São Paulo/Far South

Far South is a region of São Paulo. It is the largest region of the municipality of São Paulo, and although the second most populous, it is by far the least densely populated. A large portion of the region is covered by forest, farms and water (the Guarapiranga and Billings water reservoirs). For a visitor, the Far South offers options that cannot be found anywhere else in the municipality, like doing nautical sports, watching F1 races, meditating in a Messianic temple, visiting indigenous tribes, and even watching the sea on the top of Serra do Mar.

The Far South is divided in 12 districts, grouped in 5 subprefectures:
 * Campo Limpo: Capão Redondo, Campo Limpo, Vila Andrade
 * M'boi Mirim: Jardim São Luís, Jardim Ângela
 * Socorro: Socorro, Cidade Dutra, Grajaú
 * Cidade Ademar: Cidade Ademar, Pedreira
 * Parelheiros: Parelheiros, Marsilac

Understand
The Far South region corresponds to the peripheric area of the extinguished municipality of Santo Amaro. In the beginning of the 19th century, German immigrants established farms in the region that would become known as Parelheiros. Not much would happen until the beginning of the 20th century, when the Guarapiranga and Billings water reservoirs were constructed with the goal of supplying water to São Paulo. The reservoirs gave the region unmatched beauty and leisure potential in the city. Many attempts to attract wealthy people to live in the area have been made by that time, but they only met partial success.

The real change would happen in the second half of the 20th century, following the industrial and commercial growth of Santo Amaro. Working class suburbs, mostly populated by migrants from the Northeast of Brazil, started to form around the water reservoirs. The growth was fast, chaotic, and not followed by proper governmental action. Irregular occupations, destruction of nature areas, pollution of water, and formation of numerous slums (favela's) took place. In contrast with the South Central, which is a predominantly wealthy region with some poor areas, the Far South became a predominantly poor region with pockets of wealth, like the Panamby and Riviera Paulista neighborhoods, respectively in the Vila Andrade ad Jardim São Luís districts. In parallel to that, Japanese immigrants settled in the farms of Parelheiros, where they founded the Solo Sagrado of the Church of the World Messianity, one of the region's major attractions.

Efforts to deal with the social and environmental problems of the region are underway. The shores of Guarapiranga and Billings are being gradually turned into public parks, which both protects them from residential occupation and offers additional leisure options to the inhabitants of the region. These parks are, however, controversial among environmentalists, as some of them argue that the primary purpose of the reservoirs is to supply quality water to the city and not provide leisure, with the goals being sometimes at odds with each other. Guarapirange is very popular for nautical sports like sailing, windsurf, wakeboard and rowing, and Billings for fishing.

Parelheiros and Marsilac (which compose 24% of the area of the municipality) are still mostly covered by preserved rainforest, as are known as the Amazônia Paulistana. Most of their area is now under protection of environmental laws, and their natural beauty have attracted the attention of ecotourism companies.

By public transport
As one may expect from a large and sparsely populated region, public transport is quite limited in the Far South. Line 9-Emerald is the main rail connection of the region to the rest of the city, and does not go beyond the north of the Grajaú district. The bus network is decent, but not very convenient if you want to visit more than a single place.

These are the metro and train stations located at each district:
 * Cidade Dutra: Autódromo, Primavera-Interlagos
 * Grajaú: Grajaú
 * Vila Andrade: Giovanni Gronchi, Vila das Belezas
 * Campo Limpo: Campo Limpo
 * Capão Redondo: Capão Redondo

By car
A car is recommended to seriously explore the surroundings of the Guarapiranga/Billings reservoirs and the Amazônia Paulistana. The Marginal Pinheiros and the Corredor Norte-Sul reach the north of the region. After that, it is necessary to take Corredor Santo Amaro-Rio Bonito-Parelheiros, composed by Avs. Atlântica, Sen. Teotônio Vilela and Sadamu Inoue.

Be aware that many roads in Parelheiros and Marsilac are not pavemented, so have a car prepared for that, especially if there is possibility of rain.

By a guided tour
If you don't feel particularly adventurous or don't have much time for planning, it is probably better (and safer) to hire one of the ecotourism agencies that operate in the region. They will typically have transport departing from more central regions of the city.

Amazônia Paulistana
The districts of Parelheiros, Marsilac and Grajaú contain three protected nature areas. They are open for ecotourism. Their tourist information center is located at Av. Senador Teotônio Vilela, 8000,.



Do

 * Go to Guarapiranga or Billings for a boat ride, nautical sports (jet skiing, windsurf, wakeboard, kitesurf), or fishing at one of the various private clubs in the region.
 * Go trekking at APA Capivari-Monos or Parque Estadual Serra do mar.

Stay safe
The Far South was once known as the "Triangle of Death" due to its reputation for violent crime. With a combined effort of the public power and of the local communities, homicides have sharply decreased, probably more than any other part of the city. The Far South, remains, however, being the most violent region of the municipality.

Most crimes are related to internal affairs of local communities, and are unlikely to target a visitor that does not get involved with these affairs. Still, a visitor must keep in mind that many, if not most neighborhoods in the region are extremely poor, and it is not difficult at all to stand out. If you are visiting or passing through these communities, it is better to have the guidance of someone who lives in the region or knows it very well. If you don't know anybody, consider guided tours of trustworthy tourism agencies.