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The Brazil of Mato Grosso, a state that creates unmatched places due to the diversity of its ecosystems and spectacular landscapes, attracts tourists from all over the world. The land of amazing beauty of Chapada dos Guimarães and of the generous nature of the Araguaia River, Mato Grosso combines the Cerrado, the Amazon and the Pantanal, the three most important South American ecosystems. Agro business is also one of the great strengths of this state, which has the largest cattle herd in the country in addition to its being the major producer of soy and cotton.
The state's history can be told starting with the capital city of Cuiabá's preserved architectural heritage. Founded in the 18th century by both explorers and adventurers who came in search of gold, the city is an open air museum with more than 600 preserved constructions. Known for its busy nightlife and for the hospitality of its people, Cuiabá is located in South America's geodesic centre and is a gateway for those who want to visit the state's natural beauties.
From Cuiabá, we travel toward the Cerrado, an area of Brazil blessed with water springs, caves, grottos, river rapids and the adventure of many treks. Inhabited by monkeys, seriemas, lizards, anteaters and macaws, gifted with clear waters and with breathtaking views, the Cerrado has the richest flora of all the savannas in the world, with over 10,000 species of plants, many of which exist only here. And it is in the middle of the Mato Grosso Cerrado that there is one of the regions with the most amazing landscapes in Brazil, the Chapada dos Guimarães. One of the main dividers in South America is in an ancient soil, which was once a glacier covered by sea and also inhabited by dinosaurs, where nature has carved miraculous shapes throughout thousands of years. The irregular terrain with huge sandstone mountains invites adventurers of ecotourism and extreme sports alike. The place has dozens of archeological sites with dinosaur bones and pre-historic inscriptions found in caves. This is a region full of mysticism, a place equidistant from the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans.
The Araguaia Region stands as a separate chapter in the tourism of Mato Grosso. This lowland flooded by voluminous rivers is located between the Cerrado and the Amazonian Forest. The Araguaia functions as a meeting point for those fond of fishing and for tourists who come to the river shores. It is guaranteed fun.
To talk about Mato Grosso is to talk about the Pantanal one of the planet's most exuberant and diversified natural reserves. Having two very well-defined seasons, the Pantanal suffers a deep change in its landscape throughout the year. It is the cycle of the waters, repeated for thousands of years, that transforms the Pantanal into the greatest and healthiest humid surface in the world.
From December to May it rains daily, the waters flow down the hillsides and reach the plains, making up the basins and bringing nutrients to the fauna and the flora. The vegetation is covered with water and creates underwater gardens. A refuge for fish and shellfish, plenty of feed for the birds, reptiles and mammals, it is an explosion of life.
Gradually the waters reach the riverbeds and with the end of the rains, the dry season begins and goes from May to October. Water flows out and evaporates, and many fishes are isolated in the bays, becoming easy prey to other animals. The survival of many species depends on this wealth since they must endure until the next rainy season. It is worth visiting the Pantanal in both season of the year and getting to know the transformations of nature in one of the richest wildlife reserves in the world.
Almost all of the northern part of the state of Mato Grosso is occupied by 550,000 square kilometres of Amazonian Forest. This is a region that shelters clear water rivers and huge waterfalls. The Amazonia is a biodiversity melting pot. There are 30,000 plant species and over 320 recorded mammal species alone. From the wealth and frailness of this ecosystem, tourism in the Mato Grosso Amazonia is synonymous with sustainable development, a rational tourism that involves the local communities, biologists, preservation organizations and Indian peoples. Ninety-eight percent of the Brazilian Indians inhabit Amazonia. Xingu National Park, where the fifth largest native population of Brazil lives with about 15,000
Indians, is in Mato Grosso.
To visit the forest is to sharpen your senses, to perceive one of the greatest concentrations of living matter per square metre in the planet. Mato Grosso has over 900,000 square kilometres to be visited with forests of huge trees, caverns, waterfalls, blue water lagoons, rich Cerrado vegetation, the Chapada do Guimarães, beauties and mysteries, the boat rides in the Araguaia River, photo safaris in the Pantanal: emotion in all senses. To visit Mato Grosso means to find a progressive discovery of nearly unbelievable beauties, gifts from nature to this land called Brazil.
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