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.