Not so happy valley

Simon Barnes opens with a presumably true idea, that we are all in search of our own versions of paradise — a special place presented here as the sacred ‘combe’ of the title, being a word with Celtic origins that describes a steep hollow or hidden valley. These paradises might be real or imagined, exist only in memory, or live in fiction like Narnia or Robin Hood’s forest; they can be unattainable, beyond reach, or ruined, like Eden. His point, frequently stated, is that we are always on a quest for them, and need them.

The particular combe of this book is not on the edge of Dartmoor but in the national parklands of Zambia’s Luangwa river valley. Barnes fell for Luangwa after waking up one day to discover a herd of elephants snacking on the thatched roof of his safari hut. He has been returning there for years, staying at tourist safari camps so often that he has ended up guiding guests and manning the spotlight on night game-drives.