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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The Travel Camel Experience!

Meet Shane Dallas (above) aka The Travel Camel, Australian, traveller, public speaker, adventurer and Guest 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 every Sunday night from 20.30 to 21.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station. The show is a lively mixture of great music, and chat with our guest of the week.

Shane told listeners that he and travelling companion Maureen had been in Zambia for about a month, having arrived in Zambia from Dar-es-Salaam via the Tazara railway. Scheduled time for the trip? 48 hours. Actual time for the trip? 67 hours! Nevertheless Shane said they had both loved the experience. Having reached Lusaka they set off again for South Luangwa NP where they stayed for about two weeks at Marula Lodge which they had loved. They were lucky to have witnessed both a leopard and a lion kill. This adventurous couple had arrived in Livingstone about ten days before the show. The highlight of their time in Livingstone had been seeing and photographing the fantastic August lunar rainbow at the amazing Victoria Falls. Shane’s Tweets on Twitter featuring the moonbow had been a big hit with his 10,000 or so followers!

The music on the show was good and had our guest and his companion dancing in the studio! We opened with latest offerings from Enrique featuring Sean Paul, as well as Twin Atlantic. Milly Jam and Jay chose tracks from Zambian star Cleo as well as Coldplay, Jay Rox another Zambian artist, and the late great Castro. Our oldie of the week was One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful and the prize we give to the first listener to text us the name of the performing artist on the track was quickly snapped up. Mpazeni won dinner for two with drinks at the lodge. My pick of the week was by Meaghan Trainor and we closed with Benediction from Hot Natured.

Shane told listeners that although he is partially based in Dubai, he had in fact been travelling for the past 600 days! He also told us about the travel radio show on Dubai High fm which he guest hosts from time to time. Shane blogs as he travels and earns his living by training people in public speaking as well as in the art of social media. His expertise is in high demand. He and Maureen were due to leave for Zimbabwe a few days after the show, and would travel to Bulawayo by train. They were scheduled to arrive in Harare in time to celebrate Shane’s 50th birthday in September also attending the tripartite cricket tournament there at that time between Australia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Cricket is Shane’s great love! Music wise he told us that his favourite artists of all time is The Beatles.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years from now, Shane said he would like to have a permanent base somewhere, but still to be travelling – with Maureen we assumed.

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The Mudaala Experience!

Actually every edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz is a ‘Mudaala Experience’! Why? Well Milli Jam’s real name is Milimo Mudaala! ‘The Experience’ is our weekly radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm at 20.30hrs (CAT) every Sunday night, and we were delighted to welcome Milli Jam’s younger brother Munyama (pictured above) as our Guest on the most recent edition of the programme. Munyama is Sales and Reservations Manager with Robin Pope Safaris, based in Lilongwe, Malawi.

Robin Pope Safaris launched in 1986. The blurb says they ‘have always believed in offering exceptional customer care and bespoke holidays’. Munyama confirmed that this was true telling listeners that he has been with the company for seven years. The firm specializes in walking safaris in the South Luangwa National Park. Munyama went on to tell listeners about Robin Pope’s extensive business interests including Stanley Lodge in Zambia near Victoria Falls as well as lodges in Malawi. Robin Pope himself he described as a ‘legend’ in South Luangwa. The company has a justifiably awesome reputation.

Jay asked most of the questions on the programme as Milli Jam already knew most of the answers! We wanted to know if Munyama was married, whether he had children and if so whether his family was there with him in Malawi. He confirmed yes, yes and yes, revealing that he and his wife had married on Livingstone Island during the days he worked for Tongabezi here in Livingstone. “Did you swim in Devil’s Pool after the ceremony?” I asked. Unsurprisingly they had not! . “Does your wife work in Malawi?” I wondered. “She works for me in the office!” Was the sharp reply – “a real family affair then!” I said.

The music on the show was good. We opened with tracks from Avicii, Rita Ora and the Common Linnets. Jay and Milli Jam featured tracks from Calvin Harris, Eddie Black, Runnel and Trey Songz. Our oldie of the week, for which we give a prize to the first person to text us the name of the recording artist, was ‘Hope’ by Twista and the prize was snapped up by one Sanford. My pick of the week was Ed Sheeran’s ‘All Of The Stars’ and we closed with 5SOS’s ‘Don’t Stop’.

Munyama told us that he had completed secondary school at St Raphael’s in Livingstone before going on to study hotel management at HTTI in Lusaka. He supports Manchester United FC naming his favourite all time player as Roy Keane and current star Wayne Rooney. Milimo and I quickly reminded everyone which club had won the 2014 FA Cup the day before the show! Milimo revealed that his young brother Munyama had gone as far as bribing Milimo’s kids to switch support from Arsenal to Man U. Such devious tactics came as no surprise to those of us familiar with Man U supporters and their methods!

Musically Munyama revealed that he has broad taste and that his favourite acts are Boyz 2 Men along with Bob Marley. Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time, he said he would like to have retired and be living on his farm back here in Zambia. We closed by thanking him for appearing on the show and holding him up as a great example to young Zambians of how you could make good with hard work and application.

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Wendy And David Duncan Grace ‘The Experience’

After a couple of weeks highlighting local talent we were back to Guests from Chanters Lodge appearing on our weekly radio programme last week, and we were delighted to host Wendy and David Duncan (above) from Winnipeg, Canada. Wendy and David are both recently retired, David from his job with the Canadian Federal Government as a marine biologist and Wendy as a resource teacher. This was their first major overseas trip since retirement which had already taken them to Tanzania, Zanzibar and Johannesburg. After a brief stop in Livingstone – time enough to do the sunset cruise on the Lady Livingstone which they had loved, and to see Victoria Falls which had amazed them, they would be off to South Luangwa NP in Eastern Zambia the day after the show, for about four days – then on to a week in Cape Town. Wow! We said. Had they done the bungee jump at the Falls, we wondered? “No” was the reply “but we heard the jumpers screaming when we were down at the Boiling Point”!

Our weekly radio show, sponsored by Chanters Lodge, airs each Sunday evening on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station, from 20.30 – 21.30 hrs CAT and streams live on the internet too! One host is George Mukwita aka Soulchild aka Kaufela, one of Livingstone’s up and coming rap musicians, apart from being a full time presenter on 107.7 fm. Main host is Milimo Mudaala, aka Milli Jam, club DJ, radio presenter and entertainment manager – a public figure in Livingstone. We give away a dinner for two at the lodge on each show – to the first listener to text us telling us who’s singing our oldie of the week. On this show the artist was the late Paul Ngozi, famous Zambian musician. The prize was quickly won.

The music on the show was ‘latest’ and good. We opened with John Newman’s UK number one ‘Love Me Again’ back to back with 14 year old Gabz’z smash ‘Lighters (The One)’. George chose Zambian tracks from Karasa and Flex Ville Marley, while Milimo preferred Michael Jackson and Daft Punk for his selections. My pick of the week was ‘It’s You’ by Duck Sauce – different anyway. We closed with Russ Chimes and ‘Turn Me Out’.

Wendy and David told listeners that they’d been married for 39 years and had two daughters, Jocelyn 29 and Rachel 23. Jocelyn is a chemistry teacher while Rachel is still studying. Wendy told listeners how much she admired Zambia’s efforts to preserve their fantastic wildlife by creating so many protected National Parks, and this charming couple had been delighted to see animals in and on the Zambezi as they sailed the sunset cruise the night they arrived in Livingstone. They made special mention of Winston, game guide on the Lady Livingstone, for his great knowledge and good public relations. They were happy with the service from their Livingstone taxi drivers too! And, the sunset over the Zambezi had been dramatic!

Music wise Wendy said she preferred movie themes and Celine Dion, David – Willy Nelson and the Stones. Sports wise they were interested in Volleyball as both their daughters were players, as well, of course, as ice hockey! How had they come to choose Chanters Lodge? One of their daughters and some friends had stayed there some years back, so it was a natural choice, also recommended by their travel agent.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years from now, David said he hoped still to be living in Winnipeg as their home base but travelling frequently, as well as cheering Winnipeg Jets to a Stanley Cup victory (ice hockey for the uninitiated). Wendy said she would love to have grandchildren, as well as still travelling with David. We wished them the best of luck and thanked them for appearing on our show.

If you missed the show and would like to listen, here’s the link to the podcast.

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Hippo On Board!

 Just love this story from Proflight! Thought it was a carved hippo when I first saw the photo!

Proflight Zambia welcomed an unusual passenger on board its aircraft last week in the form of Douglina, a 120 kg hippo calf. The four-month-old orphan, at 1.2 meters long, was flown by the airline in a specially-made crate from the Lower Zambezi to her new home in South Luangwa National Park. The animal was rescued by a team from wildlife charity Conservation Lower Zambezi (CLZ), who had observed it for several hours, alone and in distress on the Zambezi River.

When a female hippo nears the time to give birth, she leaves the pod for one to two weeks to give birth to her young and bond with the calf. Without its mother for protection from predators, the calf would almost certainly not have survived the night. Hippo have been identified as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List drawn up by the World Conservation Union, with an estimated global population of between 125,000 and 150,000, a decline of between 7 percent and 20 percent since the IUCN’s 1996 study.

Settled in her new temporary home complete with plunge pool, cleaned and refilled each day, Douglina – who was originally thought to be male and named Douglas – was fed from a bottle with a formula put together with the advice of experts. Consuming 1.5 litres of milk with two egg yolks and supplements every three hours – she grew quickly. After the elephant and white rhino, the hippo is the heaviest land mammal and soon Douglas grew too large for his current enclosure and became expensive to feed and look after. Hippos can grow over four metres in length and 1.6m tall. They can live for up to 45 years, with males reaching maturity at about 9-11 years old and females at 7-9 years old.

The plan is to release Douglina back into the wild when she reaches maturity. In view of this the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) decided that the safest place for the calf to be reared until she can be released is Chipembele Wildlife Trust in South Luangwa, where experienced wildlife rehabilitators have committed to caring for her in their open facility. However the big question was how to get her there? A road journey would be long, stressful and potentially dangerous for the disorientated calf and so a much shorter and more comfortable journey by air was advised.

Thanks to Proflight and their generous team, the calf has been given a much higher chance of a smooth and successful relocation in a purpose built wooden crate in the back of their caravan aircraft! Douglina was accompanied by one of his dedicated carers and ZAWA a vet. Later this year Douglina’s milk consumption will be reduced and in accordance with a natural hippo calf she will be weaned between February and June 2014. Her new home in South Luangwa is often visited by wild hippos and it is hoped that she will ultimately find a mate and join a wild pod.

Proflight have supported CLZ for many years. As well as flights, CLZ was also their dedicated charity in 2011 and into 2012. CLZ thank Proflight for all of their fundamental help to our work protecting wildlife for the present and future generations of Zambia.

Proflight Zambia was established in 1991 and is the country’s only domestic scheduled airline. From its base in Lusaka it flies to Livingstone, Mfuwe, Lower Zambezi, Ndola, Solwezi, Chipata, Mansa and Kasama.

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Justin Brinkhoff on ‘The Experience’

Meet Justin Brinkhoff (above) from Denver, Colorado. Colorado was a ‘swing state’ in the recent US election and also one of the states that legalized the social smoking of marijuana in a vote at the same time. “What did you think of the election?” we asked Justin when he appeared as a Guest 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 local radio in Livingstone). “We were happy Obama won” replied Justin “and the vote on marijuana was somehow a natural progression, as the drug was already allowed in Colorado for medical purposes, we’re not yet sure how the law will be implemented.”

Justin told listeners that he worked for Visa, the credit card company, but revealed that the company did not give him an unlimited free credit card with which to go on holiday (surprise, surprise!) He’s a computer programmer and he revealed that he was in Zambia with his wife Rebekah who was resting back at Chanters Lodge where they were staying. Before coming to Livingstone they had spent a fantastic week in the South Luangwa National Park, staying at Flatdogs. During their safaris they had seen four of the ‘big five’. They had not seen rhino but had made up for this by taking the rhino walk with Bwaato Adventures in Livingstone the previous day, they had seen all nine rhino in the Mosi-o-Tunya NP and had been thrilled! The day of the show, Justin and Rebekah had taken the one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana and had seen an amazing number of elephant and crocodile – as you usually do in Chobe.

Milli Jam wanted to know Justin’s musical tastes and he revealed that he’s still very much into 80’s rock, loving bands like Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Guns and Roses and AC/DC. On this show we featured tracks by Bruno Mars, Example, Exile and Nalu, Mr Vezzy, Rihanna ft Chris Brown and Alicia Keys. Our oldie of the week was by Zambian artists Amayange and the prize for guessing the artists on the track – ‘Dyress’ was quickly snapped up by text, and once again we had a great response. My pick of the week was Tulisa’s ‘Live Your Life’ and we closed with Carrie Underwood’s ‘Two Black Cadillacs’ – after a little presenter confusion!

Justin revealed that when he and Rebekah, a project engineer in a construction company back in America, had been in the Luangwa Valley they had spent one day volunteering in one of the local schools in Mfue and they had loved the experience, relating well to the children who had sung and danced for them! It was their first time to come to Africa. They hoped to spend some time in Zimbabwe and South Africa after leaving Zambia. Justin revealed that they had first met on a blind date organized by his brother in law and that he and Rebekah had been married for two years.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years’ time Justin replied that he and Rebekah would like to be travelling full time with their children! “Get in” we said!

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The Peace Corps and The Experience

Meet Jenni Kuker (above right) and her mum Jan who were Guests 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 leading local radio station. The programme is a relaxing mixture of music and chat. Jenni and her parents, who come from the USA, were staying at Chanters Lodge on a visit to see Victoria Falls. When Milli Jam asked Jenni “what brought you to Zambia?” She exclaimed “adventure!” And went on to tell listeners that she is a Peace Corps volunteer and that she’d been based in Zambia since July 2010, stationed 200 kms east of Lusaka in Luangwa. Her parents were on a visit to see her, as well as to do some sight seeing.

Jenni explained that she held two degrees, one in psychology and one in nursing from University of Portland in Oregon, USA. She told listeners that in Luangwa she stayed in a mud hut without electricity, and had been mostly living on a diet of village chickens and bananas. That part of Eastern Zambia is famous for the production of the latter, and Jenni told listeners she was now expert in the production of banana bread, banana fritters and banana pancakes! She was involved with health care education in a rural clinic and would finish her stint in Zambia in September this year. She was looking forward to showing her parents ‘the village’ and then taking them on Safari in the South Luangwa National Park staying at Flatdogs.
The music on the show was right up to date as usual. We opened with Rihanna’s ‘Where Have You Been’ – her upcoming single release, back to back with Conor Maynard’s ‘Can’t Say No’. Conor’s single was number two in the UK charts as the show went on air. Hailing from Brighton Conor is billed as ‘Britain’s answer to Justin Bieber’. The mind boggles – but it’s a good single. For his Zambian pick George dropped one of his own great tracks ‘Your Love’ featuring Jay Fantasy back to back with JK’s smash featuring Salma ‘Kapilipili’. Milli Jam chose the ‘oldie of the week’ Charice’s ‘Pyramid’ and my phone was hot with folks texting in to tell us the name of the artist, in order to win a dinner for two at the lodge. Jacque won. We closed with Maroon 5 ft Wiz Khalifa and ‘Payphone’.
Jan told listeners that she and husband David (listening to the show back at the lodge) had been married 43 years and were both retired. They had both worked in human resources prior to retirement. They were thoroughly enjoying their first visit to Zambia. Jenni told us that a lack of privacy in the village had been the hardest thing to accept when she arrived in Luangwa, and said she had overcome the problem by building a fence. She wanted to work in specialized surgical nursing when she returned to the USA, and mum wanted her to find a husband. ‘No need to return to the States for that’ texted one bright spark ‘plenty of eligible men in Zambia’. We laughed.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Jenni replied that she would like to be nursing somewhere in the world with Medecins Sans Frontiers. I’m sure it will happen!

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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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Rein and Jeannetta Coppens on Zambezi fm


Meet Rein and Jeannetta Coppens from the Netherlands, pictured above, guests on the most recent edition of our regular Sunday night radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George da Soulchild. The show goes out weekly, live on Zambezi FM Radio at 20.30 hours and now streams live on the internet too! It’s a vibrant mixture of music and chat.

Rein and Jeannetta were visiting Zambia on holiday and staying at Chanters Lodge in Livingstone, combining their stay with a two night trip to Chobe National Park, Botswana where they camped. They’d been excited to see a lion killing a warthog though Jeannetta felt sorry for the warthog. “That’s natural” we said, cleverly.

Before arriving in Livingstone this friendly and lively couple had been on safari in Kafue National Park, staying at Delai Camp operated by Bongwe Safaris – they didn’t see as much game as they would have liked but told listeners that the scenery was spectacular. From Livingstone they were leaving the following day for South Luangwa National Park staying at Flatdogs. They were very much looking forward to that safari.

Rein told listeners that he was retired. Prior to retirement he’d been a chartered accountant with KPMG and during his work as an auditor of auditors he’d visited some 80 different countries. He said his favourite place, which he’d visited with Jeannetta, was Spitzbergen – technically part of Norway and far North near the Arctic Circle. They’d loved the polar bears. Their least favourite country was The Gambia where they’d been confined to their hotel, scared to go out. (Don’t confuse Zambia and Gambia they warned, saying they loved Zambia and the Zambian people.)

The music on the show was great! We opened as usual with Candy – Aggro Santos and Kim Wyatt, and after the introduction of our guests, played Ne-Yo’s ‘Lonely Again’ back to back with Example and ‘Changed The Way You Kissed Me’. Our local selection featured ZoneFam ft Slap Dee, General Ozzy and Petersen with ‘Chikali’ (‘I’m The Best Bad News’) coupled with J.O.B and ‘Halleluja’. This track features a sample of Halleluja from Handel’s Messiah, very surprising! Good track though. Milimo featured Lionel Richie’s ‘I Call It Love’ and Mario’s ‘How Do I Breathe’. We closed with Brandy’s ‘I Don’t Care’.

Jeannetta told listeners she’d been born in Indonesia where her parents had been working. She and Rein had been married for 41 years and they had two daughers, neither of whom were married and who had not yet produced any grandchildren. They were hoping this situation might soon change!

We gave away our usual dinner for two at Chanters Lodge to the first person to text us telling us which country the Coppens came from. We also gave listeners chart and blog news and expressed our condolences to the family and friends of the late ex-President FTJ Chiluba on his sudden passing.

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Chichele Lodge, South Luangwa


Great to see that Sanctuary Retreats have re-opened Chichele Lodge in the South Luangwa National Park, it’s a great location and the lodge has a unique history too. This company already operates the super Sussi and Chuma Lodge here in Livingstone. The Chichele re-opening was performed by Kenneth Kaunda, 1st Republican President for whom the lodge was initially built, although it was certainly open to the public too – I well remember staying there in the 80’s. Here’s a report on the re-opening from LusakaTimes

First Republican President Kenneth Kaunda says Tourism has the greatest potential to address poverty. Dr Kaunda says unlike mining, the tourism industry impacts directly on poverty reduction in rural communities by providing job opportunities. The former President said this at the re-opening of the Chichele Presidential lodge in Mfuwe on Wednesday.

He urged government, tourism board and traditional leaders to support sustainable conservation of wildlife by involving local people in tourism activities. Dr Kaunda said Sanctuary Retreats, the new owner of Chichele have the capacity to promote Zambian tourism through its global tourism network. And Tourism Deputy Minister Vera Tembo said government is determined to promote Zambia as a major tourist destination.

Meanwhile, Eastern Province Minister, Isaac Banda said government has invested millions of dollars in tourism by constructing roads and airports. Tourism Board Chairman Timothy Mushibwe challenged the media to help promote Zambia as a tourist destination both locally and abroad. Sanctuary Retreats managing director Anthony Post said over K2 billion has been invested in rehabilitating Chichele Lodge.

He said the sanctuary will invest more at the lodge and other tourist spots in the country.

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