The southern Pantanal [1] lies within the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. From the rest of Brazil [2], the main access city is the modern capital of Campo Grande [3]. While Campo Grande is some distance from the wetlands, the well-paved BR-262 leads to the smaller towns of Aquidauana [4] and Miranda [5], where many of the southern Pantanal’s fazenda lodges [6]—some of them extremely sophisticated—are located. It then continues on to the colonial city of Corumbá [7], close to the Bolivian border, which is actually located within the wetlands.
Due to widespread cattle ranching, the Pantanal’s untamed regions are more difficult to access from the south than from Mato Grosso [8] in the north. In fact, some of the best fazenda lodges are tricky to get to. During the rainy season, you can only reach them by chartering a small airplane, which can be very costly (upwards of R$2,000 for a round-trip, hour-long flight).
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal
[2] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/discover-brazil
[3] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal/mato-grosso-do-sul/campo-grande
[4] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal/mato-grosso-do-sul/aquidauana
[5] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal/mato-grosso-do-sul/miranda
[6] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal/fazenda-lodges-the-pantanal
[7] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal/mato-grosso-do-sul/corumba
[8] http://www.moon.com/destinations/brazil/brasilia-and-the-pantanal/the-pantanal/mato-grosso