Hello, guys. I am a 21y.o. cash game grinder and I live in Campo Grande, which is located in Mato Grosso do Sul state. The city has around 900,000 inhabitants. Well, what is attractive on this place?

1)PERFECT CLIMATE : It is always around 28ªC. Winter (June, July) is dry, Summer (December, January) is rainy, but it doesn't rain all day (or every day). Torrential occasional rains. No natural disasters like thunderstorms, floodings etc.
2)It is cheap to live comfortably. The local coin (Real) dropped A TON in 2015. I'd say 1kUSD is enough to rent a nice place on a safe area, eat healthy and go out on the weekends.
3)Great and healthy food everywhere. You can find all kinds of meat (except fish) for great prices here, as cattling is one of the most important economic activities of the state. Abundant good quality fruits and grains too. I'll make a post showing the exact prices later if this thread goes somewhere.
4)The city has AWESOME infrastructure on the good areas, with no traffic problems, no security problems, with well defined commerce/habitational zones.
5)Everyone fantasizes about Brazil and want to come here, so I think it'd be a very good advice to come to an average sized city first and get used to our language/climate/culture before trying to go to metropoles like Rio or São Paulo (which obviously have their strenghts, but are ruthless to newcomers)
6)European/american people will be treated like gods here. Less than 1% of the population is foreign, so even if the nightlife here is not good, you can still score thousands of chicks at clubs/college parties(which are open for everyone and open bar almost always, you just need to buy entrance for an average of 15$).

But I don't want to lie to you guys : this place isn't perfect.
a)No beaches. And the nearest one is 1000miles away. There is a paradise 140miles away, though. It is called Bonito. Has some of the most beautiful caves and rivers in the world, for sure. Just google 'Rio da Prata' for pics.
b)Entertainment SUCKS here. There are 3 average sized shopping malls (with movie theather and etc), some very cool green areas besides that and 3 big nightclubs, but that's it. That's why I don't recommend coming if you are really into going out 3x a week.
c)Food in restaurants is way more expensive than on the market.

So I'd recommend this place for people WHO WORK ONLINE and who don't have a lot of money to afford a baller lifestyle. I can help you on your first months if you come soon, but after July I'll probably be gone to Cambodia.

I have pretty good knowledge of other Southern/Central areas of Brazil and will answer questions if anyone is interested.
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Why am I doing this? Attention whoring for when I start writing my blog. No any commercial goals, I just like writing in english, though I know I still need to improve mine. (In fact I want to see if this kind of subject draws attention)

pics? odds of a gringo surviving >6 months?

this is a pretty awesome park(goes very long between an avenue). Lots of people exercising or chilling at afternoon and at night.


close by there is an 'open market', you can get drunk and eat or just pass by and talk to girls (there are some pretty nice non degenerate ones there)


This is a nightclub recently opened, loads of hot chicks (but kinda expensive, 30$ just for the entrance and overpriced booze). There are some cheaper ones, though.


One of the shopping malls. Kinda close to everything and there is even an Outback !


As I said before, this is one of the best cities for a gringo to come by. The main area of the city is 99% safe. I've been walking around drunk at night for years and never got robbed. If you don't go to the suburbs, you are safe. Of course some idiots might try to intimidate or make fun of gringos, but you can easily dodge trouble (or face it if you like a fight weheheh, not a lot of stabbing or shooting cases around).

The only thing I want to warn is you might get bored sometimes, as there aren't thousands of activities (specially during the week). This can be a positive thing if you are broke, so that you'll spend more time at home working.

Can you get by without knowing the language?

Depends what you mean when you say "get by". You can survive fine FOR SURE, just don't expect many people to have fluent english. I consider Portuguese an interesting language to learn, as it is present on many artistic stuff (like famous songs) and is spoken in other countries such as Portugal, Angola, Mozambique.

Good thread sir. Your english is pretty good, i'd say. Any live games around?

3,30R$ = 1,00U$D
There is one poker club. They have tourneys 5x a week and a R$25k guaranteed every 60 days. There is also 1-2R$ NLHE and PLO sometimes, but cash game tables don't tend to last very long. Ocasionally, 5-5R$ tables.
There are also some illegal clubs, but I don't think it's worth to go there as stakes are the same.

I don't think it is possible to make a living out of live poker here. There are some fish, but there are also some regs and the stakes are too low to make any decent profit. I think no place in Brazil has good live games, TBH.
But you can play for fun(make a little profit) and socialize with people.

some pics of the legalized poker club

Cmon man.. im from brazil.

campo grande is in the middle of nowhere ! what kind of infrastructure are you talking about ? the airport is a joke. Even Rio or Sao Paulo airports are a completely joke compared to usa or europe.
This is more a matter of taste.. but humid 28 degress is a horrible, horrible weather..
I highly doubt people speak english there.. at least a considerable good one..
not even in Rio, in restaurants (even fancy ones), the waiters speaks english.. there isnt even english menu in the majority of places..
i could here talking here forever... i dont see a point to come from any country to campo grande

the fact you'd be the only gringo in town is the only attractive reason to come here as far as i can see

40s, which Br city would you suggest for gringos then? The airport is small, but there aren't a lot of delays and it is very close to downtown.

considering the person come from a developed country, i would never ever recommend anyone to live in brazil

why? brasil is very cool and the girls love gringos

brazil is far from the world.. horrible infrastructure.. too dangerous.. too much bureaucracy etc...

most of the rest is a matter of taste.. you may even like 40 degrees with 98% humidity.. then move to manaus..
you may like dark skin girls.. etc etc etc..
but none of this compensate the mentioned above, imo

Agree with you on the English part, unless you speak Portuguese or at least Spanish, communicating can be tough. Doubt that this is much different in any other city in Brazil.
Bureaucracy is bad, but imo not that much worse than f.e. in Germany and tbh I don't think it even matters 99% of the time because there aren't that many situations where you're getting in contact with it.
I've lived in Balneario Camboriu & Florianopolis for about 3.5 years now and the infrastructure there isn't that bad. In BC everything is close so you can even get by on foot or using a bike, in Floripa due to the distances that's not really doable. Public transport is pretty bad if you compare it to German cities f.e., but on the other hand taxis are way cheaper.
Infrastructure in BC isn't ready for the masses during high season, but since everything is more or less in a walkable distance, it's not really a big deal. There were a few short power outages during high season when I lived there, but these happened only very few times and usually lasted for just a few minutes, an hour at most.
Security also never felt like a big concern: Yes, there is violence, but it's usually behind 4a avenida and far from areas, where any gringo visiting usually would go to since there isn't really anything of interest back there.
In Floripa it pretty much depends of the area of the city, but even if you get robbed, it barely gets violent. But def. more of a problem and more widespread than in BC.
To me both those cities are places worth living at, prefer them both over most European cities, even though they might lack in infrastructure in comparison to cities like Munich, Barcelona, Amsterdam etc. But what they lack in that department, they make up for with climate, nightlife, women and other things.

Agreed. I lived in Rio, Sao Paulo and a couple of other smaller cities in Brazil.
Balneario Camboriu or Florianopolis may be the best choices at the moment..
I think, tho, that compare brazilian bureaucracy with german is insane. And you may think the infrastructure is "ok" because you do things walking in BC. But if you wanna leave BC, how do you do ? highways are terrible.. not gonna even compare to germany..
what about the airport.. ? where does florianopolis airport takes you ? from munich (mentioning cause i guess you are from there?)you can go anywhere in the world.. and anywhere in europe for a few euros..
you can basically travel to a different city in europe every week or whenever you want.. and for very affordable flight prices..
and i disagree they make up for the climate, nightlife, woman and etc..
the weather may beat munich and amsterdam.. but id take barcelona weather over florianopolis without any doubt.. same for nightlife and woman (and i agree floripa/bc girls are among the best in brazil, but in barcelona you get girls from all over europe... in floripa/bc you mostly get girls from brazil and argentinians)

All the places you guys mentioned have their cost of living AT LEAST 1.5x Campo Grande. Florianópolis is awesome, but not for broke people

But whats your point ? spend the least amount of money possible till you die ? Better go to Acre then..

the value you get for your money in florianopolis/bc are immensely bigger than in campo grande, so it definitely worth to work more in order to enjoy life more..
also, there are so many other low cost options like southeast asia.. I still dont see how campo grande can highlight in a world level.. or even in a south america level..

rent price for decent apartment in Acre? nightlife?

are you insane? Acre is a ****hole. If you want to live cheap and doesn't want Campo Grande, Minas Gerais or Goiás are probably the best options

Pretty sure that 40s response suggesting Acre was just pure sarcasm related to the sole focus being on the amount of money spent for rent/cost of living. Nobody in his right mind would consider moving there or recommend a gringo to move there.

Don't want to derail the thread, so since I've never been to Campo Grande, this will be my last post since ImRauIn tried to provide some useful info about that city and that's what the thread should be about.

I guess in the end it boils down to what you're looking for. I'm pretty sure that there are quite some ppl out there, that aren't looking to party 24/7 or constantly move from one place to another, visiting different cities/doing city trips every weekend but prefer to stay at a place with rather low rents but decent bars/nightlife away from clubs. So Brazilian cities like Campo Grande, Santa Maria or whatever city might work for them since at least in Brazil you can play poker and even though inflation is rising, at least the R$ is losing value.
Without speaking Portuguese I believe though that most ppl would struggle at these places and might not have the best experience because decent English isn't widespread, but if you know some Portuguese depending on what you're looking for & expecting, it might very well work out for you.
Like I said before, there are cons, but there are also some pros.

@40s: I simply don't travel that much anymore, so lack of an international airport isn't a huge turnoff for me (like I said, depends on personal preference and what you're looking for). And yes, in Floripa public transport is def. a problem, but cab fares are way cheaper here than in Europe and the few times I need a car for shorter periods, I can usually rent one for 600-700R$ for a week. So after all is said & done, cost is less than the time I spent in Munich with paying for a metro pass, insurance/maintenance of a car, gas & cab fares, while obv. losing some comfort of having my own car 24/7 and being able to use public transport pretty much 24/7 if I want to. On the other hand I'm not dependent on metros or trains, that esp. during winter are constantly late or cancelled.
Plus the bus system between Floripa and other cities like BC/Curitiba/Blumenau/etc is pretty good and cheap thanks to catarinense. But overall you're absolutely right, public transport sucks.
Floripa/Navegantes gets me Buenos Aires/Guarulhos/Rio rather quickly and from there I can get to most places. If I'm not in a city blessed with an airline hub like Munich or Amsterdam, I have the same problem in Europe, no direct connections. Yes, if I wanted to do short trips within Europe, being based in Europe makes more sense obviously.
But there are several interesting & beautiful destinations within Brazil or South America, so once again it depends on personal preference. And comparing destinations is also somewhat apples & oranges: Within 2.000-3.000km of any European airport you have a bunch of different countries, so obviously there are more "international" connections available in Munich than in Floripa or even NVT.
I don't disagree with you, when you say Campo Grande (or pretty much any other Brazilian city, if you discount highpriced areas in Rio, Floripa & similar cities) probably wouldn't suit most gringos. But it very much depends on the individual and what he's looking for/demanding from the place he's going to live at. So to me in some aspects you have a "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" attitude towards Europe (while I sometimes still might see Brazil through some rose-tinted glasses, discarding some of the existing problems as minor because they don't affect me much).

Soriano: thanks for clarifying the acre mention.. apparently, you were the only one who understood.
And i agree with pretty much everything you say.. but, imo, you arent taking in consideration that campo grande (of floripa or whetever) arent the only places in the world to have these kind of things..
OP is talking (suggesting) about campo grande to a foreigner like he is to a brazilian. I mean, if you are a brazilian and live in Acre, go on.. move to campo grande. But to have all the hassle to emigrate to a ****ty country like brazil, to go to campo grande is ultimate stupid decision and i would insta label any american or european who did that as stupid. If you will have all the hassle, deal with all the bureaucracy and etc etc etc, and you still choose campo grande as your expat destination, im pretty sure you are doing it wrong.
And, fortunately, i dont live in brazil anymore.. so now im on the greener side, haha. And its way way more green when you actually step in the greener side. Unfortunately, huge majority os brazilians will never have this opportunity, and they will continue thinking god is brazilian and their city in the middle of nowhere is the best place in the world (not talking just about campo grande, but brazilians all over think like that - just by lack of life experience -)

i understand it was sarcasm, but i was still genuinely curious about it.

I want to openly say that I see no problem in people criticizing Campo Grande and suggesting better places. I find it great to have this discussion.
But I disagree that Blumenau/Floripa/BC are good places for gringos. People who live in touristic cities are professionals at exploiting foreigners. And Blumenau is a piece of **** IMO.

Paraná is the best state to live in Brazil IMO

Blumenau, like every place, has its up- and downsides and isn't the right fit for everybody. But that "piece of ****" annually ranks pretty high (4th in 2014) on the list of best Brazilian cities, just like Floripa (11th). Campo Grande by the way also is listed at 32nd:
http://exame.abril.com.br/brasil/not...es-do-brasil#5

Like always, take these lists with a grain of salt since they are very subjective. Some of the criteria might not bother you, f.e. if you were living there without children to play poker, the quality of local schools might not interest you that much, the same with the local job market (the latter might even be considered a downside because a strong local economy, if it were going hand in hand with high salaries, might drive up rent prices).
Stuff like safety/crime can also be misleading because often times the numbers for a city might look bad, when in reality it's not really that bad of a problem because the large majority of crimes might be be drug-related and/or limited to areas you wouldn't end up in anyways.
So your personal list/ranking could look rather different because of this and because such aspects like nightlife or other things young, single people in their 20s/30s might look for, aren't accounted for.

And about the exploiting gringos part: You won't get charged more at restaurants or supermarkets or wherever prices are listed. When it comes to rent or such things, you might not be able to bargain as much as a Brazilian, but that pretty much depends on yourself and your Portuguese.
Cities like BC/Floripa are expensive (for Brazilian standards) either way, it doesn't make that much of a difference if you are a gringo or Brazilian, high demand for apartments is what's driving up apartment prices in BC (esp. in the center and Barra Sul, besides all the money laundering going on, but that would be a different topic), not your nationality.
But I'm pretty sure, that if I were to search for an apartment in Campo Grande or any other non-touristic city in Brazil, that
a) I probably would have a tougher time finding someone who is willing to rent a place and speaks English than in a city that's used to foreigners
b) the number of furnished apartments that are up for rent is probably way lower (and I'm pretty sure most poker players going to Brazil are doing so temporarily, so they wouldn't want to go through the hassle of buying furniture just to sell it 3-6months later. Even less so if you keep furniture prices in Brazil in mind...)
c) a landlord realizing he for once is talking to a gringo (=has to be rich) would increase the rent, he asks for, immediately because he'd suppose that the gringo doesn't know the market and would either not know better or just don't care and still pay the inflated price.