This travel guide is offered by your hotel
Mare-Longue
7 Chemin Forestier, 97442 Saint-Philippe
Website – Tel: 02 62 37 06 36.
Full/reduced rate for guided tours: €6.10/€3.05.
Open daily: 9 am to 5 pm.
Guided tours at 10:3 0am and 2:30 pm. Duration: 1h30.
Located on the very site of the Mare-Longue forest, the site offers visitors an impressive array of Reunion’s flora treasures. A veritable haven of tranquillity and enchantment for the senses, the garden boasts no fewer than 1,500 species, including medicinal plants, perfumes (geranium, vetiver, ylang-ylang), spices (clove, cardamom) and ornamental plants (ferns, orchids, palms)… Remarkable century-old trees, rare endemic plants and other exceptional vegetation take their place at the heart of the magnificent Mare-Longue rainforest.
You can admire them on a self-guided or guided tour with Patrick Fontaine, the owner, who will share his knowledge and passion for the forest, strange fruits, perfume plants, lianas and delicate orchids, challenging your sense of taste and smell to recognize the most common spices.
The Jardin des Parfums et des Épices boutique offers a selection of quality products, raw or prepared from the plants and spices grown on the family farm and its agro-ecological plantations. You’ll find vanilla, turmeric, vetyver root, spices, honeys, jams, as well as eau de toilette, hydrosols, body lotions, soaps and more…