Campo Grande

Campo Grande is the capital city of Mato Grosso do Sul State in Brazil. It's a gateway to Pantanal region, and an unlikely foodie capital in central Brazil.

Understand
Campo Grande is a modern, pleasant town of 875,000 inhabitants (2017) that sits in the middle of Brazilian cattle country. The city plays an important role as a regional center for services and commerce. For travelers, Campo Grande is the main gateway to the southern part of the Pantanal and to Bonito, a small town surrounded by rivers of clear waters located approximately 300 km far from Campo Grande. It is known in Brazil for as cidade morena (brown city) because of the local soil color. Its inhabitants are called campo-grandenses.

The culture of the city involves a heritage of native Brazilians and other people of diverse origins (Italian, German, Syrian-Lebanese, Japanese, Paraguayans, and Bolivians, among others).

By plane
Tourists can get a bus or taxi on their way to the city. There's no shuttle bus service, so if you want to catch a bus from the airport into town, there's a bus stop about 50 m to the right of the main avenue right in front of the airport (as you go from the airport to the avenue).

By bus
Interstate buses depart from the to numerous destinations, including Corumbá (5–6 hours, on the border with Bolivia), Bonito, Iguaçu Falls, São Paulo (13 to 15 hours) and Rio de Janeiro (20 hours). The bus terminal is reachable from the city by bus (local bus lines going downtown depart from the bus stop in front of the new terminal) or by taxi.

Get around
Public transit in Campo Grande is composed by a network of buses. Integration is possible on the terminals, where one can change buses free of charge. Some terminals are as big as a bus station, some look more like a bus stop - such as the one deserving the main shoppping mall.

The fare costs R$ 3.70 (as of May 2018) and most cars only accept payment made with the city transit card. If you don't have a card, you can either ask someone to pass the card for you (have change to pay the person back) or, if you're going to a terminal, ask the bus driver to drop you at the terminal entrance, where you can pay in cash.

Taxis are metered. A ride from the center to the airport is around R$ 25 on work days, R$ 35 on Sundays or at night.

See
Around sunrise and sunset, watch out for big birds flying in pairs: those are usually macaws coming to/fro their nests atop palm trees. Smaller, toucans are identifiable by their long, colorful beaks. At night, capybaras can be easily spotted on park lawns and around

On August and September, the blossom of ipês (golden trumpet trees, Handroanthus albus) makes for a spectacular sight.



Parks

 * Inferninho - This park, outside of the urban perimeter, has some waterfalls.
 * Ayrton Senna Park - Tu-Su 8AM-7PM.
 * Parque Ecológico do Sóter - It is the newest park in the city. Projected as a model park, it is comprised of 22 hectares of green areas, multi-sports squares, skate park, cycling trails and a churrasco kiosk.
 * Park Estadual do Prosa - Area of 135 hectares with motorbike trails.
 * Park Florestal Antonio de Albuquerque/Horto-Florestal - A green area of 4.5 hectares with some species of native trees. A prominent landmark of the city, it also possesses a library, snack bar, playground, skate park, and cycling trails. Is located in a walking distance from the city center.
 * Itanhangá Park – Kiosks and a children's park. 6:30AM–9:30PM.
 * Jacques da Luz Park
 * Parque das Nações Indígenas (at Afonso Pena av.) – One of the biggest urban parks of the world, with an extension of 119 hectares. It offers good infrastructure for leisure and sports.
 * Parque dos Poderes – The name does not refer to a park, but to a neighborhood of the city where most of the local government buildings are located, among areas of preserved native vegetation. Although urbanized, it's possible to see some species of wild animals walking freely on the streets and paths at the area.
 * Ary Coelho Plaza, Afonso Pena av. – Its huge fountain was once a stage for grand political events. It is the most traditional square of the city.
 * Praça Cuiabá
 * Praça of Araras (Av. João Rosa Pires with Dom Aquino)
 * Belmar Fidalgo Sporting Complex
 * Praça dos Imigrantes
 * Praça Oshiro Takamari - where the Aboriginal Fair functions
 * Praça da República, Av. Afonso Pena. Containing a monument to Japanese immigration.
 * Praça Vilas-Boas - Known for its fish-like shape.

Learn local dances
On this side of the world, the ballroom kings dance chamamé, vaneira, sertanejo universitário and Paraguayan polka. The dance schools always have beginners courses available, and the first class is usually free (check beforehand). Michel Teló, known worldwide for his hit Ai, se eu te pego! was originally lead singer for a local band playing such ballroom music.



Buy
Thanks to its Pantanal culture and the presence of many indigenous groups, Campo Grande has a nice offering of local crafts, which can be found at Casa do Artesão and in some smaller shops inside Feira Central.

If you're into natural medicine, barbatimão (Stryphnodendron adstringens) has anesthetic, antiseptic and hemostatic effects and is popular locally on the treatment of skins lesions, hemorrhages and burns. It can be easily found at Mercadão Municipal.

For cheap clothes and shoes, the main destination is Rua 14 de Julho (14 de Julho Street). The biggest, most noticeable hypermarket chain is Comper, but Pão de Açúcar and Wal-Mart have each one unit in town.



Eat
As with many other Brazilian regions, Campo Grande is a melting pot of many cultures. However, the elements of this mixture are different from those encountered elsewhere in Brazil, and the city might have an exotic flavor even for Brazilians of other parts of the country.

The culinary is marked by use of manioc, cerrado fruits and nuts (pequi, buriti, bocaiúva, guavira, etc.), molasses and corn flour (fubá). It's not difficult to find alligator meat - just make sure they're sourced from alligator farms, not from illegal hunting.

Arroz carreteiro (rice with beef cubes and herbs) is the typical dish of the region. Chipa, a variant of pão de queijo made with polvilho doce (mild manioc starch) instead of polvilho azedo (sour manioc starch) is favored by the locals over the Minas Gerais recipe.

Sobá, a type of Japanese noodle soup, is considered a local specialty. Good sopa paraguaya, a savory cake from the neighboring country, can also be found. And as an important center for cattle industry, Campo Grande has meat of high quality, competing with the best of Argentinian and Uruguayan production.



Drink
Local drink is tereré, a cold infusion made of erva-mate (mate leaves). Compared to chimarrão, the leaves are ground more coarsely, and might have all sorts of added flavors. Mercadão Municipal is a good place to shop for them.



Cope
The tourist office bus or City Tour Tour Bus on the corner of Av. Alfonso Pena and Av. Noroeste can be very helpful and the staff speaks English.

On Sundays there's very little to do, nearly all of the shops and cafes are closed and streets are deserted.

Stay safe
During the dry season (May to September), humidity levels in Campo Grande can easily drop below 30%. Such low levels can cause headache and irritation of eyes, throat, skin and nose (including nosebleeding), and it increases the risk of dehydration and respiration problems.


 * below 30%: attention - hydrate more often than usual
 * below 20%: alert - avoid physical activity under the sun, especially between 10am and 4pm.
 * below 12%: emergency - avoid all physical activity

To mitigate the effects of low humidity, drink lots of fluids, eat fruits, use skin moisturizer, wash face often, keep nostrils wet or use a protective vaseline-based cream such as Homeoplasmine, and sleep with a damp towel on the bed headboard. Dehydration at initial stages can be treated with homemade oral rehydration solution: 20 g of sugar + 3.5 g of table salt to 1ℓ of water.

The local government issues daily weather reports.

Go next

 * Maracaju - 3 hr away, this town is home to a regionally celebrated sausage, and holds a festival in its honor every April.
 * Corumbá
 * Bonito
 * Dourados
 * Asunción - direct service everyday at 4PM with company Cometa del Amambay. Document (ID or passport) and proof of vaccination against yellow fever are required to buy ticket. 13.5 hr, R$ 118 (May 2018).