03-Feb-2008 -- Allan and Yannick work on a rubber plantation in Itiquira, Mato Grosso, and I did technical assistance there, as in other plantations in the world. We decided to reach the 18S 55w point on Sunday; that point seemed to be closed to a small road, with a small trek in the bush.
We left the plantation at 11:30 AM and went from Ouro Branco to Sonora (MS) on the BR, then went about 40 km south to the Rio Jiquiri ; then we enter on the right side on the Transpantaneira road and drove about 40 km to arrive in the Fazenda Rancho Alegre; the road stopped there, and what we had assumed was a road on the satellite picture was indeed a fence in the middle of the pasture...
We asked permission to cross the fields to the cow boy responsible of the fazenda, and walked about 4 km in the fields until the end of the fence near a swampy area with Buritis (palm trees growing in the swaps); then we walked in a grassland between the water and a bushy forest until the point of confluence 18S 55W , we reached at 16:30 h ; a precision of 6 meters was shown by the GPS.
We have seen a lot of birds, a lot of Pantanal Deers grazing with the cattle, and 2 tapirs ! It was a great day !