Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul
Very Brazilian, in both its vastness and its frontier culture, the Mato Grosso
region is essentially an enormous plain, home to the sprawling Pantanal
swamp - the best place in Brazil for seeing wildlife, and one of the world's
largest wetlands - and rippled by a handful of small mountain ranges.
Equally Brazilian, there's a firm political boundary - a line on a map - across
the heart of the swamp, marking the competing ambitions of two mammoth
states: Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul. The latter state is marginally
more populous, largely comprised of either seasonal flood plain or open
scrubland. To the west of Mato Grosso do Sul are Bolivian swamps and forest;
the mighty rivers Araguaia and Paraná (one flowing north, the other south)
form a natural rim to the east, while the Rio Paraguai and the country named
after it complete the picture to the south. The name Mato Grosso, which
means “thick wood”, is more appropriate to this northernmost state, where
thorny scrubland passes into tropical rainforest and the land begins its
incline towards the Amazon, interrupted only by the beautiful uplifted
plateau of the Chapada dos Guimarães. The simple road network makes
getting around fairly hard work, but the variety of landscapes alone - from
swamps and forests to cattle ranches, riverine villages and indigenous
reservations - makes the trip a unique one and, for the adventurous traveller,
it's well worth the effort.
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Although a relatively young state,
Mato Grosso do Sul
is nevertheless considered to be
one of Brazil's better-established economic regions. It has a distinct cowboy flavour:
here, close to the border with Paraguay and just a bit further from Argentine
gaúcho
territory, it's not uncommon to end up drinking
maté
sitting on a horse under the
shade of a tree by day or dancing Spanish polkas through the night in some of the
region's bars. Until the eighteenth century the whole region was the territory of
indigenous tribes and considered an inhospitable corner of the New World. A
hundred and fifty years and numerous bloody battles later, Mato Grosso do Sul
might now be developed and “civilized” but - thankfully - it's still a place where
you can forget about the industrialized world and wonder at nature's riches. The
downside is that the Brazilian Ministry of Health recommends
yellow fever
inoculations
for this area.
The state capital,
Campo Grande
, is a useful base from which to start delving deeper
into Mato Grosso do Sul or to explore one of the largest and most beautiful wetlands
in the world: the road connection to
Corumbá
, a frontier settlement on the edge of
both
the Pantanal
and Bolivia, is well served by daily buses, and one or two good
Time zones
p.442
Fishing and swimming around
Coxim
p.448
Trips from Bonito
p.451
The Terena
p.456
Pantanal essentials: what to pack
p.463
The history of the Pantanal
p.464
Luxury Pantanal fishing tours
p.465
Tour operators and guides in Cuiabá
p.473
Colonel P.H. Fawcett
p.479
