PLETTENBERG BAY, South Africa (AP) – They survived detention in Ethiopia, an emergency landing in Kenya and two searches for a British retiree who flew off radar in remote locations.
On Friday, however, the 8,000-mile (12,800-kilometer) adventure came to an end as nearly a dozen biplanes, many of them built in the 1920s, flew the final leg of the Vintage Air Rally along the South African coast and landed in the vineyard town of Stellenbosch.
The event, which rumbled to a start in Crete on Nov. 12 with pilots from South Africa, Botswana and elsewhere, raised money for wildlife and other charity projects with the aim of following in the footsteps of pioneering flights in the 1920s.
The route took the pilots along some of the most evocative points in Africa, including a low flight along the Nile from Cairo to Khartoum in Sudan, past the continent’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, and over the Serengeti game reserve and Victoria Falls.
The organizers, Belgian flight safari company Prepare2go, said the only obligatory equipment for the journey was a sleeping bag, full black tie dress for meeting dignitaries along the way and a beginners’ guide to Swahili.