Coming to Ajijic next week have some questions

[Lost Dog]

I am coming to Lakeside next week for a 7 days. This is my first time visiting and coming alone to explore the area. Will bring my wife after checking some things before she visits with me. 

How is the dengue thing going? 

I can bring a 2oz pump bottle of Maxi Deet on the plane but that doesn't seem like enough. Any advice on where and what to get after arrival?

I have purchased some pesos here but probably not enough to carry me through. Can I use my Bank America Debit Card somewhere to replenish funds? 

If for some reason the Debit Card gets lost or eaten by the ATM can I use my Visa credit card to get pesos?

I travel light just bringing the minimum stuff in a carry-on back pack. I have been checking the weather and it looks like it is still raining frequently. Do I need to bring some kind of rain jacket? During short and light rain here in California I generally just ignore the rain and go on without wearing any rain stuff.

Any other tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

 

 

 

 

[dichosalocura]

Yes, we are still getting a little rain, last week it was dry all week, Saturday evening we got a good drizzle, and early this morning we got a heavy rain.  The rains are much less now, and the weather is fairly cool and springlike now.  I use BOA also, I've never had a card lost in an atm machine here, but to be safe, I opened up two different accounts before I moved down so I would get two separate cards (just in case I lost one),  and I just switch money back and forth between them on-line.  I use the Santander ATM in Chapala and the Scotia ATM between Walmart and Dominoes, both are affiliated with BOA and are free of charges.  And regarding dengue, of course dengue is to be avoided at all costs and it ain't fun, but I had it this summer and many Mexicans I've talked to have also gotten it this season.  Most people have said that it just feels like a bad case of the flu and it generally lasts from a week or a little longer.  You want to try to not get it, but if you get it, its in most cases not too terrifying, its not as bad as getting yellow fever or someother terrifing tropical disease.

[tomgates]

2 oz of Deet should cover you for a short visit. I have been using my debit card from my US Brokerage Co for 10 years with zero problems. Use the Bancomer ATM on the south side of the plaza in Ajijic, the HSBC bank atm's in Centro Laguna or the CI Banco also in Centro Laguna (that is opposite Walmart and where one of the movie theater's and also the Casino)

It is raining at night and clearing up by 8am into the evening. Perfect weather. Dengue mosquitos bite during the day and they are a reddish color( I have yet to see one), not like the black kind most of us know who bite in the evening. Sturdy shoes for the uneven surfaces. Long pants for evening. Good brimmed hat for walking during the daytime, like a Panama hat. The sun is intense at 5200 feet elevation. There are a couple ATM's as you exit immigration, near where you buy a ticket for a taxi. The fare to Ajijic is $420p. 

 

[tomgates]

Oh, make sure to call your bank or brokerage and let them know you will be in Mexico and have them raise your daily cash withdrawal limits. The most I can get in one transaction is $7000p and the fee to the ATM bank is $18-33p. Make sure YOUR bank or broker doesn't have a fee on top of that. Also call your bank that issues your Visa or MC and find our if there is a foreign transaction fee. Amex charges 2.7% btw. 

[Lost Dog]

Thanks for the replies. Took care of the banking stuff, got the daily withdrawal limit up to the max and notified credit card company of the dates I will be in Chapala/Ajijic. Also had Verizon update my Iphone to work while there also. I will have Facetime on the laptop too. Not sure about the Panama hat but thinking of it. 

[mtech1950]

visa card has no foreign transaction fee, others from 1-3%.....

[Joyfull]

Mosquitos aren't as bad as they were a month or so ago. 

[bournemouth]

20 minutes ago, mtech1950 said:

visa card has no foreign transaction fee, others from 1-3%.....

Not according to this site:

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/foreign-transaction-conversion-fees-1276.php

 

[jrm30655]

You can buy Deet products here.  I think I got it at El Torito grocery store in Ajijic but available in a lot of places.

 

[lobita]

15 hours ago, tomgates said:

Oh, make sure to call your bank or brokerage and let them know you will be in Mexico and have them raise your daily cash withdrawal limits. The most I can get in one transaction is $7000p and the fee to the ATM bank is $18-33p. Make sure YOUR bank or broker doesn't have a fee on top of that. Also call your bank that issues your Visa or MC and find our if there is a foreign transaction fee. Amex charges 2.7% btw. 

The HSBC ATMs allow up to $15000, and the Multiva ATM at least $18000, per transaction.

[AlanMexicali]

32 minutes ago, lobita said:

The HSBC ATMs allow up to $15000, and the Multiva ATM at least $18000, per transaction.

Producto	ATM HSBC con Tarjeta de Débito	ATM RED con Tarjeta de Débito	ATM internacional con Tarjeta de Débito (equivalencia en moneda nacional)
Premier	$7,000	$7,000	$7,000
Advance personalizada	$7,000	$3,500	$7,000
Clásica personalizada	$7,000	$3,500	$7,000
Nómina	$7,000	$3,500	$7,000
Clásica Instante	$7,000	$3,500	$7,000
Clásica Advance	$7,000	$3,500	$7,000
Efectiva Max	$7,000	$3,500	$7,000
Chicos	$3,000	N/A	N/A
Flexible menores	$3,000	N/A	N/A
Card Dollar (USD)	$500	$500	$500

[dorisb]

Of course, you can bring several 2 oz. bottles of deet instead of just one as long as they all fit inside a quart-size ziploc bag.  Some Visa credit cards (MileagePlus) and some Citibank credit Mastercards (AAdvantage) do not charge foreign transaction fees.  There are no doubt many others I don't know about.  My other Visa cards do charge a foreign transaction fee.

[Lost Dog]

Thanks for the continuing tips. I haven't traveled internationally for about ten years. Regarding getting the 180 Tourist Visa, I think things may have changed. My last trip was to Ecuador and all I needed to board the plan in California was my passport. The flight attendants passed out paper forms to all those who needed the to be filled out and kept for the return trip. I am flying non-stop from San Jose to GDL, is this the way the 180 day Tourist Visa will be given to me? 

[lcscats]

1 hour ago, Lost Dog said:

Thanks for the continuing tips. I haven't traveled internationally for about ten years. Regarding getting the 180 Tourist Visa, I think things may have changed. My last trip was to Ecuador and all I needed to board the plan in California was my passport. The flight attendants passed out paper forms to all those who needed the to be filled out and kept for the return trip. I am flying non-stop from San Jose to GDL, is this the way the 180 day Tourist Visa will be given to me? 

Yes. It is for UP to 180 days. You will also have a customs form.   They will put a stub in your passport at immigration do not lose this as you turn this in when you leave Mexico. Also before leaving US make copies of passports and such. 

[lobita]

I don't know what to tell you, Alan, but we have regularly (as in, once every 4-8 weeks) gotten 15k pesos from the HSBC ATMs at Centro Laguna, for a couple of years now. Have also tested enough to know that 15k is the top limit per transaction for those machines.

[lobita]

Regarding dengue -- it's worth going to extra effort to avoid, even if the initial experience is only flu-like (and for some, it's much worse). Once you've gotten one variety (there are five) of dengue, the other four are MUCH more dangerous. That second infection is the killer.

[MyHomeSweetHome]

I'm not worried about dengue at all.  Deet is so awful and it doesn't do nearly as well as essential oil mosquito sprays, citronella is good.  If you're going out in the early morning or "dinner" time.  Just spray some on exposed arms or legs/feet/neck  and enjoy yourself.

My husband traveled into the Amazon jungle on the river with a friend who lived in Peru.  Friend was hitting and scratching with his deet spray.  Finally he asked what it was my husband was using and asked to use that?  Yup, essential oil mosquito spray  hands down works better and won't poison you like deet.  

[CHILLIN]

Just to let you know. Suburbaneresos, such as myself and My Sweetness have other options available. We live and garden here. Today I fired up my little charcoal brazier. Needs very little fuel. Excellent mesquite charcoal coals, very hot, not meant for distance though. After grilling a weeks worth of vegetables, you can tong out burning charcoal embers to sand filled mini buckets, or use the brazier, then a variety of herbs to repel mosquitoes. Always as a breeze in the hills. Examples include: red hot (inedible) fresh chile peppers, fresh Lemon Eucalyptus, green Rosemary, etc. The result is no flies- although mosquitoes are really down now, the most annoying are young (stupidly happy) houseflies, pure pests, and impossibly fast to kill. A plague in many of the local restaurants, don't let it get you down, its a seasonal thing. All sorts of very strange insects this year, including psychodelic stripes of butterflies I have never seen before. Life is good up here in the hills, with the the misty smoke glazes of Apocalypse Now, but not the evil. Make sure you include it on your tour, if you need a ride, pm me. I have nothing to sell, but you should know of this alternative.