Mr. Mutumbo's Wonderful Fishing Tours

If you’ve been wandering around the shore area of Harambe since the Festival of the Lion King came to town, then it is possible you’ve seen posting for one of the more prominent businessmen in the area. Mr. Mutumbo has posting all along port and cultural center promoting his fishing tours (and safaris). Let’s tour some of these postings and see what we can learn.

First up is a posting near the exit of the Festival of the Lion King, and one which has a ton of information for us to follow. We learn that Mr. Mutumbo not only specializes in fish, a note that will become increasingly clear as we move along, but that he will also do safaris. A typical itinerary is a half day at sea, with the option of extending for a further three hours. In addition to regular fish tours, guests could also partake in fishing, sailing, or snorkeling. For those seeking a more educational experience, Mr. Mutumbo can also do bio-diversity tours. There is a number to contact him, but he can also be reached at the beach building.

For those not in the know, the beach building is along the furthest border of Harambe and serves as the restrooms for guests partaking in the Festival of the Lion King. Once down there, you can find multiple signs affixed to the beach building with pictures of fish and other sea creatures. One of these signs even translates the Swahili words for squid, prawn, crab, lobster, and generically for fish. This is where I’ll let you in on a little secret, Mutumbo, the name of our fishing guide, is actually one of two Swahili words for garfish. The garfish is native to the brackish waters of the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas, in addition to the Caribbean. They are long, needle-like, fish that live very close to the surface. They have unique green bones which discourage many from eating them, but is actually harmless and they can be enjoyed by cooking them in a variety of ways.

As we make our way around the beach building we find the largest posting for Mr. Mutumbo’s, with directions to book tours up the stairs. It seems as if these stairs are always closed when we visit, but since Mr. Mutumbo’s tours start at 7:00am, it’s possible that we just keep missing him.

Mr. Mutumbo’s tours and advertisements create a fun thread to follow throughout the expansion of Harmabe, and it is encouraging to see that new life has been injected into the area of the park. While there are other citizens to learn about in the area, Mr. Mutumbo is certainly one of the more prominent names you’ll see. In addition, his business savvy by posting mostly in English or with translations make it easy for tourist to identify what his business is. This corner of Harambe hold so many wonderful little stories, but if you’re looking for my suggestion, visit early before the crowds arrive for Festival of the Lion King, to be able to truly explore and take in the beauty of the port of Harambe.