You’re tuned to The Chanters Lodge Experience with the DJMJ Ingredient ft Soulchild on Zambezi Radio 107.7 fm announced Milli Jam (DJMJ) the presenter, when our show went on air at 20.00 hrs last Sunday. “107.7 fm?” I queried. “Yes, the frequency transmission has changed” I was told. No worries, 107.7 fm rolls off the tongue rather nicely!

Our guests on this show were Dave and Sally Sanger pictured above with daughter Kate and her boyfriend Chris just on their way to see Victoria Falls at the time I took the shot. “Are Chris and Kate an item?” I asked Sally on air. She laughed. “You’d better ask them!” She replied, but went on to admit that “they seem very fond of each other!” “Is it true” Milimo wanted to know “that you’re all from England but you’ve come to Zambia to meet Kate and Chris?” It was! Dave explained that Kate and Chris had been travelling for almost six months, all over South America in particular, and that when he and Sally heard the couple would soon be in Victoria Falls in Zambia, they made arrangements to come and see them. It had been a joyful reunion!

“What made you choose to stay at Chanters Lodge?” Asked Milli Jam (Dave and Kate were staying in our accommodation). Dave explained that he’d found Chanters in the Zambia Travel Guide produced by Bradt where the Lodge is well written up. “Is it true you’re an expert on trees?” Milimo asked Dave who acknowledged that he’d worked with trees and in landscaping all his life. “Don’t know much about trees” said Milimo, rather stumped (sorry!) “What do you do?” He asked Sally instead, who told him she’s a primary school teacher of 9-11 year olds in UK. “Do they work with computers?” I was interested “Gosh! Yes!” replied Sally and went on to say that they teach using computers in UK primary schools these days. “We’re so far behind in Zambia” I moaned to the assembled company, who agreed.

“Richard told us that you broadcast on hospital radio in UK” Milimo commented to Dave, “can you tell us about it?” Dave explained that he broadcasts once a week in Basingstoke General Hospital south west of London which has roughly 1000 beds. We wanted to know all about that, and Dave told us that he plays a lot of music on his weekly 2 hour show, both requests from patients as well as requests for patients. It’s a purely voluntary arrangement but he felt he might well start doing more than one show a week in future, as he was now semi retired and really enjoyed radio broadcasting. Amongst the patients’ favourites were Westlife and Frank Sinatra but Dave said you could get asked for any artist anytime.

On our show this week we played two local numbers so Sally and Dave could hear some Zambian music: Mumpi with her single ‘High On Me’ and then ‘Ndiwe Zuba’ by Baska Baska, apparently a hot single meaning ‘you’re my sunshine even though you trouble me’. As usual the translations were in some doubt! Riding high in the UK charts we played ‘Beat Again’ by JLS and ‘Supernova’ by Mr Hudson ft Kanye West. We also played the lovely new Whitney Houston number ‘I Look To You’ from her soon to be released come-back album, as well as ‘She Is A Bad Mamma Jamma’ and ‘Confusion Girl’ for the Chanters Girls who were hard at work on a busy night back at the lodge.

“Is it true” Milli Jam asked Dave and Sally, “that you recently climbed Table Mountain in Cape Town”. “The cable lift wasn’t working, so if we wanted to see the view from the top we had no choice but to climb – it took 3 hours and it was tough!” They replied. “The cable lift wasn’t working?” I said “that’s got a familiar ring to it” (the lift to the 107.7 studio on the 6th floor hadn’t been working that night) “Sorry!” said Milli Jam “we forgot to warn you!” “We climbed down to the Boiling Pot and back up again today too” said Sally proudly and irritatingly! I’d struggled with the 6 flights up to the studio, but got very little sympathy.

As usual we greeted Guests and staff at the lodge and gave away our standard dinner for two. “Where are you off to when you leave here?” Milimo asked, and Dave explained that he and Sally would take a Mazhandu coach to Kafue, then a taxi to Gwabi and from there would be spending time on the Lower Zambezi. Can’t be bad……