25-Oct-2009 --

Once again Arão Lobão, Paulo Nery, Fernando Gayoso, the team that photographed the confluence at 7S x 42W on July 5, 2008, gathered for a new expedition. This time they were accompanied by Roberto Gayoso, plus advisors Paulo from Curicaca farm and Roberto from Tocaia farm. After preparatory meetings and studying existing paper maps and Google maps the team left Teresina, capital of the State of Piauí, at 7 p.m. on October 23, 2009. The plan was to head for the two confluences (7S x 43W and 7S x 44W).

The team slept at the Hotel Parnaíba in Floriano, Piaui, a small city only 250 km by asphalt road from Teresina. They had breakfast at seven o'clock on Saturday, left the hotel, went to buy necessary supplies, fueled the two pickups, motorcycles and an ATV, and set off for the first leg of the expedition.

Once we had visited successfully the confluence 7S x 44W we headed toward 7S x 43W, about 137 km journey back through the town of Marcos Parente and then directly on to the town of Jerumenha, where we arrived at 4:00 pm, too late for lunch, so we continued on towards confluence 7S x 43 W.

When the GPS showed we were still eight kilometers from the planned location for staying the night, we faced a steep and difficult mountain ascent. The Gayoso brothers, Roberto and Fernando, went up first, in a Chevrolet D-20 pickup, with two motor bikes in the back and some baggage. It was difficult but they made it to the top. Aaron, Paulo Nery, and the two helpers were in a Toyota Hillux, with an ATV in the back and pulling a trailer with a motorcycle. The Hillux reached the top of the hill a little more easily because it has 4 x 4 drive.

For about three more kilometers the road was reasonably good, but then it turned bad, closed off by plenty of vegetation that impeded the progress of the cars. We voted to stop at 6:00 pm and pitched camp.

Fernando Gayoso was chosen to scout ahead on the ATV to check the road, which by now was little more than a path, and to confirm the existence of a place where we could ask for lodging. He did find Santo Antonio farm, better known locally as the old Tinguis farm, located about 6.5 kms from the camp. The caretaker invited the team to spend the night there. The caretaker’s family warmed dinner for us, which in this case was also our lunch. We ate, rested a bit and decided to go cutting the branches of bushes that had invaded the road way to the headquarters of the old farm called Tinguis. They arrived around 21:00 pm.

At the headquarters of Tinguis farm, we had found Hildeberger, the caretaker from Bahia. He welcomed us, making available the big porch of the house for us to hang our hammocks for the night. He even turned on the generator to illuminate the house for a while and put water into water tank so the team could shower before bed.

At dawn on October 25 we went by motorcycle and ATV approximately 3,500 meters to within about 100 meters from the confluence 7S x 43W, which was reached by walking. The confluence is located in a corner of the Cantarem Hills, an area of great beauty. After photographing the GPS and taking other photos necessary to record the expedition, the team returned to Tinguis farm, had a breakfast of Brazilian barbecue and returned to the capital city of Teresina.

Mike Stricklin was part of the team, although missing the trip, as developer, entrepreneur and advisor on international affairs.