Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tour companies operate from Campo Grande itself, so reaching the depths of the
swamp is fairly easy. The wetlands, however, are vast, so while you can also get a feel
for what it's like from a variety of road-linked places closer to Campo Grande - like
Coxim
, north of the city, or
Aquidauana
, to the west - the flora and fauna is best
experienced off-road.
The south of the state is home to the beautiful hills of the Serra da Bodoquena and
Serra de Maracaju and, deep in the Bodoquena hills, you can visit the spectacular cave
systems, forests and rivers of the
Bonito
area, another major destination in itself.
Further south, 319km from Campo Grande,
Ponta Porã
sits square on the Paraguayan
border, from where there's a two-day overland route to Asunción.
Topographically, and in terms of its tourist potential, the region will always be
dominated by the
Pantanal
, the world's largest contiguous wetland or swamp,
which is renowned for its wildlife. In the past, between two million and five million
caiman alligators were “culled” annually from the Pantanal, and today it retains
possibly the densest population of alligators in the world. This spectacular region
is, however, better known for its array of
birdlife
, with over 464 identified species
(though none of them endemic), and its seemingly endless supply of fish, with
325 species - including a great many piranha, which are used in an excellent local
soup. So far it's proved impossible to put a road right through the Pantanal, and
travelling anywhere around here is slow.
Matto Grosso
is largest city is
Cuiabá
, with a population of over half a million
people. Located in the very south of the political region, roads radiate from this
commercial and administrative centre like tentacles, extending over the plains in
every direction. The city is over 1000km from Brasília, almost 1500km from
Porto Velho and more than 1700km from São Paulo: an opportune place to break
a long overland haul. Beyond its strategic importance, though, Cuiabá's friendly
personality and interesting city centre can easily lure you into staying longer than
planned. Cuiabá is as good a springboard for a trip into or through the
Pantanal
as
Campo Grande or Corumbá. Furthermore, it offers long haul, but simple, access
by bus west into the more remote Amazon region towards Bolivia and Peru, east
towards Goiânia and Brasília, and north, for the more adventurous, towards
Santarém and Manaus. Apart from the Pantanal, other nearby tourist hotspots
include the mysterious and stunning
Chapada dos Guimarães
, and
Nobres
- a
natural aquatic attraction north of Cuiabá.
GETTING AROUND MATO GROSSO & MATO GROSSO DO SUL
There are three main routes through the two states. Coming from the east and south, two roads fan out around the main
Pantanal swamplands in a tweezer-like form: one is the most heavily used road, the
BR-364
through Cuiabá, and the other
is the
BR-262
, which runs through Campo Grande to Corumbá. The third road, the
BR-163
, runs from south to north,
connecting Campo Grande with Cuiabá and overland routes north to Alta Floresta and beyond, through much of the central
Amazon and to Santarém (impassable by buses), and south to Paraguay and Asunción.
7
By plane
Given the distances involved, anyone in
possession of a Brazilian air pass, or simply limited by time,
might well consider the occasional plane hop.
By bus
Except on the Campo Grande-Corumbá route,
which is monopolized by Andorinha, there are scores of
different bus companies competing for the same routes as
well as opening up new ones. Each company advertises
destinations and departure times at its ticket o
ce
windows, making it relatively easy to choose a route and
buy a ticket.
TIME ZONES
Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul are of
cially
one hour behind
the standard time of
Brasília and the coast.
