Hotel Santa Esmeralda

The Hotel Santa Esmeralda is located in the city of Bonito in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul - Brasil in an exclusive area along the side of the * Rio Formoso river, with beautiful waterfalls, natural pools for bathing and free diving points.

Its main attractive, floating in the Rio Formoso which provides an unforgettable contact with the submerged world of crystal waters with a clear vision of the fishes as well as a rich contact with nature.

The Hotel was designed to respect the site architecture and landscape prioritizing the rustic style, thus developing a product for persons that seek the privacy, peace, tranquility and contact with nature.

* The Rio Formoso river with its crystal waters starts in the city of Bonito and flows up to the

Rio Miranda river with an approximate length of 127 km and considered as the city's heart..

Its extension within the Hotel property is of 1500 mts..

Note: In April 2004 the airport of the city of Bonito was inaugurated and the . President of the Republic Mr. Luís Inácio Lula da Silva was specifically in Bonito to inaugurate the airport and stayed at the Hotel Santa Esmeralda together with his wife, the State Governor Mr. José Orcírio Miranda dos Santos (Zeca of the PT) and the entire presidential party.

HISTORY OF THE HOTEL SANTA ESMERALDA - BONITO, MS –BRASIL

In January 1990, the married couple of the city of São Paulo, architect ROGERIO VALSANI SOBRINHO and this wife the engineer ROSANA MARIA GUIM VALSANI were invited by one of their friends, singer and composer ALMIR SATER to visit the city of Bonito and they stayed up in a ranch on the along the side of the Rio Formoso river. They were enchanted with the site, however at the time there was no tourist structure in Bonito.

In July 1996, during a vacation opportunity they returned there with their children LUCA and FLORA, together with a married couple of friends and they were impressed by the natural beauties and tourism organization that they found there. At that time only a few recreation tours were implemented in the city

In July 1999, they went back and this time with another married couple of friends because they wanted to share all what they had found in MATO GROSSO DO SUL. But this time, they came with the intention of buying a small piece of land to spend their vacation with the family Mr. ROGERIO spent a week visiting brokers and in one of these visits has found what he called a SMALL PART OF PARADISE, the lands of the SANTO HONOFRE ranch - 28.6 hectares of pure grassland and a beautiful part of the RIO FORMOSO river (1.500 meters that was for sale, however the cost was beyond the financial conditions of the married couple but taking with his wife who also was enchanted with the land they have decided to buy the land and build a Hotel and the family would live with a better quality of life. During two years they have designed and build all the Hotel facilities, following up all the works and at the end of 2001 they left the urban life of the city of São Paulo to implement and manage the so called today HOTEL SANTA ESMERALDA.

Date of inauguration: 29.12.01

Area of the facilities: 28.6 hectares

Nº of lodgings: 17 units

HISTORY OF THE CITY OF BONITO - MATO GROSSO DO SUL –BRASIL

Bonito has its origins in the history of formation of the Miranda Districts, bound to the Spanish Expansion of the XVI Century in the valley of the Paraguai, as a point of support to the expeditions that intended to reach the Peru's mines. In 1580 Ruy Dias Melgarejo founded the first city of Santiago de Xerez along the side of the Mbotetei river (Miranda river). After several conflicts with the Indians that were living in the region, the village moved to along the side of the Mondego river (Aquidauana) leaving behind only a few families that were living peacefully with the Indians. This friendly relationship has helped the implementation of the Itatim Mission, that was a continuously subject to attacks from the early explorers of the state of São Paulo and Spanish settlers that intended to prison Indians and mixed breed individuals to use them as slaves.

With the discovery of gold in Cuiabá the Portuguese Crown expulses the Spanish from the region of the valley of Paraguai river The prison of Nossa Senhora do Carmo do Rio Miranda was build in 1778 based on an order given by general-captain of the Mato Grosso State, Caetano Pinto de Miranda Montenegro. A small village began to develop around the prison and in 1857 was named a vila under the name of Miranda, and on October 07, 1871, became a District.

During the War of Paraguai (1865-1870), several settlers and ranch owners helped in sheltering direct the troops through the frontier region. And the Guaicurus Indians have participated in the combats. At the end of the war, several persons that had fled returned, together with settlers from the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul and other regions Several families were decimated by the constant attached from Indians, jeopardizing the creation of a village

The Fazenda Rincão Bonito, of Sr. Euzébio ownership was acquired by Captain Luiz da Costa Leite Falcão, that has reached the region with the mission to expulse the Indians from that area. Captain Falcão was the first notary of the region, incentivating the establishment of the first inhabitants of the village. On June 11, 1915, the village Rincão Bonito was elevated to Distrito de Paz de Bonito, separating from the district of Miranda however with administrative subordination It was elevated to the condition of district on October 02, 1948.

Date of emancipation: October 02, 1948

• Area: 4.934 sq km

• Altitude: 315 m

• Population: 15.253 (1996 census)

• Airport coordinates: South : 21.06.57 West : 56.31.08 330 m altitude

• Distance from Capital: 280 km

• Climate: Tropical

• Temperature: 22° (average)

• Vegetation: Woods

• Economic activities: Cattle breeding, Tourism, Agriculture and Mining

• Hydrographic Basin: Of Rio Paraguai river

• Sub-Basins: of Rio Miranda and Rio Aquidauana rivers