Campo Grande

Capital of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and one hundred kilometers from the Pantanal, Campo Grande is one of the points of departure for this ecological haven. It is a flat city, with tree-lined streets and avenues and a population that largely consists of migrants from various parts of Brazil, as well as Japanese, Arabs, Paraguayans and Bolivians. One of its main attractions is the Parque dos Poderes, seat of the executive, legislative and state government, situated in the heart of an ecological reserve.

Campo Grande contains one of the most complete museums of natural history and native culture in Brazil, the Dom Bosco or Indian Museum, part of the complex of the Mato Grosso do Sul Catholic University Foundation. Situated in Rua 14 de Julho, the city's main street, it houses exhibits relating to the tribes that inhabited the region, such as the Bororo, Xavante, Carajá and Terena, collected by priests of the Salesian Order. Also in the city is the Parque do Prosa, a central park with running tracks, lakes, an acoustic shell and restaurants; the Solar do Baís, or Pensão Pimentel, is one of the capital's historical features, with neo-classical facades and iron fanlights over the doors. The city's first building, the Pensão Pimentel was built near to the track of the North-West Railway and was a hotel between 1938 and 1979 before being registered and restored. Nowadays it is a cultural center and tourist office with a bar and restaurant where some of the region's typical dishes can be sampled.