Lodgeblog

Meet Stephano Canton (left above) and Paolo Veriti (right above), 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 every Sunday at 20.30 hours on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone's leading local radio station. As you might guess from their names, Steph and Paolo hail from Italy, Stephano intends to settle in Zambia and revealed to listeners that just the previous weekend he had married Claire, his Zambian girl friend with whom he is very much in love! Both Steph and Paolo hail from a small town in Italy about an hour or so north of Venice. Paolo was visiting Zambia, staying at Chanters Lodge, helping Stephano to set up their new business in Livingstone.

Our Italian guests told our listeners that they had recently opened a new establishment in down town Livingstone and currently were offering 18 different flavours of home made Italian ice cream. Their new industrial pasta machine had just arrived in the country so they would shortly be offering pasta as well as pizza at their new Canton Restaurant. They told us that together with the garden the restaurant can accommodate 200+ customers and that currently they employ 11 staff, though finding well trained workers was proving to be a challenge. They also offer Zambian food. Stephano had first come to Zambia as a volunteer in Northern Province and had fallen in love with the country, the people and the weather.

The music on the show was good. Stephano asked us to play Kumanda by Chico Wise ft B1, his new bride's favourite track, so we did. We also played Chris Malinchak's 'So Good'. Others were from Slap Dee, Jesse J ft Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, Redlight, Trey Songz and ShiftKey. The oldie of the week was by van Morrison but no-one won the prize we offer of a dinner for two at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track. My pick of the week was a new track from Magic! 'I Would'.

Our Guests told us that they have a Karaoke night every Friday at the Canton and hope in future to have a live local band at weekends. They had not had time to participate in any of the Livingstone tourist activities having been too busy with the wedding and setting up a business. They support Udinese their local football team in Italy, famous for having brought up a lot of young players including Alexis Sanchez now a big star with Arsenal. They both love Zambian music. Paolo told listeners that he's been married for 30 years and has two daughters, one living in Milan, one living in London.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing ten years' from now, Stephano wanted to have many children with Claire and to have a successful big ice cream company in Zambia with many franchisees. Paolo hoped to be still visiting Zambia many times a year. We thanked them for coming on the show and wished them all the best with their business

Of course you could go to TripAdvisor and look up Chanters Lodge to see the experiences of Guests who have stayed at the lodge, but it so happens that our weekly Sunday night local radio show, broadcast on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone's leading local radio station, is called The Chanters Lodge Experience!

The show is hosted by top Livingstone DJ's Milli Jam and Jay Hillz and is a nice mixture of chart news, latest local and international pop music, chat with our Guest of the week and social media updates. We also give a weekly prize of dinner, or lunch for two with drinks and a swim, at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week. Guests on the show are often visitors staying at the lodge, sometimes local personalities and sometimes young people in music and/or broadcasting looking for a lift up. On the most recent edition Twaambo Joseph Chingobe (above) fell into the latter category.

Teejay, as he likes to be called, told listeners that amongst other activities he's currently enjoying training as a radio presenter with Zambezi 107.7 fm. Milli Jam wanted to know if Teejay was related to Bradley Chingobe, a previous guest on our show and he confirmed that Brad is his uncle. He however pointed out that unlike his uncle who is a full time Man U supporter, Teejay favours Arsenal. Milli Jam and I were happy about that! Apart from his radio presentation, Teejay has a company called Blue Magic Entertainment that provides management and promotion for up coming musicians, as well as events management. His company also has a clothing label. Teejay is a hip hop musician too, but was rather secretive about his plans to release a single, we told him we would wait! He hoped his company 'Southern Triumph' would, in future, really help local Livingstone musicians get good gigs.

Our music on the show was great. We usually play a total of 10 tracks on the show. The opening two are latest top chart hits from the UK - on this show singles from Meghan Trainor and The Magician ft Years & Years were showcased. The next set of two tracks are Zambian hits and the fifth and sixth tracks are favourites of Milli Jam and Jay. Next comes our oldie of the week mentioned above, then my pick of the week - a track I think will soon make it on to the charts. On this show I chose Mr Probz's 'Nothing Really Matter'. Our last track is always one that will leave the listeners dancing in the aisles!

Teejay told listeners that he's still single but has a four year old baby girl - Brooklyn, who lives in South Africa with her South African mum - he misses his little girl a lot. Most of Teejay's secondary and tertiary education happened in South Africa where his parents stay, although in his early years he was nurtured in Livingstone by his grandparents - sadly his grandad had very recently passed away.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing 10 years' from now, this bright, sharp 24 year old said he would like to be a successful entrepreneur in the entertainment sector. 'Marriage?' We wondered. "I'm scared!" The reply!

Meet Louis Barabbas (above), musician 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 for an hour live every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone's leading local radio station. Louis told listeners that he was currently on holiday in Zambia with his parents, who were in Zambia to participate in the 50th Anniversary of Independence celebrations taking place in the week ahead. He would be attending a state dinner in Lusaka with them on Independence Day itself. He explained that his grandfather had once been the town clerk of Kabwe! Milli Jam looked surprised. His mum, Pam, was also about to publish a book about Zambia titled 'Remnants Of Empire'.

Louis, an English language graduate has been involved in the music industry in UK one way or another for about 12 years. He currently heads a band by the name of Louis Barabbas and the Bedlam Six. Given the name of the band I was somehow expecting Louis to be a great big hairy loud rocker not the rather shy thoughtful young man who kept us entertained on the show! Louis explained that the band, which is based in Manchester, had just finished a tour of Europe taking in Germany and Austria and would be on a break until May 2015. The boys had also just completed their second studio album called 'Youth' and Milli Jam was delighted to be given a copy. He and Jay assured Louis that tracks from the album would be featured on shows on 107.7 fm during the week ahead. Louis had also finished writing a solo album, yet to be recorded, which would be entitled 'Gentle Songs Of Ceaseless Horror'........

The music on our show was good as usual and featured tracks from Avicii, Taylor Swift and One Direction. Milli Jam and Jay chose tracks from Ten Walls and Ma-E, as well as Exile, Adele and the Masasu Band. My pick of the week was a new track from Noel Gallagher called 'In The Heat Of The Moment'. As this played Louis wondered why he would come all the way from Manchester just to listen to a Manchester outfit in Livingstone. We closed with something rather different - Krishane ft Melissa Steel, with 'Drunk and Incapable'! None of us were!

Louis told us that he plays guitar and harmonica and is also lead singer of the Bedlam Six. He heads a recording company - Debt Records - which has about eight artists in its' stable and often operates as a type of co-operative with acts combining their skills to come up with the best results. Louis has a weekly radio show on local radio in Manchester. Surprisingly football wise he supports neither Man City or the other team in the city. Still single, Louis has a partner - a geologist by profession - with whom he's been going steady for about ten years. Did he miss her? Yes. His own musical preferences tended towards film music and musicals. He is also involved in the Musicians Union in UK, working for a fairer deal for musicians in that country.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years' from now Louis said he would like be making more music, travelling more and to be making more money. We agreed that this would suit all present in the studio!

The management and staff of Chanters Lodge Livingstone would like to express their condolences to the family and friends of the late President Michael Sata, and indeed to all the people of Zambia on his loss.

May his soul rest in peace.

We were delighted to welcome three generations of the same family as our Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. Fran Baker (above left), granny to Ellie Dawes in the centre and Ellie's dad Kev Dawes on the left! The family, together with Fran's daughter Leigh and her grandson Archie, were visiting Livingstone, staying at Chanters Lodge, on holiday from UK. It had vaguely rained in Livingstone on the day so we jokingly accused them of having brought their British weather with them, an accusation firmly denied! 'The Experience' is our weekly radio show airing every Sunday from 20.30 hrs for an hour on Zambezi 107.7fm, Livingstone's leading local radio station.

Fran told listeners that their visit to Zambia was mainly to see her other daughter Gillian Langmead. Gillian and husband Peter live in Lusaka and have been guests on our show in the past. Great supporters of Chanters Lodge they are too! Gillian handles the PR and publicity for Proflight and Zambeef, two of Zambia's most successful companies. Hubby Peter is a great writer and photographer. Kevin told us that his family lives in Dorset in the west of UK and that he is an electronics engineer with Ericssons involved with the installation and maintenance of towers for mobile phone communications. Wife Leigh has her own gardening firm. Fran is retired having worked for many years as a school secretary and for the UK police force. Ellie told us that she's in Grade 6 at school.

The music on the show was good opening as we did with latest tracks from Fuse ODG as well as Waze and Odysssey. The guys chose work from Edma - 'Remote Control' a Zambian track where the singer complains that he is used like a remote control by his girl friend, he must do what she says! Ed Sheeran and Chris Brown were other featured international artists. Jay gave us Flexville ft Karasa and Shyman, another Zambian track called 'Respect'. Our oldie of the week was Ozzy with Making Me High, and the prize we give to the first person to text us with the name of the artist was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Gwen Stefani's Baby Don't Lie and we closed with All I See by Bondax.

The family told us that they had really enjoyed some time on the Lower Zambezi during their visit to Zambia as well as a visit to a crocodile farm. While they were in Livingstone they would of course visit the Falls and were looking forward to touring the Livingstone Museum, Railway Museum and Jewish Museum. They had booked for the sunset cruise before leaving back to Lusaka and on to UK in a few days' time. Music wise Kevin told us that he likes Jamie Cullum and Ellie's favourite is George Ezra. Ellie also told us about her dog called Bramble. She said she would like to be a vet when she's older.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years' time, Fran said she would like to be alive and kicking and still with all her marbles (not sure if MJ and Jay got that one!). Kevin was looking to be fully supported by his grown up children!

Through the 1980's when I was general manager of the Ridgeway Hotel in Lusaka (now Southern Sun Ridgeway Hotel), late President Michael Sata was for some time District Governor of Lusaka, with offices at the civic centre right opposite the Ridgeway on Independence Avenue. He loved the hotel, particularly as I remember, the Jolly Casino! (My then assistant manager, John Phillips, now a highly successful entrepreneur back in UK, can verify!)......

Although I'm not sure if it was true that Mr Sata, as he claimed, could actually see into my office from his office, there were several occasions when he phoned saying "Do some work Chanter I can see you're loafing". On one occasion - "the front of your hotel looks nice but I can see into your back yard from my office, get it cleaned up!" We did!

There was one infamous occasion when our late President barged into my office dragging a security guard literally by the ear. "Tell this man who I am!" He shouted, releasing the poor victim from his hold. "Surely you know Mr Sata, the district governor?" I asked the guard. He nodded quietly, clearly thinking better of saying anything. "And tell him I'll park my car anywhere in Lusaka that I want!" Added the governor. It transpired that Mr Sata had parked right outside the front door of the hotel - the guards had strict instructions to stop anyone parking in this position to avoid traffic congestion. The guard had followed orders and commanded Mr Sata to move his car!" Brave but foolish! "Go away!" He said to the poor man, closing the door as the guard fled. The district governor then sat himself down and continued "now Richard I need a nice suite for the weekend, and a couple of good bottles of white wine!"

One day, in the early 1990's, after I'd left the Ridgeway and he was now a minister in the Chiluba government, our paths crossed and Mr Sata yelled at me "Hey! We're going to let established residents like you vote in council elections in future!" It didn't happen. He was however kind enough to appoint me to the Lusaka Province Liquor Licensing Board when he was Minister of Local Government, which, as I was unemployed and unloved at that time, gave me a considerable morale boost. I was grateful.

I didn't see him again until just before the 2011 election when he was campaigning in Livingstone and passed through the airport on his way back to the capital. I was waiting to meet incoming guests. "Where are you now?" He asked, recognizing me, and I told him I had a lodge in Livingstone and that he'd be welcome any time. We wished him luck in the upcoming poll.
Unfortunately he never did come to Chanters Lodge, within a few months he was President of Zambia.

May his soul rest in peace.

This from Larry Mogelonsky writing on HotelInteractive caught my eye. Here at Chanters Lodge we count ourselves lucky if we can go 24 hours without a break in our wifi. Fast broadband? Never really heard of it. One of our ISP's says we are on '4G' but it is very slow - perhaps a Zambian 4G is different from 4G in other places. Anyway here's the piece detailing how important fast free wifi is to hotel guests and therefore occupancy.

"I realize that Westerns aren’t exactly the most popular genre of novels or films these days, but I believe the following comparison still stands. Back in the Old West, the gunslinger who draws the fastest wipes out the competition. Replace the word ‘gunslinger’ with ‘hotel WiFi’ and the same can be applied nowadays.

If you aren’t providing free WiFi to your guests by now then you are doing them a great disservice. Guests expect this for free much like they do heating, air conditioning and tap water (or at least have the costs buried into the nightly rate). It’s 2014, so get with the times.

But it’s no longer just about offering complimentary internet connectivity, but giving it out at a satisfactory speed. To comprehend why fast is just as important as free in this regard, you should first understand the theory of cognitive drift. The basic idea is that if a website takes too long to load, users lose interest. This varies based on patience levels but I’d ballpark it for millennials at around one to two seconds.

Many hotels now offer free WiFi to customers (definitely a good thing) but slow connections frustrate people. It makes them impatient. It makes them feel like they are being slighted. Free WiFi that’s slow rings of false advertising; you’re marketing a service to guests to get them through the door but then you don’t sufficiently fulfill your end of the bargain.

I’m sure you can recall your emotions at a time when you were a victim of false advertising. It’s not great, hateful even. I doubt you’d want those feelings bestowed upon your property for something as small as failing to offer adequate free wireless connection rates. Do yourself a favor and get up to speed (pun intended).

One other note is the use of smartphones and tablets for browsing. I’m not one to tout endless numbers to prove my point, but if you were to look up any current statistics on the topics, no doubt you’d find that these mobile devices represent a very sizeable portion of total internet traffic in relation to laptops and desktops.

Seeing as how smartphones and tablets are wholly reliant on WiFi or 3G/4G, this puts extra emphasis on getting your internet running with enough bandwidth to support an abundance of users. Moreover, websites generally do not load quite as quickly on mobile devices as on computers, further driving home the need for lightning fast WiFi.

While delivering fast and free WiFi to all your guests is a noble goal that I’m sure every hotelier would love to see realized sooner rather than later, for many of us it’s simply not feasible – not with our budgetary constraints and not with the way consumers voraciously gormandize bandwidth through the likes of streaming videos (eg. Netflix) or gigabyte downloads (eg. torrent files). We have to find a middle ground, a compromise as we ease into a world where free internet connectivity becomes the expected norm."

Our weekly radio show - The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz - was back on the air last Sunday after a two week break due to national mourning, following the death of Zambia's President Michael Sata. During national mourning in Zambia only solemn music may be played on radio stations, and the music on The Experience is far from solemn! We feature latest international and Zambian hits interspersed by chat with our Guest Of The Week. On this show we were delighted to welcome Zambian celebrity Laura Miti (above), well known writer, human rights activist and political commentator. We don't usually 'do' politics on the programme but Laura weighed in hard given the current state of flux in this country prior to the upcoming presidential by-election on January 20th 2015.

Laura told listeners that she is employed as a public service accountability monitor by the Research Institute of Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. By coincidence, she said, she is responsible for reporting on the Zambian situation and therefore travels frequently between the two countries. "Legally but not practically" married she has one son completing Grade 12 this year and three sons of her (ex) husband who call her 'mum'. The Research Institute monitors and trains public service accountability in all of the SADCC countries. Civic actors, MP's and journalists are amongst those with whom Laura interacts. In Zambia Rhodes University works in conjunction with Caritas, Zambia. "And is there public service accountability in Zambia"? We wondered. Laura smiled.....

The music on the show was good and featured tracks from Gareth Malone and his All Star Band, One Direction, Passenger and The Veronicas. Others were from Jay Rox ft Cleo, Femi Alade and Coztem ft Camster. We give a prize of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge on the show to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week. On this show Jay and Milli Jam chose a Zambian track by Frankiss ft Manas, but no-one won the prize! "Better luck next week!" We said.

Laura told listeners that she loves tennis and football. In her younger days she was a keen follower of Power Dynamos in Zambia and even used to travel to away matches. These days she supports Arsenal. Milli Jam and I were happy about that! Her favourite tennis player is Raphael Nadal. At one time she wrote columns for the Post and Sunday Times newspapers but right now is not published - except on Twitter, which she confessed to love! She completed Grade 12 at Roma Girls and obtained a degree in education at the University of Zambia. She would be in Livingstone for the following week and although she had no plans to bungee jump she told us that one time she had done the gorge swing. Milli Jam also had no plans to bungee jump - as usual!! Music wise Laura loves John Legend.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing ten years' from now our intelligent, personable and outspoken Guest said she wanted to be back in Zambia and very much involved in charity work, especially the feeding of young, vulnerable children. She also wanted to be a granny. We thanked her for appearing on our show.

From November 28th for 6 months, the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe have launched the KAZA UNIVISA:

The visa is US$50 and is a 30 day multiple entry visa for both Zambia and Zimbabwe. This will also cover a day trip to Botswana; however, if a guest would like to stay overnight in Botswana then a new visa would be required upon their return.

Citizens of the following 40 countries are eligible:
Argentina; Austria; Australia; Belgium; Brazil; Britain (UK); Brunei; Burundi; Canada; Cook Islands; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Monaco; Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Puerto Rico; Russia; Rwanda; Slovakia Republic; Slovenia Republic; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; UAE; Uruguay; USA

A ‘ normal’ visa for Zambia is still available which is US$50 for a single entry visa, or US$80 for a double entry visa and is payable in US$ cash only. You will need to specify which type of visa you would prefer. If you obtain a double entry visa, and would like to spend overnight in Botswana, then this would be fine.

Meet Joseph 'JLove' Kaleb, guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. The Experience is the weekly radio show we sponsor every Sunday night on Zambezi 107.7 fm, Livingstone's favourite local radio station. Joseph told Milli Jam 'not to ask about his surname' and that he was Nsenga by tribe from the Eastern Province of Zambia. "What about the Jlove?" I wondered. "Oh man!" He replied, "that's my stage name!" He explained that he's a singer and music producer, having already recorded and released an album entitled 'The Mixed Emotions Of Mr J Love'. "Why that title?" Jay Hillz asked and JLove explained that he had lost his mum when he was quite young and the album reflected that sadness as well as the joy of living. His new album, due for release soon, would be called 'Unleashing Point'. We got the message!

JLove told listeners that he'd lived a large part of his life in South Africa where his late dad had been a missionary. He said that he came from a very large family and that he had nine siblings of whom he was aware - he's the ninth out of ten - he talked of three mums as well. Milli Jam (father of five) murmured "what is it about Africa Richard"? "Don't bring me into this!" I replied. JLove said he had been at high school in Kimberley in RSA and had gone on to study IT in which he has a diploma and is a specialist. His production company in Johannesburg is called Sparrow Productions which he co-owns with brother Destiny and which was 'inherited' from a Will. K. Banda. JLove is the father of one little boy Jerome, aged 6 months. "What about marriage?" Wondered Milli Jam. "Don't rush me man!" The reply.

The music on the show was good as usual featuring tracks from Labrinth, James Bay, Madonna, Take That and Ne-Yo, as well as African tracks from Manas ft More Money, T-Pain, Tio and Alice Chuma. Our oldie of the week was the Alice Chuma track and we gave away dinner for two to a lucky winner who texted us the answer to our simple question in good time.

JLove told us that he loves R&B and that his favourite Zambian artist is Maureen Lilanda. Internationally he favours Bow Wow and Buster Rhymes with whom he once shared the stage for a show in South Africa - "a really cool memory", he said. He supports Bayern Munich in the German league but has no particular preference in English football clubs. He has played shows in many neighbouring African countries. He has accounts on both Facebook and Twitter - on Twitter he is @MRJLOVER. He writes his own music which is clearly what he loves to do, probably even more than producing or singing. His musical life started from church as a child.

Asked when he would be returning to South Africa JLove replied some time in the new year, and asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years' from now he said he would like to be a singing music mogul in Zambia. We had no doubt that this self assured, confident young musician/producer would fulfill his ambitions!

Meet Slim Will (above) aka Bwalya Chanda, radio presenter, marketing expert, and Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, our radio show airing on Zambezi fm, Livingstone's leading local radio station. It was a special edition as it was Milli Jam's birthday though we refrained from singing 'Happy Birthday To You' on air!

First up Milli Jim wanted to know how Slim Will got that name observing that now anyway, Will was not that slim! Rude boy! Bwalya explained that when he he'd been at Namwianga Secondary School in Kalomo he'd been a rapper and needing a name he'd chosen Slim because he's a fan of Eminem and Will through Will Smith. The name had stuck. Slim Will told listeners that he had first become involved with Zambezi fm in 2008 when he'd applied for a position as a presenter only to be rejected. However he had been lucky to be appointed to the marketing department which had been his way in to eventually doing some presentation. He now had a full time job with Government in the Ministry of Home Affairs as an assistant registration officer but still presented part time on the station. He also had business interests in Black Rock Foundation and Deemac Entertainments - both involved with events production, marketing and management.

The music on the show was good as usual featuring tracks from Jennifer Lawrence, Blonde featuring Melissa Steel as well as Ottawa and Olly Murs featuring Demi Levato. The guys dropped a latest Zambian smash hit from Chinzy Kelly as well as Diva from Petersen. Others were from Ne-Yo and Eminem ft Sia. We closed with Tiesto's 'Light Years Away'.

Slim Will told listeners that he loved the music of the 90's which he felt was more real than the current hits. His favourite international artist is still Eminem, locally he favours Cheffy and Macky2. As we went on air there was great tension across Zambia to see whether Zambian singer Macky2 would win Big Brother Africa and the US$300,000 grand prize. Unfortunately he was 'evicted' third from the end but he did very well. Slim Will supports Mufulira Wanderers and Manchester United, his favourite Man U players, Ronaldo and a certain Wayne Rooney. He told listeners that his relationship at the moment was 'complicated', but he was delighted to announce that he had very recently become a father following the birth of his 15 day old son Ben. He has a foundation diploma in IT from Livingstone Institute for Business and Engineering Studies.

Bwalya advised listeners to put education first 'so that they knew what they were doing.' In ten years' time he hoped to have a high position in the Zambia Civil Service, to still be involved in entertainment and to have done well in business. He wanted to 'make a difference' and we had no doubt that this hard working, personable self assured young man would do just that.

Meet Aaron Mertz, guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. There were two things different about this show. Firstly, Zambezi fm has changed its frequency from 107.7 to 94.1 fm. Apparently this is a temporary change - the station hopes to obtain a frequency lower than 90.0 fm to make it more accessible to local taxi drivers whose radios only reach that range. Secondly, Jay stood in for Milli Jam on this show, so he was the Ingredient and I featured! We managed. Milli Jam had been struck down with an eye infection. There's also a rumour that he's started jogging!

Aaron told listeners that he'd arrived in Livingstone that afternoon from South Africa and would just be in Zambia for about 48 hours, before taking the night train from Victoria Falls to Bulaway, then on to see Harare and the Great Zimbabwe Ruins. Whilst in Livingstone he would be taking the one day safari to Chobe NP in Botswana, as well as swimming in Devil's Pool on Livingstone Island right on the edge of Victoria Falls. He was also looking forward to spending a few hours at the Livingstone museum. Aaron hails from Chicago but is currently living in New York City. He is a postdoctoral fellow at Rockefeller University working in the laboratory of mammalian cell biology and development. "Ah!" We said! Aaron is a summa cum laude graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar from Oxford University in UK. He told us that he had very much enjoyed the two years he'd spent in England but had not learned how to play cricket or to support Arsenal FC.....

The music on the show was good as usual. we opened with new tracks from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, and Oliver Heldens ft KStewart. Both current smash hits in UK. Jay dropped items from Doc Shebekza, Afunika, Kritic and DJ Khaled. Our 'oldie of the week' was a track by Jo Klassic ft PJay. Listeners have to text us the name of the artist on the track, but on this occasion no-one won the prize. One contestant forget to mention their own name and another knew the name of the track - Method 2 - but did not text the name of the artist. So, no-one won the dinner for two with drinks at the lodge on offer! There'll be another chance on the next show.

Aaron revealed that when he's not working or travelling (his first love), he plays the cello and in fact had recently given his first concert with a friend. He loves classical music and opera and living in New York gives him the chance to go to live shows. He also loves cycling and makes full use of the 'Public Bikes' now available in the city for the public to rent, cycle and return to a cycle bank. He revealed that he'd found out about Chanters Lodge from the Lonely Planet Guide Book and TripAdvisor on the internet. He was happy with the choice he'd made to stay with us. Aaron is still single and has one older brother.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing in ten years' time, Aaron said that he'd like to be a University Professor in Physics and Biology with his own research laboratory. Given Aaron's academic achievements already, in our opinion that's a 'nobrainer'!! Unlike Mr Mertz who is clearly super brainy!

To all blog readers, my family and friends, and to the Clients and staff of Chanters Lodge, have a wonderful Christmas Day!

That's a strange headline you'll be thinking! It comes about because 'Remote Control' is the title of a hit record in Zambian sung by Edma, aka Eddy Kamwenda (above right) and Masautso Mwale, Guests on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. That's our weekly radio show airing at 20.30 hrs CAT every Sunday on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone's longest established and best loved commercial radio station. 'Remote Control' is sung and rapped in various vernacular languages and tells of ladies who want to criticize their men in every regard, controlling them and then end up having affairs outside their relationship! At least that's the general gist of it! The track is hot on radio stations throughout the land and in the many Livingstone night clubs.

Eddy and Danny (as Masautso prefers to be called) told listeners that they had met by chance a few years ago at the studios of Raising Sounds. Danny sings on their tracks while Eddy raps. Danny has a sweet singing voice. Outside their musical career, Eddy has worked in sales for Gatbro International for the past six years, Gatbro supply Spar Supermarkets in Zambia. Eddy studied hotel management at Fairview in Lusaka and currently undertakes business around Livingstone. Eddy is married with a two year old son Taono while Danny is still single. The duo are looking forward to releasing their first album in April 2015 although it was not immediately clear which studio they would use to record the album. They are currently self managing having parted company with their manager a little while ago.

The music on the show was good and of course we featured Remote Control. On the day of the show the sad news came that Zambian singing sensation PJay had died as a result of injuries sustained in a traffic accident some two weeks ago, so we played Nikamtsiya by Ruff Kaida featuring PJay. The title means 'When I Leave You'. Very sad. We also featured the UK Christmas Number One - Something I Need by Ben Haenow the 2014 XFactor winner. Other tracks were from Gorgon City featuring Jennifer Hudson, Nicki Minaj ft Ariana Grande, David Guetta and John Legend, as well as Jagua. Our oldie of the week was by Shatel, and we were happy the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist on our oldie of the week was won by Derek who will enjoy his Christmas dinner at the lodge with a friend as a result.

The guys told listeners that their favourite artists are Pompei and Zola. Eddy was into Manchester United, while Danny, wisely, prefers volleyball! Their favourite Zambian soccer player is national team goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene. They write their songs together "Eddy bakes while Danny serves" they said. They told listeners they had played a show for RATSA in the city centre the day before, and were very much looking forward to playing on 24th and 25th December at a local hot spot on the same bill as the famous Mampi and Cleo.

Asked where they would like to be and what they would like to be doing in ten years' time, the guys said they would like to have visited Australia and to have a prosperous recording studio hosting many great artists. We wished them luck and all our friends and listeners a very happy Christmas.

The last 2014 edition of The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz starred none other than Chanters Lodge Assistant Manager Annastasia Mwila Katele as our Guest of The Week. It's some three years since Miss Anny (as she is known by the Chanters Girls) last appeared on the show and the level of maturity and self confidence she has reached in that time is most impressive. Says a lot about her and her ability to learn - there she is cavorting with Milli Jam and Jay in the picture above! The Experience has now been on air every Sunday on Zambezi 94.1 fm at 20.30 CAT for the past 7 years and in 2015 we go into our eighth year. The show keeps the name of the lodge in the Livingstone public eye, is nice for our Guests staying in the lodge who feature from time to time, and a good staff motivator too. The Chanters Girls love the show, especially when one of 'their own' is featured!

Annastasia told listeners she was given that name by her grandmother, her grandfather insisted that he too should be part of the naming ceremony hence the Mwila in her name, meaning 'air' in the Bemba language. "So you're Bemba?' surmised Milli Jam. Anny told us that her mum hails from Malawi! She has a daughter - Maryam now aged 14 and studying Grade 10 at Linda Secondary School here in Livingstone. Anny has been working at Chanters Lodge for 12 years having first joined on attachment in 2002. 'Time flies'! Said Milli Jam and he's not wrong! Anny explained that she had undertaken a course in food and beverage at the Livingstone Youth Community Training Centre run by the Catholic Church in Livingstone in 2000. 'Are you Catholic'? asked Milli Jam. "No, I'm Moslem" replied Anny, and she is! She explained that both her mum and late dad were of that faith and she had continued in the family tradition. She prayed at the mosque on Obote Avenue when she chanced to be off on Fridays.

The music on the show was good as usual. We played tracks by Echosmith and Madonna. The guys dropped numbers from Sarkodie ft Banky W - a Ghanian act. Also from Izrael, Roberto (so hot in Zambia right now) and Usher featuring Nicki Minaj. Our oldie of the week was the late Joe Cocker's Heart of The Matter but no-one won the prize we give each week to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the oldie. My pick of the week was OT Genesis's 'Co-Co' and we closed with TINA by Fuse ODG scheduled to become our opening theme for the show in 2015 ('This Is New Africa' for the uninitiated.)

Anny told us that she loves all kind of music, her international favourite artist is Miley Cyrus and on the local scene 'Roberto'. She admitted to loving shoes more than music and that she had lost count of the number of 'heels' in her possession! She supports Arsenal and denied that she had been cajoled into it by the director. Her favourite player is Theo Walcott. "Because he's handsome?" Wondered Milli Jam. "Because he's a great player' replied Anny tersely. She told listeners that she loves her job, especially dealing with people, although she admitted that this was also the greatest challenge. Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing in ten years' time, our pretty, hard working, talented, well spoken strict Assistant Manager told us that she would like to have her own business, be married and have some more children. The subsequent excitement of Milli Jam and Jay was curtailed by my mention of Anny's mum - the matriarch of the family!

A very Happy New Year to all our blog readers, radio show listeners, friends and fans on social media as well as Guests, Staff and supporters of Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia! That should have been how we opened the first edition of our weekly radio programme on Zambezi 94.1 fm in Livingstone but I guess we just said 'Happy New Year'! Our show is called the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz and goes out at 20.30 hrs CAT every Sunday night.

First Guest of The Week on the show for 2015 was Malimba Bob Mwiinga (pictured above). Bob is a teacher at St Mary's Girls Secondary School in Livingstone and teaches all Grades from 8 up to 12. His speciality is language and he teaches the girls both English Language and English Literature. He obtained a degree in Education from the University of Zambia in 2009 and taught initially at Mwata Day High School in Kalomo. He told listeners he had been teaching at St. Mary's for the past two years. Malimba (meaning 'colours') was raised in Lusaka by his parents, both workers at Zamtel, Zambia's main telephone company and providers of internet at Chanters Lodge. Bob said his parents were now retired. He completed his Grade 12 at Kafue Boys Secondary School. Milli Jam wanted to know the biggest challenge Bob faced in his work and his answer all centred around student indiscipline - "there's a surprise!" We said sarcastically. Class sizes at St Mary's are about 35 students per class.

We opened the show with a brand new theme tune for 2015 - TINA (This Is New Africa) from African star FUSE ODG. Jolly good track it is too! We featured recordings from The 1975, John Newman, Nicki Minaj, and Jesse J. Zambian artists Bobby East and Roberto were also featured. Our oldie of the week was Rihanna's 'What Now' and one lucky listener won dinner for two with drinks at the lodge. Jay's 'pick of the week' was a remix of Roberto's smash hit 'Amarula' featuring Slap D and Zonefam.

Bob said he liked all kinds of music, except reggae. His favourite international artist of the moment is August Alsina and locally he favours Slap D. He supports Arsenal FC in UK - his favourite current player is Alexis and all time player Thierry Henry. He's been a fan of the club since 2002. He has not done the bungee jump at Victoria Falls - "scared of heights", he said. Bob is on Facebook and is also on Twitter @MalimbaMwiinga. He told us that he had a little experience on radio when he had shared a show with Zambezi fm's Praiz Mash.

Asked where he would like to be and what he would like to be doing ten years' from now, Bob said he would love to have his own business as well as still to be teaching.

"How long ago was the first time you were the Guest on our programme?" I asked our Guest, Tiko Siliwea, (above) at the top of the latest edition of our weekly radio show, The Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz, airing at 20.30 hrs every Sunday night on Zambezi 94.1 fm, Livingstone's leading local radio station. "About six years' ago" replied our Guest. These days Tiko is one very busy lady! Apart from being the mother of 5 children ranging in ages from 15 to 3 years old and the wife to her pastor husband Ken Siliwea, she herself is a pastor at the Lion of Judah Church in Livingstone. As if this was not enough, her third album of gospel music is about to be released on CD following on from the success of her first two CD's. The new album is called 'Sinilesewa' (It's My Time) and we played the hauntingly beautiful lead single 'Kumisanga' ('to find you') on the show. Tiko told listeners that she had written almost all the tracks on the album herself, and that the CD was due for release during the week ahead.

Tiko said that since her last appearance on our show she had obtained a degree in theology from North Western Theological School in USA and had become a pastor at Lion of Judah Church. The church operates from the premises of a former timber company Zambezi Saw Mills, located near the Railway Museum in Livingstone. Congregations vary in size from 250/300 people every Sunday and Tiko is mostly involved with the music and singing at church but also preaches from time to time - of course she has duties in counseling and other responsibilities of the 'pastor's wife' too! She does also have a business specializing in wedding planning and gives singing lessons as well! Busy lady, as I said!

The music on the show was standard. We opened with our new theme TINA from Fuse ODG. We featured smash hits from Mark Ronson ft Bruno Mars, and Philip George. We played Kiesza's No Enemies back to back with Tiko's track and also featured titles from Alicia Keys and Kachanana ft Joey B. Our oldie of the week was 'One Way Or Another' the 1D version and not the original Blondie record. The prize we give of a dinner for two with drinks at the lodge to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the track was quickly snapped up. My pick of the week was Ellie Goulding's 'Love Me Like You Do' the first track released from the soundtrack of the much anticipated movie '50 Shades Of Grey'.

Tiko told us that she had been brought up on the Copperbelt mostly by her dad, and had attended Fatima Girls Secondary School. She had originally come to Livingstone for a job with a now defunct company, before meeting Ken, then a manager with Indeco Estates and the rest is history, as they say! They had been married for 16 years. Jay gasped at that information! Gospel is her favourite music (naturally) and her favourite artist CC Wynans. Tiko loves swimming and tennis and her most loved tennis star is Serena Williams. She was proud of having sung at the Ngoma Awards ceremony in the past, and in 2013 for the closing ceremony of the United Nations World Tourism Organization general meeting held in Livingstone.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, this thoughtful, talented, hard working lady said she would like to be teaching in her own school of music and to be promoting Zambian music and musicians. We wished her well.

Chanters Lodge recently donated another solar lighting kit to a village primary school in Southern Province of Zambia. There's a photo above and the acknowledgement below:

Dear Mr. Chanter,

Greetings, I wish to acknowledge with great appreciation the purchase of a solar kit that was donated to Natebe Primary School courtesy of your Lodge. Stay blessed

Sincerely.

Fr. Emmanuel Chikoya
Anglican Diocese of Lusaka
St Andrews Anglican Church

Meet Mirriam Angon (above), Spanish national but African veteran and Guest on the most recent edition of the Chanters Lodge Experience with the Milli Jam Ingredient featuring Jay Hillz. It was Mirriam's second experience on our show and on this edition Milli Jam was the ingredient as well as the feature because Jay was indisposed. The mood on the show was good, mainly because Arsenal had won away to Manchester City for the first time in years. MJ and I are both staunch Gooners!

Mirriam told listeners that the first time she'd been on our show it had been to talk about Feeling Africa's lodge in North Luangwa National Park. "Do you still have the lodge?" Wondered Milli Jam, and Mirriam confirmed that they did, but at the moment it was closed due to the rains. "So tell us about the Feeling Livingstone Lounge" continued Milli Jam. Mirriam said that the lounge had been open for about a month and that it was located in Kabompo Road in downtown Livingstone, right next to Livingstone Fire Station in the former premises of Fezbar. The lounge is a restaurant and bar and has a Mediterranean menu featuring mostly dishes from Spain but from other Southern European countries too! The chef is a Spanish national whom they recruited from Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. The girls offer cocktails, a full bar and a lovely lounge area where guests can relax in a quiet cool atmosphere enjoying their meals and drinks, listening to cool music. Prices are fair and they have created an environment where guests can sit around and relax after a great meal. For now they are open 08.00 -23.00 hrs daily, but as with all new projects they are still reacting to guest requirements. Currently they are employing ten people on the project.

The music on our show was good. We opened with our 2015 theme, TINA by Fuse ODG. We featured tracks from James Bay, Sia, JK, Ed Sheeran, Chimz Kelly and Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Our oldie of the week was Salma's 'Overtime' and the prize we give to the first person to text us the name of the artist on the oldie was quickly snapped up! Lucky Felistus won dinner for two with drinks at the lodge. My pick of the week was 'Doing It' a new track from Charlie XCX featuring Rita Ora. We closed with 'Hotel' from Kid Ink featuring Chris Brown.

Mirriam told us that she had been living and working in Africa altogether for more than ten years. Before becoming involved in Zambia she had spent two years in Senegal 'with chimpanzees' and another two years in Uganda 'with the mountain gorillas'. She loved Uganda describing it as the most beautiful country in Africa. She also loves being in Zambia and really hopes their lodge in North Luangwa goes from strength to strength and that the new lounge project is a great success. Single she described herself as 'spoken for by someone very far away". "Spain?" asked Milli Jam. "No!" Replied Mirriam.

Hailing from Madrid Mirriam is a Real Madrid fan. We tried to convince her to support Arsenal as that day's team had three Spaniards playing! She likes soft music but went on to say that her favourite band is Queen! 'Lol' We laughed.

Asked where she would like to be and what she would like to be doing 10 years from now, Mirriam said she would like to be "alive and on holiday with someone who loves me.""Awww!" We said.

The management, staff and friends of Chanters Lodge, Livingstone, Zambia would like to congratulate His Excellency Edgar C Lungu on becoming the 6th President of the Republic of Zambia and to wish him all the best in his new office!

The Canton Experience!

The Chanters Lodge Experience! With Teejay Chingobe.

The Louis Barabbas Experience

Michael Chilufya Sata 1937-2014

The Latest 'Experience'

Late President Sata - Memories!

Free Fast Hotel Wifi

The Laura Miti Experience

Zambia/Zimbabwe Uni-Visa

The JLove Experience!

The Slim Will Experience!

Zambezi 94.1 fm ft Aaron Mertz

Happy Christmas

The Experience! By 'Remote Control'!

The Last 2014 Experience! Miss Anny stars!

1st 2015 Experience!

The Tiko Siliwea Experience

Donation

The Feeling Livingstone Lounge Experience

Congratulations President Edgar Lungu