worked as real talk researcher / assistant producer at OH TV, London and is currently working as a client liaison manager for a privately-owned accounting firm in London. To top it all, he is currently pursuing a PhD programme on a part-time basis. This MC has interviewed various presidents and heads of state, including high profile personalities on radio & television and has been master of ceremonies and DJ for several state functions, society weddings, private parties and various occasions worldwide. As a veteran MC, he will surely keep everyone entertained throughout the evening. Guest MCs include Mansour Bellow and Brenda Mulenga.

The UKZAMBIANS Excellence Awards are prestigious Zambian Diaspora Awards bestowed upon the most celebrated, highest achieving Zambians, groups, and friends of Zambia. The Awards serve as a platform for distinguished academia, accomplished entrepreneurs, successful business professionals, top personalities and others within the Zambian Diaspora and is the highest profile community event in the history of Zambians in the Diaspora. The UKZAMBIANS Excellence Awards 2012 will be held on Saturday, 9th June in London.

Big up Chela! Get in!









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From Oklahoma, USA to Livingstone, Zambia

Meet Staci and Lance Norton (standing, left to right) as well as Mackenzie and Madison Gillham (seated left to right) from Oklahoma, USA, our recent Guests at Chanters Lodge as well as on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient, featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela. That’s our regular Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s popular local radio station. The lodge sponsors the show, which is a mixture of music and chat – popular locally due to the fact that we give away a weekly dinner for two at the lodge to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our ‘oldie of the week’. This week George chose a track from Zambia’s popular Sakala Brothers and the prize was quickly snapped up by a lucky listener!

The Nortons and Gillhams told listeners that they’d arrived in Zambia on May 23rd primarily to visit and participate for a while in the running of The New Day Orphanage in Mpanza in the Southern Province of Zambia, some one and a half hours from Choma. Lance is Youth Minister at Union Hill Baptist Church in Oklahoma and New Day Orphanage is sponsored and run by the Baptist Mission in Zambia. The orphanage is still small with about 14 children aged between 4 and 8 years. They had enjoyed their time in the ‘bush’ helping to teach the children religious studies, as well as basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills. Staci and Lance Norton had visited Zambia last year, but for the girls it was their first visit. Milli Jam was delighted to be able to talk briefly to Lance in the Tonga language!

Madison, the older of the two sisters explained that she was a third year student of early childhood education at South Western Oklahoma State University, and Mackenzie that she is at the same college as her sister studying first year pre-veterinary medicine. For once, when we had girls on the programme, Milli Jam forgot to ask them if they had boyfriends waiting for them back home! The girls told listeners that their dad was a farmer and their mum a beautician back in the USA.

The music on the show had a distinct African flavour with tracks by Exile and Judy from Zambia, Diamond from Tanzania and Naeto C from Nigeria. We also played Loreen’s Eurovision Song Contest winning ‘Euphoria’, as well as Philip Phillips’ ‘Home’ – the girls were happy to hear that Philip had recently won the American Idol show – news they had missed while they were deep in Southern Province, Zambia!

Lance and Staci told listeners that they’d been able to fit in quite a lot of tourist activities since they’d arrived in Livingstone. They had taken the one day safari to Chobe in Botswana, and had been delighted to see a wide range of animals including lion, giraffe and elephant as well as a whole host of birds. They’d taken the helicopter flight over Victoria Falls – the girls admitted to being ‘a little bit scared’. They had seen the Falls from the Zimbabwe side as well as from here in Zambia. They had ridden elephants, walked with lions, encountered cheetahs and the next day were scheduled for a game drive to try and see rhino. They had not done the bungee jump – ‘not brave enough’ they said! Quite a package anyway! They described Victoria Falls as ‘amazing;.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Mackenzie calculated that at that stage she would be two years out of vet school and practicing her profession. Madison hoped to be pre-school teaching and raising a family. We wished them luck with their ambitions.

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Kaufela plays East Coast Radio, RSA

The 14th annual African Renaissance Festival this year will be held in Durban, South Africa with aims to connect Africa and to secure the continent’s future. As part of the celebration Darren Maule and the Breakfast Stack from East Coast Radio, Durban’s number 1 radio station, with aims to strengthening ties beyond borders came to broadcast from the Sun International Royal Livingstone Hotel on the 24th and 25th of May 2012 – their first international outside broadcast .

Of course their show and visit would not have been complete without having a local radio voice to represent Livingstone – that’s where George da Soulchild-Kaufela Zambezi 107.7 FM Breakfast Show presenter – and for that matter co-presenter of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient every Sunday night – came in! Rumour has it that he abandoned his breakfast show on Friday Africa Freedom day so he could feature on Darren Maules Breakfast show, which beamed via satellite live from the Royal Livingstone sundeck! George described the experience as ‘a chance in a life time’ and one of the greatest moments of his radio life. On the show George talked about his radio show on Zambezi 107.7 FM, Zambian music and night life in the tourist capital.

George couldn’t help but drop East Coast Radio Listeners’ one of his tracks saying ‘what’s a Zambian without some Zambian music’! Among many other activities that the East Coast Radio crew got up to in the tourist capital were mingling with the locals, trying out different traditional meals, horseback riding and white water rafting. They rode the jet boat, visited the Victoria Falls and went clubbing with Soulchild in Ayoba before heading back home!

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