Situated amidst rolling sugar-cane plantations in the north, the Domaine de Labourdonnais is a luxuriant oasis with its anthurium greenhouse, nursery, orchard and little fruit-processing factory. ?Our main activity is the cultivation of sugarcane. But more intensive diversification in the 70s led to the creation of an orchard,? says Pierre Raffray, the general manager of the Compagnie Agricole de Labourdonnais.

The fruit stroll, as it is quaintly called, is a guided tour, which can be done on foot or on a bicycle. It starts with the greenhouse which is overpoweringly hot and stuffy, but quite a sight. The beds are full of anthurium plants and flowers of varied hues: from the conventional red, heart-shaped blooms to more unusual colours such as orange, pink, white and even green! Other flowers such as strelitzia and amaryllis, and decorative foliage are also cultivated.

In the nursery, only a few minutes walk away, dozens of little fruit trees sit in rows, waiting to be transplanted into the orchard. A pathway, bordered by bushes with white flowers commonly known as coquilles, runs under an archway of tall trees and leads to the old orchard planted by the Wiehe family in 1858. Impressively big mango trees, whose gnarled bark testifies to their great age, stretch out as far as the eye can see. The more recent orchard, which supplies the fruit for the present-day market, has a wider variety of fruit trees. Straight, right-angled roads delineate the different sections of this orchard. On the right are hundreds of low orange trees heavy with still-green fruit under which blankets of purple flowers grow. ?They will not be ripe until June or July,? Laura comments.

Apart from oranges, there are other varieties of citrus plants, such as grapefruits and tangerines. But, behind the acacia hedges, lie dozens of other trees - papayas, bananas, custard apples and mulberries ? all cut low to facilitate harvesting. A halt next to a guava plantation is an opportunity to admire some picturesque stone ruins, behind which towers a badamier tree overhung with glossy-leaved creepers. What a refreshing sight on a hot afternoon!

The next stop is the factory. The factory manager, Reaz Gunga, is very welcoming but strict about hygiene regulations: white coat, head cap and sterilising tray are compulsory. ?The fruit collected from the orchards is cleaned, peeled and reduced to a pulp, then frozen in airtight containers?, he explains. The mix of smells is delicious: the sweetness of bananas and tangy scent of pineapples tickle the nostrils. After the outside heat, these smells are mouth-watering.

Next door, where the juice is sterilised and pasteurised, the atmosphere is different. Four women are pouring a big container full of sweet-smelling litchi juice into the processor. Sorbet is also produced there. ?Our fruit sorbet is 100% natural, made from the fruits of the orchard?, explains Reaz Gunga, pointing to a machine that rotates the fruit pulp to ultimately turn it into the refreshing product.

?We also make jam and fruit paste.? Next to him, a large boiler full of cut-up guavas is heating up. The warm whiffs of guava emanating from it have a very homely smell. The juice extract is used to make jam and the cooked fruit processed into paste. ?We are careful to cook the fruit at a low temperature to avoid spoiling colour and texture.? The hot paste is then poured into trays and left to cool. The smell of the cooling pastes is very subtle, not like the overpowering ones earlier on. The slabs of solidified fruit paste are cut up, coated with sugar and dried in a heated room. The finished product is then packed.

At this stage, Reaz Gunga proudly points out that Labourdonnais supplies ?all the flights taking off from Mauritius,? showing little pots of jam being packed. ?We sometimes export our products to Australia and Europe. Otherwise, we sell to hotels and supermarkets.? In fact, they are to a certain extent, internationally known since they won the Ruban Bleu Intersuc Award in 1999 for their tangerine marmalade.

The Domaine de Labourdonnais is a successful example of horticultural diversification. The combination of eco-friendly activities with modern techniques of production and marketing has made the whole enterprise a success.