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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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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Proflight & Kenya Airways

Lusaka-based regional airline Proflight Zambia has signed an interline agreement with Kenya Airways that will enable passengers to travel across the networks of both airlines with a single booking.

Under the agreement, customers will be able to purchase joint Proflight Zambia-Kenya Airways itineraries and will be issued with a single combined ticket. This will enable seamless connections to and from Proflight’s ten domestic destinations: Lusaka, Ndola, Livingstone, Mfuwe, Solwezi, Chipata, Mansa, Kasama, Lower Zambezi and Mongu, as well as its two international routes, Lilongwe in Malawi and Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania.

It will also enable Proflight customers to book flights to over 60 destinations within the Kenya Airways network from its hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The move should draw more leisure and business travels to Zambia, and facilitate wider travel options for passengers from Zambia looking to travel internationally.

“We welcome Kenya Airways passengers to the Proflight network in Zambia, and look forward to a long and happy partnership between the two airlines,” said Captain Philip Lemba, Proflight Director of Government and Industry Affairs.

Customers will enjoy a range of added benefits, including special fares on itineraries across the two airlines.

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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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Jobless, Homeless But Live On The Experience!

No, not George Kaufela, Milli Jam or even me! But the Guests on the most recent edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela, our weekly Sunday night radio show airing on Zambezi 107.7 fm in Livingstone, Zambia. Australians Lyn and Malcolm Macdonald (pictured above with Milli Jam) explained to listeners that before setting off on their round the world trip which had brought them to this country, they had given up their jobs, sold the boat that had been their home and taken off! They’d arrived in Zambia a few days earlier, having taken the Tazara train from Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. The journey takes days – the Macdonalds described it as ‘a great adventure’.

Malcolm had been a doctor specializing in tropical medicine in the far north of Australia, wife Lyn was a nurse by training, subsequently involved with public health. They had been living in Cairns and working in remote places mostly involved with treating Aboriginal people. They were also engaged in an humanitarian refugee programme. Our Guests told listeners that this was the first time either of them had been to Zambia. They had visited Tanzania as Malcolm had worked in that country more than twenty years ago and had wanted to go back and see old friends, which they had done. They had stayed for one night in Lusaka after their epic train journey, choosing Wayside Guest House with which they declared themselves to be very satisfied. They had flown to Livingstone on Proflight.

The music on the show was appealing to various tastes. We opened the show with tracks from The Saturdays ft Sean Paul (‘How About Us’ number one in UK as we went on air) and Madcon. George chose Zambian music from Roberto featuring himself (!) and then a track by T-Sean. Milli Jam went for Alicia Keys and Jessica Sanchez ft Ne-Yo. He chose a track from Eric Benet as the oldie of the week and the prize of a dinner for two at the lodge was quickly snapped up! My pick of the week was Kodaline’s ‘High Hopes’. We closed with John Legend’s ‘The Beginning’.

Malcolm and Lyn described their first view of the Falls as ‘a bit of a fairy tale’. They had loved the full flow of water prevalent at this time of the year and described the experience as ‘spectacular’. They had climbed down to the Boiling Point as well going on to the main bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe, resisting the temptation to bungee jump – they had a myriad of excuses for not doing so! As one does have! They  had rounded off their day with lunch at The Royal Livingstone which they had loved. They were looking forward to a microlight flight over the Falls as well as the sunset cruise on Lady Livingstone the following day. They were planning a few days in Botswana before flying back to Australia for a short break, then heading off for China and the Far East.

This lively, interesting and outgoing couple told listeners that they had been married for 12 years and that there had been nothing like love at first sight! Between them they had seven children and six grandchildren whom they adored! Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, they said they would like to be retired, living in tropical Northern Australia, raising chickens, growing fruit and vegetables and all the while spoiling their grand children.

Sounded like a good idea to us!



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The Experience in Camouflage!

No, we were not in disguise on the latest edition of the ‘Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Kaufela’ but the two young men shown in the picture above, whose real names are Tobias Maliseni (left) and Chisenga Chashi are musicians who go by the name ‘Camouflage’. “How did you come up with that name?” Milli Jam wanted to know at the top of the show, and the boys said the name came about because of the different patterns to their music. They had been together for about 10 years having met at an audition at another radio station in Livingstone when they were schoolboys.

The boys explained that their third album (12 tracks) which will be entitled ‘Chimawama’ meaning ‘It’s Nice’ was scheduled for release in January 2013. We featured one track from the new album on the show – ‘Panga Ishobe’ meaning, apparently, ‘mind your own business’ – or words to that effect. Good track. We also featured their biggest hit ‘Yonse’ – “it’s a national anthem” said Cheeseman. ‘Cheeseman?’ I hear you query – Chisenga’s nickname! Tobias is ‘Toby Zambiano’! smh

Camouflage told listeners that life as young musicians in Zambia is pretty tough. They had in the past played shows with Amayenge, Danny and Burning Youth, all well known Zambian acts. They had also played outside Zambia in Tanzania. They described the biggest obstacles in their career as ‘piracy’ (illegal copying of tracks) and the poor receipts they receive from record producers. In fact they said that the music industry in Zambia is not yet ‘an industry’ as such but it still ‘just art’. They also felt that preference was always given to Lusaka artists on radio in Zambia and artists from Livingstone such as themselves got a ‘raw deal’. Some of the Zambian acts they admire are Nasty D, Danny and Mampi.

Apart from Camouflage’s great tracks we featured music from James Arthur, Rihanna, Sean Kingston and Miguel on the show. The oldie of the week was a Don Williams number (If Hollywood Don’t Need You, Honey I Still Do) and the prize we give away each week of a dinner for two at the lodge, to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track, was quickly snapped up. Our pick of the week was a more recent country release ‘Goodbye In Your Eyes’ from the Zac Brown Band. We closed with Will.i.am and Britney Spears. Our show is known locally for its great musical mix! You can see why!

Chisenga told listeners that he’s the local chair of Zambia Association of Musicians and was doing his best to improve the lot of his members. Neither of the boys are married but Chisenga has a 10 year old daughter.  He likes ragga and Manchester United while Tobias prefers reggae and Chelsea. ‘Oh’ we said. Tobias has a brother who is a presenter on Zambezi 107.7 fm. They were grateful to Contact Trust Youth Association and Kaufela who had both helped with the production of their first album.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years’ time, Toby said he would like to be an entrepreneur owning a record company and to have a hit single, while Chisenga said he hoped to have made Livingstone a better known place.

We are always happy to feature and promote local Livingstone and Zambian artists on our show.

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Good News For Tazara

This is good news – we get a surprising number of Guests at Chanters Lodge who have travelled from Tanzania using this service and made their way down to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls.

From IPP Media

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) and the Government of China have concluded an agreement identifying 12 new projects with the value of RMB Yuan 270 m (approximately USD42m) to be undertaken under the Protocol of the 15th Economic and Technical Cooperation (15th Protocol). The announcement follows the exchange of letters between the Managing Director of Tazara, Akashambatwa Mbikusita-Lewanika and the Chief Representative of the Economic and Commercial Representation of the People’s Republic of China in Tanzania, Lin Zhiyong.


The new projects, which are aimed at supporting and boosting the operations, include the rehabilitation of 42 passenger coaches and supply of four new mainline locomotives, two shunting locomotives, various rescue and lifting equipment, track trolleys, assorted spare parts and 30,000 pieces of wooden sleepers as well as training of staff on various railway skills and attachment of Chinese railway experts to Tazara over a specified period.

Welcoming the affirmation of the 12 new projects, whose commencement date is soon to be announced, Mbikusita-Lewanika thanked the Chinese Government for the ever-present and tangible support. “Whilst we acknowledge that the support funds under the Protocols are provided as interest free loans to the Tanzanian and Zambian governments, we are grateful to the Government and the People of China for the continuing positive association with Tazara,” he said.

He pointed out that the economic and technical support under the 15 Protocols signed so far is what has kept Tazara going while awaiting the much needed re-capitalisation, reconstruction and restructuring by the shareholding governments of Zambia and Tanzania. “The Protocols are a necessary and critical factor to sustain us in the interim period of the next three years, while the Tanzanian and Zambian governments and other organs of responsibility look for long-lasting solutions required for re-building our operating capacity,” the MD said.

Over the years, Tazara has been receiving regular financial support from the Chinese Government through what are termed as “Protocols of Economic and Technical Co-operation” signed with Tanzania and Zambia in the form of interest free loans, the 14th Protocol having been signed in December 2009, followed by the 15th protocol in March 2012. Out of the last 12 projects undertaken in the 14th Protocol, there are only three outstanding projects which are in the final phase of completion, these being the supply of six new mainline locomotives, rehabilitation of three shunting locomotives and rehabilitation of four gantry cranes.

Once fully executed, the projects of the 14th and 15th Protocols are collectively expected to greatly enhance Tazara’s capacity, doubling the number of locomotives in operation by the year 2015. Currently there are, on average, only 10 mainline locomotives available daily, for mainline activities covering the entire 1860km railway.

 

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FastJet

Easy Jet  is set to launch a new low cost carrier under the name “Fast Jet” and base it in Africa following a deal between the owner of existing carrier, Fly540 and British owned investment firm, Rubicon. EasyJet’s founder Sir Stelios HajiIoannou will launch a low cost airline in Africa this year. The carrier will be based on the platform created by Lonrho Aviation’s Fly540 network. The new carrier aims to transform the Nairobi based Fly540 into a no frills, all jet low cost carrier for Africa.

Fastjet, will operate from Kenya, Angola, Ghana, and Tanzania. Fly540 recorded turnover of $57 million and carried 525,375 passengers last year. Fast Jet hopes to reinvent the low cost carrier model for Africa, with ticket prices starting from around US$20. The company hopes to target Africa’s growing middle class with average fares of around 70-80 US $ on flights between fast growing cities such as Nairobi in Kenya and Angola’s Luanda. Africa lacks a decent cheap and efficient aviation network with an average 0.03 journeys per head per year, compared to 1.5 to 2 air journeys per head in the West. There’s a shortage of direct point to point flights within Africa. It’s difficult to get from capital city to capital city especially in West Africa. The new carrier aims to carry more than 12 million passengers a year because of demand from the growing African middleclass for regional travel.

 
There will be significant difference will be in the way the low cost carrier model to will be transplanted to Africa. In Europe, almost all tickets are sold online. However, in Fast Jet’s African market, internet access can be as low as 20%. Fastjet tickets will therefore be distributed via travel agents, GDSs and some walk-up ticket sales. Passengers will also be able to buy tickets using credits through mobile phone.




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Precision Air

This via Seb at Travel Comments

Tanzania’s largest airline Precision Air has announced the start of its operations to Lubumbashi (DR Congo) and through to Lusaka (Zambia) effective 18 May 2012.

The airline will fly the new route using its newly leased Boeing 737-300. Flights will depart Dar Es Salaam at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The flight duration is 2hrs. Precision Air also announced plans to commence flight to Angola later in the year as the projected growth takes root with more frequencies and more destinations.

Precision Air currently operates scheduled air services between Dar Es Salaam and 16 destinations in Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Comores, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The airline’s main base is Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar es Salaam with hubs at Kilimanjaro International Airport and Mwanza Airport.

That’s nice – but it’s a pity there are no direct flights between Dar and Livingstone – that would be ‘precision’!
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Tim and Diane Seaborn Brown on ‘The Experience’

We were delighted to have guests all the way from San Francisco, California on the most recent edition of ‘The Chanters Lodge Experience with The Milli Jam Ingredient featuring George Soulchild Kaufela’ our weekly Sunday night radio show, airing at 20.30 hrs CAT on Zambezi 107.7fm, Livingstone’s leading local radio station and streaming live on the internet. Our popular show is known locally just as ‘The Experience’. Each week we offer a great mixture of local and international popular music, interesting and entertaining conversation with our guests of the week, as well as pop chart news from the UK and USA. One thing that makes our programme popular is that we give away a dinner for two with drinks at Chanters Lodge every Sunday to the first person to text us, telling us who’s singing our ‘oldie of the week’. This week the track was Dionne Warwick’s ‘Heartbreaker’ – I thought our audience would struggle but we got a text with the correct answer very quickly!
Our guests Diane and Tim Seaborn Brown (above) told listeners they’d been married for 39 years and that Tim had recently retired from his job as a high school teacher of maths and computer science. When we asked Diane if she’d also retired she was rather hesitant with her answer. She did tell listeners she’d owned a pre-school for 25 years educating 100 students at a time and employing 10 teachers. She’d also spent time as a stock broker and as a recreational therapist for children with Down syndrome. Tim hailed originally from New Zealand where he and Diane had first met on a blind date, organized by mutual friends. “Was it love at first sight”? Asked Milimo (as usual). “Yes!” they agreed in unison! “One of the first things we did together was to watch a rugby match” Diane told listeners, explaining that as an American she’d understood very little of the game and totally didn’t understand that no-one was yelling and screaming when one of the teams scored points! “Quite different from the States!” She observed.
The music on the show was as entertaining as it should be. Flo Rida’s UK number one ‘Good Feeling’ opened the account, back to back with One Direction’s ‘One Thing’. George chose ‘Kawilo’ by B-Flow, Maureen Lilanda and Danny, coupled with Ozzy’s ‘Chimutengo Chamango’ for our local tracks, and Milli Jam picked ‘Oh Yeah’ by TI featuring Trey Songz and ‘Party’ by Beyonce (this latter track in honour of Beyonce’s recently born baby.) My tip of the week was the haunting ‘Home Again’ – Michael Kiwanuka’s UK hit. ‘Troublemaker’ by Taio Cruz closed the show.
Tim and Diane told listeners about their fabulous African adventure explaining that they were about half way through their journey. Before arriving in Livingstone for four days they’d spent three weeks on an overland tour through Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho in the company of 17 young Australians. From Livingstone they would leave the following day for Zimbabwe and then on to Johannesburg. A four day safari in the Kruger National Park was on the agenda as well as two weeks ‘lying on the beach’ in Zanzibar. This energetic, loving couple would then spend some time as volunteers in Arusha before taking off for another safari through the Serengeti.

Having been asked the usual closing question Tim and Diane told listeners that ten years from now they’d still like to be travelling worldwide and saw no reason why this should not be the case. We saw no reason either!

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