Flights to and from South Africa

The "All-British" air route between Cairo and the Cape was first opened for traffic in 1920. They could do this because, thanks to Cecil Rhodes and his fellow empire-builders, the map was coloured pink all the way, [denoting, of course, that they were part of the British Empire]

Some of the 44 aerodromes established for the 1920 'all-red' Route (with present-day country names], click to enlarge

The route had been first surveyed in 1918, when 3 military parties were instructed to explore and, as far as possible, prepare the route. They worked with the local authorities and cut many of the aerodromes out of the dense jungle, felling thousands of trees  - and relocating tens of thousands of tons of soil - in the process.

This is what they achieved:

Pretty soon, people were queueing up to use this new route.

Here are the successful flights, and some notable brave attempts: