Namibia – Chanters Lodge Livingstone

The Travellers’ Experience

Meet Verrinia (VJ) and Stephen (Steve) Rees (above), travellers and Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The Experience is our weekly Sunday night radio show airing for an hour on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. VJ and Steve, Guests at Chanters Lodge, told listeners that they had only just arrived in Zambia following a trip through South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

The couple told listeners that they hail from UK. In 2008 they decided to give up their well paid managerial jobs in local government and start to travel. They had subsequently been just about around the world following an itinerary they had drawn up in their early days together. They had met through work and friends and had been married for 19 years. “Was it love at first sight?” Wondered Milli Jam, who loves that question! Steve replied that he was ‘smitten’ while they were dining out for the first time together in an Indian restaurant in Maidstone, Kent, such that he failed to eat his curry!

VJ explained that she had been mostly employed as an archivist back in the day, while Steve was an environmentalist and clearly still maintains a deep interest in environmental and eco issues. Their visit to Zambia would not only include a visit to Victoria Falls but would continue with visits to both Kafue and South Luangwa National Parks. Steve said he had had a passion to visit South Luangwa ever since he had seen a programme in the Survivor series on UK TV when he was very young. He would soon realise his dream! Both VJ and Steve have a love for, and a keen interest in, wildlife. They talked of leopard and wild dog that they had seen on their travels in Southern Africa.

The music on our show was international, local and latest as usual. We opened with tracks from Lilly Wood and Ariana Grande. Milli Jam and Jay chose music from Pompi, Elbow, Eve and Chester ft IC. Our oldie of the week was a track from Jo Klasic ft P Jay called ‘Method 2’, and the prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge that we give to the first person to text us the name of the performing artist on the track, was quickly snapped up by a certain Musa.

Steve and DJ told listeners that so far their visit to Livingstone had mostly consisted of sorting themselves and their laundry out, following months on the road mostly camping. They planned to visit both sides of Victoria Falls during their stay and were also interested in a sunset cruise as well as a swim in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island.

After their visit to South Luangwa they would be off to Malawi and Mozambique. They told us that due to more family issues than they had expected back in UK, they had in fact been back to Europe more times during their travels than they had originally planned.

Music wise Steve singled out Peter Gabriel as one of his all time outstanding artists. Generally he was in to rock but both said they had not much time to listen to music while they were travelling. Steve loves rugby and being Welsh born especially the Wales national team. He also supports Swansea City in the EPL.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now this appreciative, friendly and fascinating couple said they would like to be travelling – Europe in summer, the rest of the world when Europe was cold!

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activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, Kafue, livingstone, Malawi, music, Namibia, South Luangwa, tourism, travel, victoriafalls, Wales, wildlife, Zambia

Canadian Guests On ‘The Experience’!

Meet Tom, Lisa and Kate Marr-Laing (above) from Alberta, Canada, part of a family group who stayed last month at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone. Other members of the family, Chris Kate’s brother, as well as Tom’s parents remained at the lodge while Tom, Lisa and Kate appeared as Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The show airs every Sunday from 20.30-21.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station and is sponsored by the lodge.

Tom told listeners that he and his family were just a day or two away from the end of a month long trip to Africa which had included several members of the family climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. “Wow!” We said, and meant it! They had also visited Kenya and Zanzibar as well as of course Zambia. During their Livingstone visit they had also crossed over to Zimbabwe and had travelled to Botswana, via Namibia, as well. Tom and Lisa are both involved with an NGO in Canada concerned with worldwide social justice, as well as having one or two businesses, one which supplies mini storage facilities and the other dealing with the recycling of empty drinks containers. Kate, sweet sixteen, told listeners she is still in high school. Tom and Lisa have been married for 21 years and had met when they were both involved in protesting the US involvement in Nicaragua. “Was it love at first sight?” Wondered Milli Jam. “Pretty much!” They said.

The music on the show was good – we opened with Canadian outfit Magic!’s hit ‘Rude’. We also featured tracks from Cheryl Cole, Gesh ft Kantu and Franciar. Our oldie of the week was ‘Book of Love’ from Peter Gabriel but no-one won the prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge which we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist. It was a tough one! “Tune in to dine out, next weekend!” We said. Our pick of the week was Bastille’s ‘Oblivion’ and we closed with a new track from Pharrell Williams ft Miley Cyrus.

Tom and Lisa told listeners that they had loved their high tea on Livingstone Island right on the lip of Victoria Falls where they had swum in the ‘Angel’s Armchair’. They wished the guides would not balance right on the edge! They had also thoroughly enjoyed their one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana, as well as their view of the Falls from Zimbabwe on the day of the show. Tom and Lisa had also very much enjoyed a visit to Livingstone Museum and had been lucky to catch a performance of traditional dancing from the Zambia National Dance Troupe while they were there. They said they would be sad to leave Zambia the following day at the start of their long journey home to Canada.

When asked about his taste in music Tom revealed that he plays the bagpipes and therefore loves music with a Scottish feel to it. Kate told us that Mumford and Sons are one of her favourite acts though she was sorry that they had recently broken up. Talk of UK football was curtailed on this show as our Canadian Guests were more into ‘hockey’ and triathlon!

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Kate said she would love to be back in Zambia working to promote social justice. Lisa wanted to have grandchildren, while Tom would still like to be working although he would have reached retirement age! ‘Good luck!’ We said.

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AUG

Africa, Botswana, broadcasting, Canada, Chanters, football, livingstone, music, Namibia, radioshow, Tanzania, tourism, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe

The Dutch Experience!

Meet Michelle de Moor and Bram van Veen from Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay-Hillz. The Experience is our weekly radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Bram and Michelle told listeners that they’d met in Cape Town some seven years ago when they were both on internships at the end of their respective degree courses. At that time people in South Africa told them they should take time to visit other African countries including Zambia, and they had made up their minds there and then one day to do just that and here they were! They revealed that although they’d been together all those seven years and owned property together in Amsterdam. they were not yet married. “What are you waiting for?” We wondered. “Errr um err” said Bram while Michelle just ‘rolled her eyes’!

This lively, funny very Dutch couple explained that Michelle was a social worker and Bram a sales manager, but both had given up their jobs in Holland before setting off on their ‘trip of a lifetime’. They’d been travelling for the past six months and had already visited Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi and Mozambique before arriving in Zambia. They’d been to the Lower Zambezi for a canoeing trip but laughingly told us that within five minutes of boarding their canoe they’d ended up in the Zambezi, soon faced by angry and indignant hippos! What a start! They went on to tell listeners that of all the places they had been in Africa, the Lower Zambezi was probably the most beautiful, and they were both firmly against the establishment of a new copper mine planned for the area. They told Milli Jam that they’d arrived in Livingstone by coach from Lusaka a few days before our show.

The music on the show was good. We opened with tracks from Rixton and Nicole Scherzinger. Jay dropped tracks from Tank and Zambia’s very own K’Millian. ‘For You’ is his latest hit. Milli Jam chose Nicki Minaj and Roberto for his selections. Our oldie of the week was Sinzia by Nameless. We give a prize of a dinner for two at the lodge each week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie and this week the prize was won by Innocent. My pick of the week was John Legend’s ‘You and I’.

At the end of the show we played Diamonds by Rihanna, a special dedication to Edward Chanter’s late special friend Tanya Johnson who had passed away in England during the week. She had loved Rihanna and we felt this was an appropriate song. She was indeed a ‘diamond’.

While in Livingstone Bram and Michelle had visited the ‘amazing’ Victoria Falls and had loved the cheetah walk at Mukuni Big 5. They told us that from Zambia they would proceed to Namibia where they would hire a car and tour around that country for a while. They had no satisfactory answer when Milli Jam asked them why Holland had (again) been unable to win the World Cup. Bram, an Ajax and Manchester United supporter at this point wanted to start talking about England’s World Cup efforts, but we weren’t having that kind of red herring! Michelle told us her favourite band is The Killers and that they both like rock music.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, Bram said he wanted to be in a canoe on the Zambezi, as opposed to being in the water, Michelle wanted to be a mother. Would Bram be the father of her children we wondered, “yes” she said. It doesn’t get much clearer than that!!

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JUL

activities, Africa, broadcasting, entertainment, football, Holland, livingstone, Malawi, music, Namibia, radioshow, sales, tourism, travel, victoriafalls, zambezi, Zambia

Visas For Zambia

I suppose this Visa scenario would help a little but if the region really wanted to attract tourists they would issue visas for ‘bona fide’ tourists absolutely free! At the moment the charge to enter Zambia is US$50 pp single entry US$80 pp double entry. Multiple entry can only be obtained in advance from outside Zambia. At one time we had visa fee exemption for tourists who had advance bookings and it was great, I wish they would reinstate the system and then have it cover the countries mentioned below! Some hopes!

This piece is from Brian Hatyoka.

All five member countries in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) are expected to have uniform visas by December, this year, Zambia Tourism and Arts Minister Sylvia Masebo has said. KAZA-TFCA is potentially the world’s largest conservation area, spanning five southern African countries namely Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, centred around the Caprivi-Chobe-Victoria Falls areas.

Its goal is to sustainably manage the Kavango-Zambezi ecosystem, its heritage and cultural resources based on best conservation and tourism models for the socio-economic well being of the communities and other stakeholders in and around the eco-region through harmonization of policies, strategies and practices.

Ms Masebo said the common visa would be a milestone as it would allow for the free movement of people and goods within the five-member countries and ultimately promote tourism in the region. She was speaking at a press briefing at Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport in Livingstone on arrival from Menongue in Angola where she and other delegates attended a meeting for KAZA Ministers of Tourism, Wildlife and Natural Resources.

“One of the points to note from the just-ended Angola meeting is that by December 31, 2013, it is hoped that we shall have the common KAZA-TFCA visa between five member countries. This will allow for free movement of people and goods and it will be a milestone for tourism promotion,” Ms Masebo said. She continued “We have come from a very successful KAZA-TFCA Ministers meeting in Angola. During the 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in Livingstone, this month, delegates would be taken to KAZA-TFCA projects for Zambia where a lot of things have been done in the area of wildlife and on tourism in general.”

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AUG

Africa, Botswana, Namibia, tourism, travel, UNWTO2013, visas, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Up Close And Personal With Shyman Shaizo

George da Soulchild Kaufela, co-host of our weekly Sunday night radio show on Zambezi 107.7fm, ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’, chats to one of Livingstone’s own music stars Shyman Shaizo (above) after his recent trip to Namibia.
Shyman has also appeared on our show in the past.

George: Is it true that Shyman is big in Namibia, bigger in fact than he is here in Zambia? I ask this because recently you were in Namibia for close on three weeks, what was the trip all about?

Shyman: Yes, strange but true! My biggest song over there is still ‘Fendela Fenduza’ which I recorded almost seven years ago. Basically I was going to Namibia to check and push promos for my new tracks which are ‘Are You Single’ ft.Exile and Longa Katundu. To my surprise ‘Are You Single’ is even bigger than I’d expected. I’d lined up three shows as well as a video shoot for my upcoming single ‘Sugar’.

George: In which places did you have shows?

Shyman: Otchiwarongo, Windhoek and Walvis Bay on the coast.

George: How was the attendance and how did the people of Namibia receive Shyman and his music?

Shyman: Good! Very good! In some ways better than Zambians receive my music, although Zambians always give me a great reception too! You see I didn’t know that ‘Are You Single’ was now everyone’s favourite and the response was truly overwhelming. People in Namibia Love Shyman and most importantly love Zambian music!

George: How different is a Namibian crowd compared to a Zambian crowd?

Shyman: The Namibians don’t understand the language but they enjoy the music. As long as the rhythm is right for them they’ll dance and sing along to your music till you get off the stage, and if you get back on they will do it all over again. Zambians are a tough crowd to please even when your rhythm is right and on point you’ll have to go an extra mile to please them.

George: Let’s talk about the upcoming video and the collaboration you did while you were in Namibia

Shyman : Yes I’ve finished the video and it’s great – we had a great time shooting it as well! I’d never been to the beach before and it was my first time to see the ocean and taste the salty waters! We shot on location in Walvis Bay, a clean town on the Atlantic Ocean coast, with an Angolan guy called Maya Neto.The song is titled ‘Sugar’ and it will come out soon.

George: What else did you do while you were in Namibia?

Shyman: I worked with a lot of big names there. I’m talking about the hottest Namibian talent like Exit, Pdks,Tste Buti and Freedah one of the girls from the group Gal Level. I can’t lie I had a great time! I had radio and TV interviews, perfomances, recordings and meetings with record label representatives. Things couldn’t have gone better and I continue to thank God for everything.

George: They say we learn something new every day, what are some of the lessons you learned from your recent trip?

Shyman: Working with all those artistes was awesome because I experienced different genres of music – their music is so different. I had to add my Zambian feel to their music which was amazing. The guys I met were so professional and the tours and shows where overwhelming.

George: Any advice for up and coming artists?

Shyman: Don’t be afraid to be different! Art is art, music is music no matter the language. Don’t limit yourself to Zambia when the whole world can actually fall in love with your music.

George: Finally what’s next for Shyman? Are you going back to Namibia? When is the album coming out?

Shyman: I am currently working on a DVD and the album should be out in October, the title will be ‘Too Much’ – but don’t ask why!

George: I won’t! Thanks for sparing some time to chat with me and I wish you all the best. I hope to tag along next time you’re in Namibia as I hear the girls are pretty and the food is great.

Shyman: I can’t comment on the girls but the food is great yes, why not and thank you as well, it was a great chat!

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JUL

Africa, Chanters, entertainment, music, Namibia, Zambia

Young Riko

Here’s a nice piece from George Soulchild Kaufela, co-host of our weekly radio show ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ airing every Sunday on Zambezi 107.7 fm at 20.30 hrs CAT. We are always keen to promote up and coming young Zambian musicians! So:

Young Riko (aka Riddick Riko) is the name of a rapper signed to Brathahood Music Label, and also a member of the internationally recognized group ‘BrathaHood Crew’ – made up of great musicians, namely BrathaHood CEO General Ozzy, Manas, Mandela, & Roberto (also Riko’s manager/ producer).

Young Riko has quickly become a sensation on radio and TV in Zambia and often the topic of discussion and conversation in saloons and barbershops popular amongst teenage girls! The Lusaka based rapper is determined to make history and hopes one day to win a BEFFTA and Channel O award as well as maybe one day a Grammy. “Anything is possible!” He says.

Riko has gone from performing at the 2011 Born’N’Bred video awards ceremony to having a video on Channel O. You might remember him on Roberto’s song ‘Osanisiya So’ which has a great video. I must add that he also boasts of his own video to his smash hit ‘Akoyesa Boi’ which premiered on Channel O Africa on 30th August 2012 on a show called ‘O Premiere’.

Young Riko is featured on two songs on Roberto’s 3rd studio album ‘My Name Is’ namely ‘Osanisiya So’
and ‘So Good’ which also features award winning Hip Hop video of the year Mr Veezy aka LV on the same song. Riko is set to make Zambia the home of Southern African Hip Hop, his music is playing around Southern Africa in countries like Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi etc.

Young Riko’s two new songs titled ‘Ma_Pange_Ya_Kwa_Lesa’ and ‘Alipanda’ featuring Stan have continued to received great praise.

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JUL

Africa, awards, Botswana, Chanters, entertainment, music, Namibia, radioshow, rsa, Zambia

Brooklyn

Check Milli Jam – presenter of our weekly Sunday night radio show – getting up close and personal with our Guest on the most recent edition of the programme, Makazo Mwangala, better known as ‘Brooklyn’ – half of a rapping duo BK – Brooklyn and Kimorah – out of Windhoek, Namibia. The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, airs on Zambezi 107.7 fm Livingstone’s leading local radio station every Sunday from 20.30 – 21.30. Streaming live on the internet too, it’s a great mixture of international and African music. Between tracks we chat to our Guest and later in the show give away a dinner for two at the lodge to the first person to text us telling us who’s the artist on our ‘oldie of the week’. On Brooklyn’s show the track was by the late great Zambian artist Smokey Haangala and we were inundated with text messages all giving us the right answer. Great stuff!

Brooklyn told listeners that she’s a third year journalism student at the Polytechnic of Namibia in Windhoek. She and her fellow student Kimorah came together in 2010 and have so far released seven singles and several videos. The girls play live at events like fashion shows, pageants and CD launches. Brooklyn is a Zambian but has been mostly brought up in Namibia where her dad is a meteorologist with Meteorological Services in Namibia. “Does he present the weather on TV?” I wondered. “No” replied Brooklyn “he writes what the presenters read on TV”. Did she miss Zambia? We wondered. She did, especially her family here. “Married?” Wondered George (predictably). “Very taken!” Was the reply. “Pass George the tissues!” I told Milli Jam.

We featured two of BK’s tracks – ‘Get Ready’ and ‘I Can’. Brooklyn explained that the single is called ‘Get Ready’ because the girls are telling everybody to be ready for them because they want to show their versatility and want to do something in a different style. ‘I Can’ is about “showing all the haters and people who want to bring us down that we can accomplish things.” She said. Brooklyn has a great voice, her inspiration is Nicki Minaj she told us, while Kimorah is inspired by Brandy. The girls wrote both songs themselves and the production on the recording is excellent. Other tracks we featured on the show were from Petersen and Manas locally, and internationally from Justice Collective, Dido featuring Kendrick Lamar, Tom Odell and The One Pound Fish Man (!)

Brooklyn told us that both she and Kimorah have jobs to help pay for their college education. Brooklyn is in charge of social media for a marketing company while her friend works for the ‘Namibian’ newspaper in that country. They had first met at the Polytechnic of Namibia where they were in the same class. “We just clicked. She liked what I liked. She listened to the same music as me and that’s where Kimorah told me about her interests in music,” said Brooklyn, adding that from there they got along like a house on fire. Asked when the girls were coming to perform in Zambia, Brooklyn said “keep your eyes wide open, there’s something in the works!”

Milli Jam closed with the usual question to our Guest – where would she like to be and what would she like to be doing ten years from now? Brooklyn replied that she would like to be “sitting on a large stack of money” and to have trillions of fans in an international market. “Get in!” We said.

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DEC

Africa, Chanters, education, entertainment, fashion, livingstone, media, music, Namibia, radioshow, recording, Zambia

Ngonye Falls National Park

From 1000x Africa

“The opening of Ngonye Falls Park in Zambia is a crucial wildlife corridor between national parks of five Africans countries. It lies a few hundred kilometres upstream from Victoria Falls. Its one of the main wildlife corridors between Zambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia.

The Zambian Minister of Tourism, Masebo paid tribute to the development partners who have been supporting the Ngonye Falls Park, notably the Federal Republic of Germany for funding the operations of the park for the last two years, the training of staff and the acquisition of equipment.

The Minister said that the five partner countries of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe want to mutually conserve their natural resources in a sustainable way that will benefit the local communities and will eventually reduce rural poverty. The opening of Ngonye Falls is a step in the further development of the area.

“The partnership between communities and their natural resources is the key element to the sustainable management of national parks and, if established correctly, also the key element in combatting rural poverty.” Masebo also said that the KAZA TFCA combines economic, ecological and social development and could become the shining example for sustainable development in the region.

In Kabula Village in the Ngonye Falls Park is an elephant restraining line erected around Kabula Village. An elephant restraining line consists of electrified wires that run two metres above ground, thereby allowing communities free movement while protecting crops from elephants. T

The elephant restraining line has proven tremendously successful and there has not been a single breach by elephants since its erection. Dr Victor Siamudaala, executive director of KAZA TFCA, welcomed this development, saying that all five partner countries’ concerted efforts were needed to achieve their commitment to regional economic integration through the sustainable management of transboundary natural resources and tourism development.

Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta said that the Conservancy would be an important area in KAZA TFCA to re-establish wildlife populations and their migration routes to the benefit of the local communities. He also reminded all of the Conservancy’s significance to the KAZA TFCA, as it will ultimately link Chobe National Park in Botswana to Kafue National Park in Zambia. The Senior Chief thanked the development partners of the Simalaha Community Conservancy, notably the Mava Foundation for Nature and the Swedish Postcode Lottery for their support.

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DEC

activities, Africa, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, wildlife, zambezi, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Greg and Melinda Homan

Meet Greg and Melinda Homan, all the way from Santa Fe in New Mexico, USA but passionate about Africa! Greg and Melinda were staying at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone for a few days, so we seized the chance to invite them on to our Sunday night radio show – The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild Kaufela, airing every Sunday night from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station.

Passionate about Africa? Well yes, this is their third trip to the continent and on previous visits they climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and went to view the mountain gorillas in Rwanda – gotta be passionate to do those things. On this trip they were visiting Victoria Falls at the start of their holiday and the day after the show they were due to leave for a week in Botswana and then a two week stay in Namibia. While in Livingstone they’d seen the Falls from both sides and had swum in Devil’s Pool on Livingstone Island – “not bad for someone who doesn’t like heights or water!” Commented Melinda.

Greg told listeners that he was a carpenter by trade, making furniture and kitchen cabinets, as well as Spanish guitars (as a hobby). “Send us a guitar!” Demanded George and Milli Jam. “I’ll do that!” Said Greg. “Do you play the guitar yourself?” Asked Milli Jam, and Greg replied that he did and that when he was younger he had played in various rock bands. These days music wise he and Melinda like the Who, Steely Dan and Pink Floyd as well as country, jazz and classical music. On the sports front Greg told listeners that he’s a fan of the Washington Redskins. Melinda revealed that she and Greg had been married for 33 years although when Milli Jam originally asked her how long they’d been married, her reply was “forever”! Greg winced!

We featured tracks from Olly Murs, Brandy and Nicki Minaj at the top of the show. George came up with two latest, hot Zambian tracks ‘Chipangano’ by Batu featuring Tok Cido and Jemah, back to back with Mr Vezzy’s latest smash ‘Wemutima’ (my heart has a lot of desires but it leads me into trouble). Milli Jam chose Flo Rida’s ‘Whistle’ and Ne-Yo ft Wiz Khalifa with ‘Make ‘Em Like You’. George did not make the listeners like him when he dropped Madonna’s ‘Take A Bow’ as our oldie of the week – no-one guessed the performing artist and to me the choice was rather obscure. “We’ll make it easier next week!” I promised the listeners.

Melinda told our audience that she worked full time as a nanny for a family with three children which she enjoyed, and explained that she and Greg had two children of their own, both grown up and in college at the University of New Mexico, their son studying anthropology, their daughter nursing. “How did you two meet?” Milli Jam asked “and was it love at first sight?” “It was beer at first sight” quipped Melinda, we met in a bar and he got more attractive as the night progressed and more beer was consumed! We laughed.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years’ from now this engaging, charming American couple they said they hoped to be retired grandparents, still travelling, and running their own shop selling Homan guitars!

We wished them the best of luck!

12
OCT

activities, Africa, Botswana, Chanters, entertainment, guests, livingstone, music, Namibia, radioshow, travel, usa, wildlife, Zambia

Shyman!

Meet Michelo Siavwapa (above, with an unnamed fan in the background) aka ‘Shyman Shaizo’, one of Livingstone Zambia’s hottest music stars and Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Souldchild Kaufela – that’s our regular Sunday night radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, and streaming live on the internet here or here. Each week we give away a dinner for two at the lodge during the show to the first person to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie of the week – just imagine that no-one knew Chris de Burgh sang ‘Lady In Red’ – so the prize went begging on this particular show!

“Why are you called Shyman?” Asked Milli Jam at the top of the show “are you shy”? The man denied it, saying that the name had happened ‘out of the blue’ and that he had ‘never been shy’. The fan behind giggled….Shyman told listeners that he was a Livingstone lad and it was only in 2005 that he had shifted to Lusaka in order to further his musical career. In 2008 this had resulted in the production and release of his only album to date. It had been a big success and he was very much hoping that his second album would be forthcoming before too long. He gave praise to musician Petersen whom he said had been a tremendous help to him in furthering his musical aspirations.

We featured two of Shyman’s tracks on the show – ‘Salary’ and ‘Iwe Na 1ne’ – the latter with Petersen and Ben Blazer, and it is clear that the man has a lot of talent. George who recently produced and recorded some super new jingles for our show and who is campaigning said “Richard, did you hear that the first track was called ‘Salary’ and did you know he was singing about people getting paid more money?” My reply? “Thanks for the jingles George!” Recently Milli Jam had Ne-Yo’s ‘Let Me Love You Until You Learn To Love Yourself’ as his pick of the week and we were delighted to report that it had debuted at number one on the UK pop charts that very day, so we played it again and patted ourselves on the back! We also featured Enrique with Sammy Adams ‘Finally Found You’ and Flo-Rida’s ‘I Cry’. This week Milli’s pick of the week was Liquid Deep’s ‘Still’.

Shyman told listeners that he was ‘very single’ (the fan behind giggled again) but father of a baby girl aged 1 year 5 months. He said he had played shows as far away as Mozambique and South Africa but his biggest crowds were in Namibia where Zambian music is very popular. He did not like football but wished there was volleyball in Livingstone, which he enjoyed. He was very proud to be involved in an empowering project with other musicians to teach and educate orphans. He had his first break as a musician as a youngster when he played trumpet in a Salvation Army band. He said his father had been the one to encourage him in the musical field.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years from now, Shyman replied ‘In Livingstone, Zambia making it big in music’! No doubt!

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SEP

Africa, entertainment, livingstone, Lusaka, music, Namibia, radioshow, recording, Zambia

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