Somehow the most exciting & relaxing holiday I've ever had.

My trip to Madagascar came about after getting totally mesmerised by David Attenborough's Madagascar documentary. I wasn't exactly a stranger to travel before this having been all over USA, Europe and Australia as well as Morocco, Cuba and Antigua. However, I'd not done something quite as different as this before.

After quite a bit of research we ended up booking to go with Azafady through Responsible Travel.

The team at Azafady are so friendly and helpful. Despite the fact that there are only a few of them that work in the UK they are still really easy to get hold of if you have any questions. They send you so much information about what you need to do, what you need to take and put you in touch with the others in your group so you can swap advice and get to know each other a bit before you go.

Once we got over there the team there were just as amazing. They're friendly, fun and so knowledgable. They break you in gently with a night at their campsite in Fort Dauphin which has the luxury of outdoor shower cubicles and toilets. The truck ride from here to the campsite at Mahatalaky is one of the most fun parts of the trip (although I wouldn't recommend being too hungover for it!). You'll find some amazing ways to balance on all the bags of rice, tents and building materials you have to pack in with all of you.

We spent the main part of the trip camping next to the school site we were building. Amenities consisted of a well to pump your shower water out of, buckets to use as shower heads, some tarpaulin hooked around trees as cubicles and two concrete holes in the ground (with walls and doors) as toilets. But really this is all you need. It might sound scary at first but you really do just get used to it. In the whole time we were there there was only one spider incident (I get more in my house in England!).

The food did get a bit repetitive (rice and beans anyone?) but meat there is expensive. Do take lots of spices and stock cubes with you for variation. We did have our own home reared chickens which we killed and cooked, and Zebu (like beef) a couple of times and it was so tasty. There was also a fisherman that walked through the campsite most days so we did buy the most amazingly fresh fish from him a couple of times too. All the food is prepared and cooked by locals (so that if one of your group gets sick it reduces the risk of you spreading the sickess - plus they are much better at cooking). Other things that would have been good to take are some squash and sweets.

Breakfast consists of amazingly sweet donut type things, banana loaf, bananas, rice (of course) and coffee. You all eat on a long table made out of the school benches you will be making and every night was great fun. Make sure there is at least one of you with an iPod and portable speakers and a few packs of cards. There is also a small 'shop' on site for you to buy local rum and beer (surprisingly good warm) and town is a short walk away with places to buy street food. The market is definitely worth going to too.

Although most of the trip involved manual labour, the fact that there was no electricity and therefore totally cut off from the outside world meant it was the most relaxing holiday I've ever had. You can truly forget about all the stresses of home and concentrate on appreciating where you are and what you are doing.

I wish I could go back all the time and I hope to return one day. I wouldn't hesitate to go with Azafady and continue to donate to their amazing work now I am back in the UK.

Other things to do:
- sunrise at the top of the hill (definitely worth the 4am start)
- football match with the locals (they might have just one boot but they'll still beat you)
- meeting with the mayor
- bonfire party with the locals
- stargazing
- picking bugs off you clothing before getting into the tent
- nightly shouting of "malarone' as you all remember to take your malaria tablets
- Three Horses Beer
- buying locally made bags
- wonder why the Azafady guides are laughing at you then realising that it's about to pour with torrential rain and you haven't dug a moat around your tent like them
- learn Malagasy


One final tip - you won't have eaten dairy for quite a while, don't go eat a huge cheese pizza just before getting on the plane home. Your stomach and the person next to you will not thank you.