Fast Facts about Mexico

Mexican money: The currency used in Mexico is the Mexican Peso. Most shops in Mexico will accept US dollars too, which may be benefic considering the currency conversion rates between Mexican money and American money. Mexican Birds: Mexico is a great place for bird watchers. There are more than fifty different species of hummingbirds, several types of pelicans and many other species that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Good old tequila: One of the most well known facts about Mexico is that Tequila is the national drink. What is not so well known is that this drink exists from before Mexico became a nation. Several Mexican tribes already distilled a type of tequila on simple pot stills… back in the 16th century! Mexican bones: Northern Mexico has proved to be generous to paleontologists. Hundreds of dinosaur’s fossilized bones have been found in the region from Sonora to Tamaulipas. The voice of the pyramid: This is one of the most mysterious facts about Mexico. If you stand in a certain place by the main pyramid in Chichen Itzá, you will hear a bird-like sound. Some experts think that this is intentional, and that the Maya represented the Call of the Quetzal (a sacred bird) by building several air passages that recreate the sound when a breeze passes by. The ball tree: The cotton-like balls produced by a Mexican leafless tree called the Kapoc was frequently used as the stuffing for baseballs before cheap synthetic fibers were produced The tiny one: This one belongs to my personal top five of funny facts about Mexico. Not many people know that Mexico has the world’s smallest volcano. The Cuexcomate, in the city of Puebla, is only… 43 feet tall!. It is considered to be inactive now, and it has a spiral staircase in side, just for tourists. Ancient tree: Mexico is the home of one of the oldest living trees in the world. With more than 2000 years, the “Arbol de Tule” is more than 40 feet tall. It is a frequent attraction for visitors. The shadow of the snake: During the two equinoxes of the year, when the sun rises and sets, the pyramid “El Castillo” in Chichén Itzá shows the perfect shadow of a serpent moving along its side. To achieve this, Mayans must have used calculations with an incredible precision of many decimal digits!