Africa
Axel and Ario Drioli
When Ario’s phone buzzes on a dark February night, he hears his brother’s excited plea: “Join me in Africa to follow the birds’ migration!”
When the two brothers hit the road, they trade comforts for adventure and are driven by a passion to bring the lives of birds to communities along their route. Facing rugged landscapes, they know they can’t turn back — and their journey has only just begun.
The phone buzzes on the coffee table on a dark February evening. Once the call ends, Ario excitedly fills in a new notebook with ideas. His brother’s voice still ringing in his ears.
“Ario, you have to come with me to Africa to follow birds on their migration. You’re the only one I trust and there’s no one I’d rather go with. We’re going to bring the incredible life of birds to people!”
“Erm… OK!”
“That’s how our journey started with ‘Sounding Wild’” Axel says with a smile.
Two brothers from Italy; Axel, a sound designer and engineer and Ario, a graphic designer and photographer, packed up their lives into two vehicles and headed for West Africa to follow birds on their epic migration. Their journey has had a few bumps along the way, but their mission to bring a passion for birds to small communities has become a grand adventure.
“We started our journey in 2022 and since then, we’ve travelled to Spain, Portugal, Germany, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea-Conakry and Sierra Leone. Whilst in these amazing places, we find, photograph, video and record audio of migrating birds. We then bring Virtual Reality headsets and 10 loudspeaker systems to schools, universities, camping sites and villages along the migration route and help people understand the birds around them.”
Not only do Axel and Ario take high-quality pictures and videos of the birds and record sounds, they also make local communities part of the process. Each time they stop along their route, they make a dedicated story about the area. This helps locals and people across the world gain a deeper connection with the wildlife around them.
Ario chips in, “I was studying at university in Brescia (Italy) to become a Graphic Designer in a city and I was finishing my final project. I felt stuck, so out of touch with nature and my studies began to stop making sense to me. After the call with Axel, I felt so clear. It took me three seconds to decide that yes, I’d love to join him! It’s a great pairing, I’m the eyes, he’s the ears.
“His hearing is almost supernatural, he’s able to hear a Long-tailed Tit from miles away and I’m still astounded at how he hears it!” Ario states.
Axel returns the compliment with enthusiasm, “His eyes are amazing, he can recognise the shapes of the birds better than I can, I’ll ask ‘Is that a Buzzard?’ and he’ll say ‘No, that’s a Bonelli’s Eagle!’
“Before we set off on our journey through Africa, we did a three-months test phase in the summer of 2022 in Europe. We wanted to build up credibility, a good workflow and a good story. At the end of this trial phase, we were really happy with what we achieved. We were keen to develop the project further and get some sponsorships so we could work out a budget”.
“We proposed the project to a couple of important collaborators and clients but we got rejected. Quite a few times. It was in these moments where Axel and I doubted ourselves. They told us the project wasn’t complete, that it wasn’t strong enough. It was really painful and discouraging, but we knew we were on the right track, we didn’t know anyone who had done something remotely similar. We had to persevere and craft our story so we could see this work completed.”
Ario beams as he described a real turning point. “The turning point was the Global Birdfair 2023. We were introduced to so many people; Penny and Tim gave us an awesome platform where we could share our work. We left Global Birdfair with international sponsorships from Zeiss, Benro, Saramonic and Tenba, plus a contract with Zoom Recorders!
“Before leaving for Africa in September 2023, we signed our first client contract with Soundly, and from there, it’s history! We’re grateful for everyone who believes in us; family, friends, sponsors and clients. We are determined to showcase the best stories and experiences we can create and to bring everyone we meet closer to nature.
When asked for a particular moment when they felt their mission was succeeding, both brothers smile.
“One of the moments that showed us we were on the right path was when we were in Catalonia in Northern Spain. Part of our mission is to engage with people that are not into nature and we use the virtual reality headsets as a bridge,” says Axel.
“A teenage girl took off the headset after she saw the video we made of local birds and I asked her, ‘What was your favourite bird?’ She was so excited about the Barn Swallows, describing how pretty they were. When she asked where we had found them, we pointed to a small shed. She hadn’t realised that they were the same birds that fly to a nest just above where she does her dishes!
“Ario and I were there for a few more days and every time she saw us she’d tell us what she’d seen the Swallows do. I think we left her with a greater appreciation for nature, and she’ll now think of Swallows each time she does her dishes!”
Ario, eyes gazing up, smiles. “Like that teenage girl, Axel and I spent our youth around nature, but we had no real knowledge of it. We grew up in a semi-rural part of Italy in a house with a big garden. We’d be climbing trees, running around, playing with friends, but we weren’t interested in nature, no one around us was. I think that the natural part of our lives has started now because we missed it in our youth.
“There was a big forest near our home and we used to play there as kids. To be honest, when we were kids, we thought that nature was boring, we’d say, ‘do we have to go outside? There’s nothing to do!’”
...in the car, you have the driver seat and all your stuff on the passenger seat and in the back. It’s a really minimalistic way to travel!”
“We’ve walked back around that same forest as adults; with familiar black pines, re-visited some trees we once climbed and followed the tiny footpaths we once took. The forest hasn’t changed, we’ve just grown up and now appreciate it more. We now revisit these old places with a new set of eyes and ears to find species we didn’t see. We’ve found so many Blackbirds and Jays, their sounds were so familiar to us then but we didn’t know what they were. We also spotted a Golden Oriole not far from our home! We totally missed this as kids,” exclaimed Ario.
“It’s not all Golden Orioles and flashy birds, all birds are cool, even House Sparrows, a common bird in many places in Europe. Though, like our Golden Oriole, there’s so many unexpected things, like Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eaters beside the toilet block of our campsite in Mauritania!” Say’s Axel.
“We each have a 4×4 vehicle and they transport us and our equipment across Africa. They’re such a great advantage as we can sleep in them and drive off if we have any annoying neighbours!” Axel laughs.
“They’ve taken us a while to adapt to,” says Ario. “Having a house to go home to, a shower to scrub in and to be in a real bed is such a luxury. Having a kitchen is such a comfort but in the car, you have the driver seat and all your stuff on the passenger seat and in the back. It’s a really minimalistic way to travel!”
“One of the most difficult moments of our journey was in Mauritania, November 2023. To record and film birds in Banc d’Arguin, you need filming permits which can take a few days to process. So whilst we waited for this to arrive, Ario and I travelled to the national park a few hours drive away to scope out the best birding spots”
“Banc d’arguin is very remote and on Mauritania’s coast where the Sahara meets the Atlantic Ocean. It takes almost six hours to drive to the entrance and then another two hours off road in the sand to reach the actual park. The infrastructure there is limited and has no internet, except the main building which we could access a few times a day. We struggled with having limited food and no service, but luckily there was drinking water.”
Ario’s smile fades a little… “To check if we received the filming permit, we had to deal with the chief of the department, a guy who clearly didn’t like us. We felt really unwelcome and it made the whole situation a bit unpleasant. The other people were nice, but he really tried his best to delay our filming permit which meant we couldn’t work.”
“A few days became a week… One week became two… All the while, we were watching these incredible moments of these birds for nearly two weeks but were unable to film or record any of it! There were millions of birds doing their beautiful murmurations in front of us, all day, every day but without our filming permits, we couldn’t capture any of it. We didn’t want to risk filming these birds without permission. And on top of this, we only had mostly rice and sardines to eat with no water for showers. Let’s say you get used to the situation.”
“Finally, after two weeks of waiting, the permit eventually arrived. It took us only a week to gather the footage and recordings we needed, then we were very ready to get back to civilization…”
Axel laughs, “After three weeks in the desert, we went to a camping site to wash ourselves and our clothes. As Ario took off his trousers he burst out laughing. He couldn’t believe how they could almost stand up on their own because of how dry and dirty they were! It was such a memorable, incredible experience which we would definitely do again, but maybe we’ll bring more water for washing next time…”
“We’ve had a few technical problems with the suspensions of the car because it’s an older vehicle. This trip is certainly teaching me lots about how to fix cars… Also, Axel and I are still learning really, we’re always expanding on our knowledge of birds, their songs, ID features and also how to improve the work we do.”
“When I think back to when I got the call from my brother, it was crazy how a dark and cold February day turned so warm and bright. That light hasn’t stopped, and our next locations will bring us more sunshine as we head into Senegal and The Gambia and we’ll continue until we reach South Africa!” exclaims Ario.
“The thing that really keeps us inspired is that it’s a never ending journey of migration, for both the birds and for us.”
You can follow Axel and Ario’s journey by heading to their website and keep up to date.
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