很多人去留尼汪(Réunion)只盯着火山和冰斗,其实在西海岸圣勒(Saint-Leu)的高地上,藏着一个能让人闻到甜味的宝藏去处。这里就是椰子之家(Maison du Coco),一座占地面积达到7公顷的热带庄园。庄园海拔大约在200米左右,顺着斜坡望下去,圣勒海湾那抹深邃的印度洋蓝就在眼底,这种高度带来的微风正好中和了低海拔的燥热。自2012年正式开放以来,这里已经从普通的农场转型成了集生态博物馆、工坊和餐厅于一体的文化中心。说实在的,如果想深度感受留尼汪的农业根基,这片种满了椰子树和热带果树的坡地绝对比普通的海滩更有说服力。
要去椰子之家,自驾是最顺手的选择。从塔马兰大道(Route des Tamarins)下到圣勒方向,顺着Rue Georges Pompidou往山坡上开几分钟就到了。这路口要是走错了,可能就直接冲向海边的凯洛尼亚(Kélonia)海龟保护区了。庄园刚好挂在半山腰,这种俯瞰海口的视角在留尼汪挺难得。进门之后你会发现这里的气温比海边低两三度,阳光透过棕榈叶洒下来,空气里有一股淡淡的发酵椰香。如果你是坐公交车来,Car Jaune O1线在RDT Colimaçons下车后还得走上600米左右,坡度不算平缓,建议体力一般的游客还是尽量打车或者租车。
这片7公顷的土地不仅仅是椰林,它更像是一个浓缩版的留尼汪植物园。庄园里散落着不少药用植物、芳香植物和古老的果树。除了主角椰子树,你还能看到各种柑橘类作物。对于带着孩子的家庭,庄园里的教育农场(Ferme pédagogique)非常有亲和力,那些自由散步的小家禽和山羊让整个庄园充满了生活气息。走在园子里,你不会觉得这是个冷冰冰的博物馆,而是一个活生生的热带农场。庄园主在规划路径时特意保留了一些老石径,踩在上面能感觉到历史的厚度。
别以为剥椰子就是拿个吸管喝水,在椰子之家的深度工坊里,导览员会展示什么叫纯正的岛民技能。整个工坊通常持续2个小时左右,这种参与感是单纯参观展板没法比的。老师会当场教你如何识别椰子的成熟度,并演示用传统的木桩剥开那层厚厚的纤维壳。随后,你会坐在那种特制的木头凳子(Banc à coco)上,亲手把椰肉刮成细腻的碎末。最精彩的部分莫过于品尝环节,从新鲜的椰子水、浓郁的初榨椰子油到那种像巧克力酱一样的椰子蜜,你能在十几分钟内经历一场味觉爆炸。这种从枝头到舌尖的过程,远比超市里买到的罐装货要鲜活得多。
工坊的高潮通常是熬制椰糖和制作椰子岩饼。当白色的椰浆在锅里翻滚,慢慢变成琥珀色的粘稠液体时,那种甜腻的香气能飘满整个露台。你可以参与搅拌并亲手把这些糖块塑形,等个二十分钟左右,这些你亲手参与制作的零食就能入嘴了。除了吃的,工坊还会教最基础的棕榈叶编织。留尼汪的老一辈常用这种手艺做帽子或垫子,虽然咱们新手编出来的东西可能卖相一般,但这种指尖与植物纤维的触碰确实能让人静下心来。很多人不知道的是,椰子之家的椰子油是整个留尼汪乃至欧洲市场都非常有名的纯正货源,这种纯粹的物理压榨工艺在现代工厂里已经很难见到了。
钱的事得先算清楚,目前的工坊成人票价大约在12欧元左右,这个价格包含了所有的导览、体验以及品尝环节。千万别直接跑过去撞运气,椰子之家的核心体验就是那每天两场的工坊(通常是上午10点和下午2点),如果没有预订,你可能只能在商店里转一转或者在草坪上发发呆。庄园每天9:30到16:30开放,虽然有时会说每天营业,但周一经常是闭馆或者只接受大型团预约,出发前一定要在官网或者通过电话确认席位。如果计划在这里吃午饭,也需要提前至少24小时预订,那顿全椰子宴在当地食客圈子里口碑相当扎实。
如果时间充裕,上午在椰子之家体验工坊,下午顺坡下到圣勒海边看凯洛尼亚海龟保护区是个绝佳的组合。这两个景点之间的车程不到10分钟,海拔落差却带出了两种截然不同的生态美。交通方面,自驾游客可以把导航终点设在Rue Georges Pompidou 134号。如果你是摄影爱好者,下午三四点钟庄园的光影最漂亮,那时候阳光斜着穿过椰树林,拍出来的照片极具张力。对于行动不便的游客要提醒一句,庄园里有些小路比较陡峭,虽然大部分核心区域轮椅可达,但在果园深处穿行还是有点吃力。
单买庄园门票和参加工坊的体验完全不同,12欧元的成人票通常涵盖了2小时的完整体验,包括讲解、亲手剥椰子、刮椰肉、制作椰糖以及最后的多种椰子产品品尝。如果只是进店买东西或者在公共区域看风景,通常是不收费的,但那样就错过了这里的精华。
目前固定的深度工坊每天只排两场,分别是上午10:00和下午14:00,每场人数都有上限以保证体验质量。由于这是留尼汪非常火爆的亲子互动项目,建议至少提前两到三天通过官网进行在线预约,直接空降现场很大几率会遇到满员的情况。
这里简直是孩子的天堂,相比枯燥的博物馆,能动手剥椰子、喂山羊、还能亲口吃到自己拌的椰子糖对小孩非常有吸引力。庄园里有开阔的草坪和安全的步道,2小时的活动节奏适中,不会让孩子觉得太累,是岛上数一数二的寓教于乐场所。
自驾只需要5到8分钟,沿着通往高地的Colimaçons方向行驶即可。如果不开车,可以乘坐Kar'Ouest公交30路或37路在Maison Mourouguin站下车,再步行约200米即可到达。建议下载一个当地的实时公交APP查询时刻表,因为岛上的公交班次间隔通常较长。
庄园内设有Café Coco,提供非常有特色的椰子主题午餐,比如椰奶咖喱鸡,但午餐服务仅在11:30至13:30之间提供且必须提前预约。如果错过了正餐,小卖部通常会卖一些椰子sorbet冰淇淋或者自制饼干垫垫肚子,但庄园明确规定不允许在内部进行个人野餐。
Elena Fadeeva Super great experience with an amazing guide Brunela! Very energetic and fun experience. The only disadvantage - there is no workshops in English 🥲
Alessia Kammerer Michael was an amazing guide! We enjoyed our experience very much and it was so worth going! Thank you Michael for the fun hours and interesting facts
Dániel Kovács Its basicqlly a botanique garden with the main focus on the coconut. Beautiful environment. With the lots of shadow under the trees quite refreshing experience in a hot day. At the bar u can try coconut themed local dishes, which were excellent. The coconutwater was however pretty overpriced. There are also guided tours about how coconut is processed, unfortunately english tours are not availabe every day.
Erika Li What an amazing experience we had! YOU NEED TO BUY TICKETS ONLINE. We passed 2 hours with Jimmy F. explaining us how to open a coconut, how to grate it, how to make oil-milk-flour-sugar from it and its leaves. All the story around this juicy fruit was incredibly interesting and the tasting experience in the process was keeping our attention high. The location was like a little paradise, very well organised and the staff was very gentle and friendly. There are toilets and open sinks where you can go and refresh yourself. There is a small restaurant. Interesting during that day there was a birthday party and a baptism party, so nice to be able to celebrate in such idyllic place! There are 2 boutiques too, unfortunately they were closed when we finished the tour. There is also a botanical garden, some animals to see with your kids. Parking available and free of charge.
Janice Mclean This was a hidden little gem of a spot. My favourite spot was the section of the garden where we could smell all the plants. I had never seen a cinnamon tree or a clove tree or an all spice tree. I was in heaven smelling these plants. Such a unique experience! We had coconut ice cream and these deep friend coconut balls that were super tasty. The gift shop had a lot of adorable coconut souvenirs and sweets. Well worth going to just to see the flora. We missed the workshop sadly as there was only one on that day but apparently it would have been great to see. The birds were cute. The roosters kept having to tell us that they were roosters the whole time we were there. There were quite a few chickens and peacocks a couple of pheasants and finches.