Corumba

Introduction

Corumba is a city in the central west of Brazil, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. It's the main gateway to the southern Pantanal and there are dozens of trips, both budget as well as top-end, to choose from. It's also the border town with Bolivia and there are trains on the other side of the border to Santa Cruz.

Getting There

Corumba Airport (CMG) is only about 3 kilometres from the city centre. There are flights to/from Campo Grande only, with TRIP.

Corumbá is just across the river from the Bolivian border town of Puerto Quijarro which again is not far away from Puerto Suarez.

The Bolivian Fronteira (border) is served by taxis on the Bolivian side. Typically a taxi from the train station to the Fronteira/Immigration costs about 5 bolivianos per person and takes around 5 minutes. Be prepared to share your taxi with other travellers. Bolivian Immigration is located on the border from which it is a short (100 yards) walk across the border to the Brazilian buses and taxis.

The Brazilian Fronteira is served by taxis, motos and the city bus. A taxi to the center of Corumbá will cost you R$20-25. The bus runs once an hour, at 45 minutes past the hour from the Fronteira and 15 minutes past the hour to the Fronteira. The cheapest cikets are from the cafeteria next to the bus stop. Double the price on the bus.

Brazilian Immigration is no longer in the bus station, you can catch the bus from the center which is destined for "Fronteira". The immigration is now at the border. Be advised that the immigration office on the Brazilian side closes at 13:00 on a Sunday and you cannot exit until getting stamped. Queues can be very long.

There are connections by bus to Campo Grande (5 hours), São Paulo (20 hours) and Rio de Janeiro (25 hours).

Getting Around

If you're staying in the center of Corumbá, everything is walkable, with the exception of "O Cristo" which is on a hill that overlooks the city. The bus for "El Cristo" will take you close to the steps which lead to the top where you can have a view of the town.

Prepaid bus tickets are freely available from people in or outside the bus stations (These people do not work for the bus companies) This is the preferred method of buying tickets for the bus. Typically these are a gold colored plastic coins but more they have introduced paper tickets. These tickets can also be used in many small corner shops to buy goods just as you would use money. It is advisable to check what their exchange rate is first.

If you need to get out of the center then a common method of transport is the moto taxi. You need to know where you want to go and can go a modest distance for R$1-2.

From the main coach station there are regular buses daily to Campo Grande and São Paulo; these are served mainly by Andorinha.

Eat

Food in Corumbá is inexpensive. There are several pizza and barbecue restaurants around town.

Drink

The night can start in the Marechal Rondon Ave, filled with bars, beer places and restaurants. Don't miss a stop at the mirantes to see the moon reflected on the waters of the Paraguay River.

Sleep

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafes (Lan houses) are increasingly common, and even small towns often have at least one spot with more or less decent connections.
An increasing number of hotels, airports and shopping malls also offer hotspots for Wi-Fi with your laptop computer or of course smartphone. Sometimes it is free, sometimes you need to register and there is a time limite and sometimes you need to pay a small amount for (day) use.

Phone

See also International Telephone Calls

The country calling code to Brazil is: 55. To make an international call from , the code is: 0014. All cities use the following emergency numbers: 190 (police), 192 (medical) and 193 (fire department). However, if you dial 911 or 112 while in Brazil, you will be redirected to the police.
Brazil uses two-digit area codes, and phone numbers are eight digits long. Numbers beginning with digits 2 to 5 are land lines, while eight-digit numbers beginning with digits 6 to 9 are mobile phones.

Public payphones use disposable prepaid cards, which come with 20, 40, 60 or 75 credits. The discount for buying cards with larger denominations is marginal. Phone booths are nearly everywhere, and all cards can be used in all booths, regardless of the owner phone company. Cards can be bought from many small shops, and almost all news agents sell them.

Brazil has 4 national mobile operators: Vivo (Telefónica Group), Claro (Telmex/América Móvil Group), OI and TIM (Telecom Italia Group), all of them running GSM and HSDPA/HSPA+ networks. Pay-as-you-go (pré-pago) SIM cards for GSM phones are widely available in places like newsstands, drugstores, supermarkets, retail shops, etc.

Post

Correios is the national postal service of Brazil. It is a government run postal service and overseen by the Brazilian Ministry of Communications. Post offices are generally open from Monday to Friday from 09:00am to 5:00pm, although post offices located in shopping malls have their own opening hours, usually from 10:00am to 10:00pm. There are no set opening hours at weekends and as post office owners can choose when to open and close. More and more post offices are open until 1:00pm on Saturdays though. You can check things at the nearest post office.

Sending postcards, letters and parcels is a rather straightforward process and services are reliable, though not overly fast when sending post internationally, mostly taking about a week to the USA and Europe, and there is a track-and-trace service for this as well. Domestically, there are both next day as well as more expensive same day delivery options. Stamps are available at post offices, as well as some kiosks or other places where they sell postcards.

For sending packages internationally, you can also used competitively priced private companies like TNT, UPS or DHL. They are generally much quicker and not much more expensive.

External Links