Shop for wood carvings (including giraffe carvings that can be up to 20 ft/6 m tall), copper wall plaques, jewelry, minerals, dolls, floppy woven hats, wooden spoons, beads, baskets, crocheted clothes and tablecloths, batiks, spears, and safari clothing. Also look for thumb pianos (they're called mbiras), stone sculptures made of native soapstone (very heavy, but impressive) and snuffboxes (made of everything from dried gourds to animal horns). Even though Zimbabwe has one of the few controlled ivory trades, keep in mind that you cannot take ivory into most countries.
Shopping Hours: Monday-Friday 8 am-5 pm, Saturday 8 am-1 pm.
Day By Day
Two weeks could easily be spent in Zimbabwe, but because many people don't have that much time and travel to destinations away from the major tourist centers could be hampered by a poor infrastructure, we've prepared what we consider a bare-minimum itinerary:
Day 1—Arrive Harare.
Day 2—Transfer to Antelope Park near Gweru for a variety of game activities.
Day 3—Morning drive to Great Zimbabwe. Visit the ruins, Lake Mutirikwi Dam and the Bushman rock carving. Overnight Great Zimbabwe.
Day 4—Drive to Bulawayo and visit Matobo National Park, famous for its rhino population.
Day 5—Drive to Hwange National Park.
Day 6—After an early-morning game drive, travel to Victoria Falls.
Day 7—Victoria Falls.
Day 8—Fly directly from Victoria Falls or return to Harare and depart Zimbabwe.
If time permits, spend a couple of days at a Lake Kariba lodge between Masvingo and Victoria Falls and/or two nights at Chobe National Park in Botswana following Victoria Falls. If you want to stay at one of the interior camps at Hwange, you'll need at least another night there. And if even more time is available, adventurous travelers will want to plan two or three days in the Eastern Highlands.
