 Nestled between the village of Chouazelle and the town of Souffre lies the Fondue estate. This estate boasts over 135 acres of land. In addition, it possesses a wide range of natural, cultural and historical resources which makes it a valuable site. But what really makes this place so interesting? Let's go ahead and find out. My father acquired the estate in 1979. We bought it from the Delay family. Mr. Delay was the director of the Mancey at the time. And he was getting old. His children were not interested. So he decided to sell it to my father. When we first took it over, the whole place was run down in terms of nothing was happening on the estate. The coco trees were dying, you know, the citrus. So we had to rehabilitate it, you know, get new coco plants, replant a lot of citrus. And basically, we have brought it back to where it is today. This estate, we have everything. I mean, there's coco, there's citrus, there's coconuts, there's mango. And maybe you will find it, you know. I mean, most fruits you can think of, that is indigenous and most of you will find it here. What I have since then, what we have since then, is we are putting a lot of flowers ourselves. Well, as you know, we live here and I like flowers, my wife loves flowers. So we've done a lot in terms of the landscaping. And I think, generally, we also have, I think, most of the varieties of flowers that you find in the country also. In fact, our aim basically in the future, in the long run, is to have a nice botanical garden. I think the place lends itself to that. The estate house was built in 1864. So it's an old house. We are very lucky to have been able to preserve it. As you can see, most of the lumber is original. Most of the galvanized is original. And if you can see the way the house was built, you can see that is in the time of the friends. That's how they built these houses. Everything is separate. The bathroom is separate to the house. The kitchen is separate to the house. The rooms are separate. So it's a bit of luck. I mean, there are very few of these houses left in the country. Very few. We have the famous battle of rabble between the brigands and the English. It was actually fought here, right at Fondo. And we have ruins to show where the brigands actually ambushed the English. So we have done, and I think that is important because that's an important piece of history in this country's history. Because that was important in terms of the brigands winning the English. That was the first time they had actually fought them by themselves and won. The brigands, better known as the freedom fighters, would hide in the hills so as to force the Europeans to come up there and find them. This put the freedom fighters in a more strategic position as the Europeans were not familiar with the territory. This allowed the freedom fighters to defeat the Europeans. Lately, with the decline in returns from agriculture, it has become necessary for agriculturalists to diversify. The closure of the copper factory, it became hard to sustain the estate only on purpose. As a consequence of that, it is felt that tourism is the way to go. The marriage of agriculture and tourism allowed for the estate to be managed on a sustainable basis. When we realized that it was becoming interesting and people were beginning to enjoy it, then the heritage people came in. They loved the site, they felt it was the sort of thing that they were looking for and tourists were looking for as you know now in the age of equal tourism. So the Ford Hair lends itself to that sort of tourism. The development of the tourism product is one of the areas of assistance provided by the San Lucia Heritage Tourism Unit. Fondue is certainly a beneficiary of this unit. In fact, tourists are sent to Fondue by the unit on a regular basis. We got a lot of technical help from them. Number one, they came in and they advised us what to do in terms of the trails. They helped us with putting in the trails. They helped us with the history through Robert Devo. They also helped us with our marketing. And they also helped us financially with brochures. Well, for instance, we've just built a small restaurant. They have helped us with that. Again, I just got a letter informing me that the heritage now will help me also with some funds to do some more marketing. So they have been very, very instrumental in the whole thing coming through. I'm not sure that I could have done it without them. Ford due estate seeks to imply people from the surrounding communities. Fourteen persons altogether are employed at the estate. However, plans are afoot to employ more persons from the community. As much as there are plans to develop the tourism aspect of the estate, the agricultural side of development will not be neglected. I would like to see it develop more into an agricultural estate. As much as I like the tourism, but I believe in agriculture. I think agriculture in the long run will be our sustainability. If you want to visit Ford due estate, just make an enquiry at the San Lucia Heritage Tourism Unit or simply take a drive to Souffre. It is merely five minutes away from the Souffre town and can be sighted by the San Lucia Heritage Tourism site sign. Don't miss the experience.