Deep in the
Pantanal

Corumbá's star attraction is the Pantanal. Tourists looking for something different might consider a two-day excursion to Forte Coimbra, which in days gone by was a key to the defense of the Brazilian west.

Mato Grosso do Sul

CAMPO GRANDE

Founded around 1875 as the village of Santo Antônio de Campo Grande, Campo Grande really began to grow when the railway came through, in 1914. The city became the capital of Mato Grosso do Sul in 1977 by decree of military President Ernesto Geisel, when the new state splintered off from Mato Grosso. It is known as the Cidade Morena because of its red earth. Manganese, rice, soy and cattle are the sources of its wealth. Campo Grande lies 716 km south of Cuiabá and 403 km southeast of Corumbá.

There are no tourist attractions in Campo Grande, but because it's a transport hub, most travelers end up staying here overnight before heading out. Like all big cities, Campo Grande has plenty of hotels and restaurants, and gets lively on weekends when the Gaúchos come to town.

Museu Dom Bosco

The Museu Dom Bosco, Rua Barão do Rio Branco 1843, is the only museum in town that's worth a look. It has an excellent collection of over 10,000 insects, including 7000 butterflies. There are lots of stuffed animals, and interesting exhibits about the Bororo, Moro, Carajá and Xavante Indians.

Reasonably priced handicrafts are also available. The museum is open daily from 7 to 11 am and 1 to 5 pm.

For places to stay and places to eat, read the book.

CORUMBÁ

This port city on the Rio Paraguai and the Bolivian border is the southern gateway to the Pantanal. Corumbá, or Cidade Branca (White City), was founded and named in 1776, by Captain Luis de Albuquerque.

By 1840 it was the biggest river port in the world, boasting a dozen foreign consulates. Ships would enter the Rio de la Plata in the South Atlantic and sail up to the Rio Paraná to its confluence with the Rio Paraguai, then continue up to Corumbá. The crumbling but impressive buildings along the waterfront reflect the wealth that passed through the town during the 19th century. With the coming of the railway, Corumbá lost its importance as a port and went into decline.

The city is 403 km northwest of Campo Grande by road or rail. Due to its strategic location near the Paraguayan and Bolivian borders (Puerto Suarez is only 19 km away), Corumbá has a reputation for poaching, drugtrafficking and gunrunning. Be cautious if you come here.

Orientation

The train station and bus station are near each other, six blocks from the center of town. The waterfront is three blocks from the center in the opposite direction.

Things to See & Do

Corumbá's star attraction is the Pantanal, and you can get a preview of it from Morro Urucum (1100 meters). Tourists looking for something different might consider a two-day excursion to Forte Coimbra, which is a sevenhour boat trip south on the Rio Paraguai. In days gone by, the fort was a key to the defense of the Brazilian west, and you still need permission from the Brigada Mista (at Avenida General Rondon 1735) to visit it.

Daily boat tours of the Corumbá environs are available through all travel agencies. An allday trip on the boat Pérola do Pantanal will set you back $25, including lunch. Other packages include sightseeing trips to Bolivia and day trips by road.

Pantanal Tours

Many budget travelers are choosing to go on cheap three to fourday tours into the Pantanal. These trips, generally costing around $20 a day, can be very roughandready affairs—try to imagine boy scouts on cachaça. Accommodation is in hammocks, under thatch or in somebody's shack. Food is generally pretty good, though you must take water, and the trucks may break down. Some of the `guides' are exalligator hunters, so their attitude towards animals leaves a lot to be desired. You'll see lots of birds and plenty of alligators, but the mammals are understandably a bit shy, especially when being chased by a truck at 80 km/h.

If you want something well organized, and riding around in the back of a pickup truck doesn't grab you, pay a bit more and stay at a hotelfazenda for a few days. If you're prepared to take it as it comes, you might have a good time.

Before signing on with one of these trips and certainly before parting with any cash there are a few things you should check out. Firstly, find out how far into the Pantanal you will be going—it should be at least 200 km preferably more. Then ask about the itinerary, and get it in writing if possible. Is the program flexible enough to account for sudden weather changes? Check out the truck. Does it look OK? Does it have a radio or carry a firstaid kit in case of emergency? A bite from the boca de sapo snake will kill in half an hour if left untreated.

Expect to spend at least one day simply traveling deep into the Pantanal, and one day returning. Then allow at least two days for seeing wildlife at close quarters. Definitely insist on doing this on foot—vehicle should be used only for access, not for pursuit. Your chances of enjoying the Pantanal and its wildlife are greatly increased if you go with a reputable guide who: forsakes the `mechanical chase' approach; accompanies small groups (preferably less than five persons) on an extensive walking trip through the area for several days; camps out at night (away from drinking dens!); and takes you on walks at the optimum times to observe wildlife—before sunrise, at dusk and during the night. A trip along these lines will require at least four days (preferably five).

Insist on meeting your guide (or make it clear in writing that you will go only with a designated guide), and avoid signing on through an intermediary. How many years has your guide been in the Pantanal? Remember that speaking English is less important than local knowledge. Someone who has spent their life in the Pantanal won't speak much English.

There are a lot of shonky guides around. In Corumbá they're known as guias piratas (pirate guides). They're not registered with the Associação dos Guias (Guides Association), so if you have some complaint or want your money back, you have no course of action. On these shonky tours, there is a lot of cachaça drinking, the theory being that since cachaça is cheaper than gasoline, it costs less to convince drunk tourists that they're having a good time. Then there's no need to drive as far as promised. Tales of woe with pirate guides include abandonment in the marshes, assorted drunken mayhem and even attempted rape.

For places to stay and places to eat, read the book.

Things to Buy

The Casa do Artesão, in the old prison at Rua Dom Aquino 405, has a good selection of Indian art and artifacts, as well as the best Pantanal Tshirts in Corumbá.

AQUIDAUANA

Aquidauana and Anastácio are twin towns situated on the Rio Aquidauana, 138 km from Campo Grande. They represent the beginning of the Pantanal and there are a number of excellent hotéisfazendas in the area. In Aquidauana there's not much to interest the traveler, though it's a pleasant place in which to spend a night.

For places to stay and places to eat, read the book.

COXIM

Coxim is a small town about halfway between Cuiabá and Campo Grande, on the eastern border of the Pantanal. Its drawcard is the piracema, when fish migrate up the Taquari and Coxim rivers, leaping through rapids to spawn. The piracema usually takes place from September to December; if you're traveling this road during that period, it's worth stopping off to have a look. The fishing (pacu, pintado, curimbatá, piracema end dourado) is good from August to December. A fishing license is required. There are also some pretty waterfalls in the area, notably the Palmeiras falls, on the Rio Coxim.

For places to stay and places to eat, read the book

BONITO

Apart from the Pantanal, the small town of Bonito is one of the major tourist destinations in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The town itself has no attractions, but the natural resources of the area are impressive. There are many caves in the region, the main ones being Lago Azul (an underground lake that's 156 meters deep) and Nossa Senhora Aparecida. To visit the caves, you need a guide, because the caves are locked and the guides have the keys.

Another attraction of the area is the incredibly clear rivers, where it's possible for divers to see the fish eyeball to eyeball.

Tours

Hapakany Tur (2551315), at Rua Pilad Rebuá 626, is a wellorganized outfit. Sérgio da Gruta, who runs it, is a good guy and knows the area very well. He offers several different excursions, including a rubber rafting day trip. Prices vary, but are mostly around the $30 mark.

For places to stay and places to eat, read the book.

PONTA PORÃ

Ponta Porã is a border town divided from the Paraguayan town of Pedro Juan Caballero by Avenida Internacional. It was a center for the yerba maté trade in the late 1800s, long before it started attracting Brazilians, who like to play in the Paraguayan casinos, shop for perfumes, electronics and musical condoms, and hang out in ritzy hotels.

Tripping through the Pantanal I ended up staying over a month in Corumbá, going out on fours tours, so I sort of got an overview of the whole scene—and a lot of stories (good and bad) from the other backpackers. The Guides You don't have to find a guide, they'll find you. They meet the buses and trains at the stations, they come to hotels, they approach you in restaurants or outside the Banco do Brasil (a very trying place to be on the last Friday of the month)). The sales pitch is pretty standard: albums of photos taken on their tours, letters of recommendation from satisfied tourists, and often a bit of badmouthing the other guides thrown in for good measure. Sometimes this last technique includes showing you `letters' from tourists waxing lyrically about how terrible Guide A or Guide B was. These left me pondering a) why anyone would write a letter of complaint not to the guide but to someone completely different, and b) that someone whose publicity consists of telling you not how good they are, but how bad everyone else is, lacks imagination, talent and ethics. All offer three or fourday tours, including bottled water tents and/or hammocks. All the guides know the Pantanal well, they're predominantly born and bred in the area. Most speak only Portuguese, although Corumbá is a border town so quite a few are familiar with Spanish too. Some of them know the names of some of the wildlife in English or Hebrew that they've picked up from tourists. Generally a tour is made up of a guide, a driver, a cook and five to ten tourists. These guys tend to freelance, alternately forming a team or competing with each other. Some of the ones I met and/or heard about from others who did tours with them: Katu—he's the elder statesman of the bunch, he's been a guide for over ten years. He doesn't leap off the truck and sprint around and catch armadillos and alligators with the same vigor as the younger ones, but he's got tons of experience and everyone likes him. Murilo Reis—the second most experienced, he started working as a guide when he was a teenager. He has lived in Hamburg for a year, and in April 1993 returned from London where he went to work with some Brits and Kiwis that he'd met when they were in Brazil. So, although he's spent most of his life in the Pantanal, he speaks very good English and German. Gil Tours—Gil is a smooth character, he speaks English but doesn't usually take tours out himself; he hires guides (who don't speak English). He seems to have the habit of keeping people waiting about without telling them what's going on, but the tours themselves are fine. Tucanturs—the star attraction is Pedro, who worked with Murilo for four years. He doesn't speak English but understands a bit, and speaks Spanish. Great guide. Johnny Indiano—has spent his life in the Pantanal and is especially good at finding nests and newborn animals. There seem to be a lot of guides who've adopted the name Johnny. The Tours We spent the first day basically driving out there, and the last day driving back, which was good because we got a long way into the Pantanal. Sometimes they have trouble with the trucks. It's difficult terrain for any vehicle, but the drivers really knew what they were doing, and they were all capable mechanics who quickly and effectively fixed anything that needed repairing on the spot. They never chased animals with the truck, only on foot, to give us a closer look and then they released them. The food was good, they provide for vegetarians like me, and there's plenty of bottled water. Round the campfire at night, sometimes caipirinhas were offered, but most of us stuck to hot tea or coffee. We slept in a big tent with a very good mosquito net, or in hammocks strung up in an outside (mosquito screened) room on a farm. Before we left the campsite, all the rubbish was burned, or put in bags to take back to Corumbá. We went on lots of lovely long walks early in the mornings, and again in the evenings. It's amazingly beautiful in the Pantanal, the landscape itself is so interesting even without all the incredible creatures that live there. The sunrises and sunsets are spectacular, and the night sky takes your breath away. The main thing to take is effective insect repellent, and apply it liberally in the evenings. There are about one zillion mosquitoes, all extremely partial to tourists. They never seem to bother the guides—one of those intensely unfair little facts of nature! Maryann Sewell New Zealand

Excerpts from Brazil - A Travel Survival Kit, 3rd edition, by Andrew Draffen, Chris McAsey, Leonardo Pinheiro,  and Robyn Jones. For more information call Lonely Planet: (800) 275-8555. Copyright 1996 Lonely Planet Publications. Used by permission.

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Brazil - A Travel Survival Kit
by Andrew Draffen, Chris McAsey,
Leonardo Pinheiro, Robyn Jones,
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