The Italian who explored the heart of Portuguese-speaking African countries with a camera and a tent

Getting to know the people of a country outside off the beaten tracks and tourist routes: this is the main goal of journalist and photographer Dario Castaldo, SBS in Italian, based in Melbourne. Mr Castaldo toured Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Cape Verde after reading extensively about the route of enslaved people from Africa to the Americas. In this conversation with SBS in Portuguese, Castaldo tells us what he learned, the friendships he made and the robbery tale he survived to tell.

Dario Castaldo with children he met in São Tomé and Príncipe.

Dario Castaldo is more than a journalist and photographer.

Based in Melbourne, where he works for SBS Italian, Mr Castaldo is an adventurer who has traveled to more than 160 countries in search of remote villages, isolated people and tribes, stories and places as far away from the touristic routes as possible.

Mr Castaldo usually takes only a few basic items in his luggage, other than a camping tent and his camera, to record the great moments he experiences on these occasions.

Melbourne-based Italian journalist Dario Castaldo during a trip to countries in Lusophone Africa.

Mr Castaldo returned from his latest journey, the African Portuguese-speaking countries. "I read about the route of enslaved people during the colonisation period and decided to visit Angola, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Cape Verde, among other countries, seeking to meet local people and document how they live," he says.

The journalist and photographer's tent in a village in southern Angola.

He was the first foreigner seen by many people he met during his trip.

"Meeting these people is a gift for me, but for many, it was also a gift to have contact with someone outside their world," he says.

"You have to open up to this experience and let people understand that you are there for the connection. You are a person's window to the world, and that person is also a window to you."

The Italian journalist has already gone through tense moments on some of his trips, and only suffered a robbery in Benguela, an Angolan city. He shares the horrifying experience but does not regret it.

Photo taken by Dario Castaldo in Benguela, Angola, minutes before being robbed. "I will kill you," he heard from the perpetrator.

"You have to strike a balance between being scared of being there and not letting that fear get to the point where you don't want to leave your tent," he says.

To listen to Dario Castaldos adventures and misadventures, click on 'play' above, or look for SBS Portuguese's profile on your favorite podcast aggregator. The introduction is in Portuguese, but the interview is entirely in English.

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