Fly Safari to Africa

This striking original vintage travel poster promotes the famous “Safari” flights to Africa, a pioneering long-distance air service from Britain to East Africa in the early jet-age era. The artwork is rendered in soft, sunwashed pastel tones, showing a winding road leading into a traditional African village of thatched huts beneath distant rocky hills and a wide open sky. In the foreground, a small herd of giraffes moves across the savanna, reinforcing the romantic adventure of an African journey. The bold, playful lettering (“fly Safari to AFRICA”) gives the design an optimistic mid-century travel feel, while the bottom caption notes the service was operated jointly by Airwork Ltd and Hunting-Clan.

The “Safari” service was run as a joint venture between Airwork Ltd and Hunting-Clan Air Transport, two of the leading British independent airlines of the period. Officially it was marketed as an all-economy “colonial coach” class, though it became widely known simply as “Safari.” These joint services began on June 14, 1952, flying from London to Nairobi using Vickers Viking aircraft. The journey took about three days, with scheduled overnight stops along the route—often including places such as Malta and Wadi Halfa—until the companies later merged in 1960, forming British United Airways (BUA).

Mounted on linen. There is age wear and a repaired tear at the top, but the poster remains very attractive with strong overall presentation—especially impressive framed. A scarce image and an uncommon aviation/travel poster to encounter today.