Conejeros Market Review - Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela
What’s Good:
Unique view of local life, Good Deals, Good Spot for Lunch
What’s Bad:
Can be Crowded, Products are Mostly Imitation
The Conejeros Market is a local market located on the north-western outskirts of Porlamar. It is a huge market consisting of three different buildings: one selling local produce, one containing restaurants, and one containing hundreds upon hundreds of vendors selling different types of goods.
The clothing/goods market is frequently very busy and is filled to the brim with many locals selling everything from clothing, shoes, sunglasses and jewelery to art, souvenirs and hammocks. Prices seemed to be quite reasonable although bargaining certainly didn’t seen to be as popular as it was in Peru. Our one complaint was that most to the stalls seemed to be selling the exact same things. Although we found the occasional gem of original local hand painted art, most stores were close to identical. There is an abundance of cheap (albeit quite good) imitations of every brand imaginable (Channel, Guchi, Oscar de la Renta, Lacoste, Louis Vatton etc). The vendors that we came across were all very friendly an helpful, and although most did not speak any English a few surprised us.
Although we did not eat while at the market, the restaurants seemed decent and fairly well priced. As for the food section of the market, we did little other than wander in momentarily. The heat made the smell of cheese and meat rather unbearable. We did however stop to look at a small stall where people were picking from a group of caged chickens as to which ones they thought would make a nice meal.
The area of town where the market is does not get much of a breeze and was thus incredibly hot. Thankfully, most of the stalls are under the roof’s shade which provides some relief from the heat. The market is open only in the mornings and early afternoons (until about 2pm). Allow at least an hour to wander through the many stalls.
Also worth noting is that many of the vendors will exchange US dollars at 2400/1. This is a good exchange rate.
The restaurant building is clean and professional. Most of the restaurants have greeters with menus ready to help you understand what they serve. Most greeters did not speak English. One restaurant, closest to the produce building, did have an English speaking host. The restaurant’s name was Mis Junior. The food was fresh, tasty, and reasonably priced.
The produce market is a typical local farmers market. You can get everything from fresh vegetables to live chickens. As the market is a fair distance away we haven’t had the opportunity to shop for produce here.
See the rest of our photos of
Conejeros Market.