Henning XXV

General Information

Money

The Mexican currency is “pesos” and the exchange rate varies every day, but it is around 11 pesos per US dollar. To find out what the official exchange rate is, you can check several web sites, such as http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Banks AND Money Exchange (Casas de Cambio) abound at the Mexico City airport - exchange rates vary about 2%.

Travelers checks are not accepted everywhere, so, to be safe if you like to use them it is advisable to change at least some at the airport. If you like to travel light, exchange some money at airport and then you can use cash machines (ATMs) in Oaxaca City. Many cash machines in Mexico have the option of dialog in English. As elsewhere, be careful when you use them, do not trust strangers and try not to use one at night if it is isolated or not well illuminated.

Scientific Collections in Mexico

In recent years, collecting in Mexico without an official permit is forbidden, and represents a serious violation of the law penalized with jail. The rules for scientific collections in Mexico were published in the Nom-126-Ecol-2000, in the official Mexican journal.

If you plan to collect in Mexico, check your rights and obligations. This is specially true in some States of the country, where people is aware of the responsibility of taking care of the natural resources and has been trained to request and recognize official permits. The state of Oaxaca is such a case!

Therefore, if you are planning to collect plants or animals while you are visiting, make sure that you have a contact in Mexico that has a permit and is willing to collaborate with you or request one for yourself. Requesting a collecting permit requires time and money, so plan in advance! Foreigners collecting in Mexico require a permit from the Foreigner Affairs Office and from SEMARNAT.