Auto Mercado Shopping Trip

Today we walked to the Auto Mercado (auto market) which is an "American-like" grocery store.  It is approximately 1.5 kilometers from our house and is a good walk along the highway.

There are many beautiful flowers along the way.

And flowering trees.

There is the entrance to a housing addition.  You can't see the houses but the entrance is nice.

They were trying to water the grass but it was tough because of the lack of water pressure.

The last time we were in Tamarindo, and walked to the Auto Mercado, I stubbed my toe--on two different occasions--on a piece of rebar sticking up in the path.  This time I was very careful and found the rebar before kicking it.

The Auto Mercado is in a very nice shopping mall.  They were cleaning out the water fountains but it was still nice.

The store is clean and well stocked with all kinds of food that you could possibly need.

 

There is a wonderful selection of fruits and vegetables.

There is a large dairy section,

sodas and snacks,

and sundries of all kinds.

 

This is not to mention the bakery, the liquor section, the pharmaceuticals, cheese, fresh fish and butchers slicing lunch meat--everything you would need and mostly American brands.  The prices are no more than at any of the local groceries in town.  In fact, they are a little better on many items.  For example, fresh shrimp was about $4 a pound, a two hundred gram squeezable tube of Ranch dressing was $1.50, a large tube of Colgate toothpaste was $3.60, and a fifth of Captain Morgan spiced rum was about $20.

We followed the highway on the way back home

and saw a few other travelers along the way.

Overall, it was about a three hour adventure--but a fun one.