Shopping in Central America
-
Handicrafts Market
El Valle is home to one of Panama's largest handicrafts market. Mostly Ngöbe Buglé, but also some Emberá and Wounaan, bring a variety of handicrafts to sell to tourists (most of whom are Panamanians from the capital). If you're self-catering, the market also stocks a good selection of fresh produce from around the country. Although the market runs every day, stop by on Sunday for the full-on affair.
One of the most popular items up for sale are bateas, which are large trays carved from a local hardwood and used by the Ngöbe Buglé for tossing rice and corn. You can also find figurines, colorful baskets made from palms, gourds painted in brilliant colors, clay flowerpots…
reviewed
-
A
Mercado Oriental
Stash your cash in a couple of places (sock, bra) and try to find a local guide for Central America's largest market and scariest shopping experience. But it's so cheap, and probably the only place in town with live hand grenades…
reviewed
-
B
La Democracia Market
For an intense, everyday marketing experience, hit the La Democracia market, up in Zona 3. You should be able to find everything from pirated CDs to a Sonyo TV.
reviewed
-
Back to My Roots
Offers cool handmade jewelry, including silver, amber and other semiprecious stones. The name of the place refers to the drums and other Rasta gear for sale.
reviewed
-
Supermercado Las Segovias
Self-caterers can visit Supermercado Las Segovias, a half block from PetroNic, a solid supermarket with great deals on gourmet coffee.
reviewed
-
Artesanía Nicaragüense
Among the largest of several souvenir shops clustered right here, with the area's incredible pottery and crafted leather items.
reviewed
-
C
Jagua Arts & Crafts
A great collection of art and jewelry by local and expat craftspeople, including some amazing painted masks.
reviewed
-
D
Jaime Peligro
A local spot for new and used foreign-language books and the best Central American CDs and DVDs.
reviewed
-
Market
The big, bustling Market is a fine place for fresh veggies, cheap thongs and much, much more.
reviewed
-
E
Supermercado Romero
Supermercado Romero, a block east of the plaza, has all your basic groceries.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
F
Mercado Artesanías
Masaya's main claim to fame is shopping, and savvy buyers come here to find great deals on Nicaragua's finest handicrafts. Tours and taxi drivers drop you off at the 1888 Mercado Artesanías, a somewhat incongruous, black-basalt Gothic structure with a Spanish-fortress motif, including turrets, towers and oversized gates.
Despite a major fire in 1966, it was used as a regular market until 1978, when Somoza's National Guard all but leveled it. The building, which covers an entire city block, was abandoned until renovations began in 1994.
Today it is a wonderful place to stroll, with attractive booths separated by wide and breezy walkways, showcasing the highest-quality craf…
reviewed
-
G
Reprosa
It's possible to purchase high-quality replicas of huacas - golden objects made on the isthmus centuries before the Spanish conquest and placed with indigenous leaders at the time of burial. The indigenous population believed in an afterlife, and the huacas were intended to accompany and protect their souls on the voyage to the other world.
The huacas were mainly items of adornment, the most fascinating being three-dimensional figure pendants. Most took the form of a warrior, crocodile, jaguar, frog or condor. Little else is known about the exact purpose of these golden figures, but each probably held mystical, spiritual or religious meaning.
You can purchase exact (solid …
reviewed
-
H
Market
San Miguel's Market, west and southwest of Parque Gerardo Barrios, makes for fascinating exploration; it's a labyrinthine journey through Salvadoran small commerce. Several square blocks of indoor and outdoor stands are connected by long, sometimes winding corridors, the sections distinguished by what is predominantly sold there.
Wandering through you will see shoes, machetes, pots and pans, bootleg CDs, electronics, hardware goods, soccer shirts, rough-hewn wood tables, hammocks, a small amount of artesanía, fruit, vegetables, whole plucked chickens and slabs of meat hanging from hooks. In the food section, smoke hangs low in the air and grease-spattered stands, packed …
reviewed
-
I
Galería Namu
A fair-trade gallery run by Aisling French does a great job of bringing together artwork and crafts from a diverse population of regional ethnicities. Here, you’ll find a lovely array of Boruca masks, finely woven Wounaan baskets, Guaymí dolls, Bribrí canoes, Chorotega ceramics and Huetar carvings, as well as contemporary urban and Afro-Caribbean crafts. They can also help arrange visits to remote indigenous territories in different parts of Costa Rica. See their website for details.
reviewed
-
J
Hummingbird Gallery
This gallery just outside Monteverde reserve has beautiful photos, watercolors, art by the indigenous Chorotega and Boruca people and, best of all, feeders that constantly attract several species of hummingbird. Great photo ops include potential hot shots of the violet sabrewing (Costa Rica’s largest hummer) and the coppery-headed emerald, one of only three mainland birds endemic to Costa Rica. An identification board shows the nine species that are seen here. If you’d like a closer look, slides and photographs of the jungle’s most precious feathered gems (and other lumi-nous critters) by renowned British wildlife photographers Michael and Patricia Fogden are on display.…
reviewed
-
K
Biesanz Woodworks
Located in the hills of Bello Horizonte in Escazú, the workshop of Biesanz Woodworks can be difficult to find, but the effort will be well worth it. This shop is one of the finest woodcrafting studios in the nation, run by celebrated artisan Barry Biesanz. His bowls and other decorative containers are exquisite and take their inspiration from pre-Columbian techniques, in which the natural lines and forms of the wood determine the shape and size of the bowl. The pieces are expensive (from US$85 for a palm-size bowl), but they are unique – and so delicately crafted that they wouldn’t be out of place in a museum.
reviewed
-
L
Goodlight Books
Book-a-holics rejoice! You’ll find one of the best English-language bookstores in the country right in Alajuela. Goodlight Books, managed by longtime expat Larry Coulter, offers a mind-boggling selection of tomes: 9000 well-organized books (both used and new) that cover everything from literature to history to sci-fi. He also keeps a worthwhile stock of difficult-to-find books on Costa Rica and the region, and there is a small array of volumes in Dutch and German. You will also find maps, guidebooks and a tiny cafe serving very tasty iced coffee.
reviewed
-
M
Belize Tourist Village
This waterfront complex exists for the convenience of cruise-ship passengers, who disembark here on their land trips. Non-cruise tourists may enter from the street with a temporary pass, obtainable on presentation of an identity document such as a passport. Most of the stores are gift shops, liquor stores, jewelers or pharmacies offering Viagra without prescription. Some items are cheaper than elsewhere in the city; others are more expensive. You’ll know when it’s open from the crowds of hawkers, hustlers and tour agents thronging the street outside.
reviewed
-
N
Joyería del Ángel
This shop has exquisite pieces of imaginative, up- to-the-minute exotic jewelry using shells, semiprecious stones, bone and classy clasps. Many pieces are large and flamboyant; others are daintier with unusual combinations like jade and rose garnets. Some pieces are moderately priced but on the whole this place is quite expensive.
Antigua has some excellent but pricey jewelry, so if you're not flush, stay away from these places, but if you have the cash and see something you like, grab it as you probably won't find the same quality elsewhere in Guatemala.
reviewed
-
Elizabeth Bernadez
Granddaughter of Austin Rodriguez, Elizabeth sells handmade crafts from her home (next door to the Bonefish Hotel), including beautiful dolls dressed in traditional Garifuna outfits, and acrylic paintings featuring various cultural scenes of traditional Garifuna life. Elizabeth also makes jewelry from jadeite, tiger eye and other local materials. A native of Dangriga (‘born here, grown here’), Elizabeth has been doing artwork locally for over 15 years, and is happy to introduce visitors to Garifuna life and culture through the art of its people.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Yaba Ding Ding
Located on the ground floor of a two-story commercial center next to HB Warren, this friendly shop has a surprisingly complete selection of Honduran artesanía, including Lenca pottery, Garífuna paintings, glasswork from Tegucigalpa, junco baskets from Santa Barbara, even some talavera dishes and clay masks from El Salvador for good measure. Also on display – but not for sale – are several pieces of yaba ding ding, an island term for pre-Colombian artifacts.
reviewed
-
O
Garinagu Crafts
With the mission statement of ‘keeping the black diaspora alive,’ Dangriga native Francis M Swaso’s shop is part crafts store, part museum. The shop sells a wide range of arts and handicrafts made by Garifuna artists, including drums, maracas, paintings and dolls, and displays a number of historical Garifuna artifacts as well. Garinagu Crafts also carries postcards made from prints by local artist Pen Cayetano.
reviewed
-
Cerámica Negra Tradicional
Matagalpa, along with Jinotega, is known for its smooth, heavy black pottery, an effect achieved by specially preparing the volcanic clay, firing it until red hot, then removing bowls and pots with tongs and tossing cedar ashes over them. Cerámica Negra Tradicional, two blocks east of the cathedral, offers pieces by Doña Ernestina Rodríguez, including jewelry and tiny tea sets. There are several other shops nearby.
reviewed
-
P
Centro Comercial de Artesanía
At Centro Comercial de Artesanía, one stand - just one! - sells beautiful indigo shirts, hemp-paper products and handmade ceramics. The rest sell tourist kitsch, most with 'El Salvador' emblazoned across them, plus perennial favorites, like the toilet-paper holder with a dry corncob mounted behind a piece of glass and the words 'In case of emergency, break glass' written next to a small hammer on a string. Wow.
reviewed
-
Q
Atmosphera
An upscale Cerro Plano gallery that specializes in wood sculpture created by artists from all over Costa Rica. Several are from the Monteverde area, and the pieces run the gamut of style and function. They’re also priced accordingly, from about US$25 to US$5000. If you fall in conflicted love with some sinuous piece here, may we suggest you think it over with a massage at the in-house natural spa.
reviewed
