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The size and comfort of the SUV made spending hours on Kruger’s roads easy and comfortable.
Gravel roads are no match for the Ford Territory. Picture: Gareth Cotterell
My wife and I love going to the Kruger National Park, but neither of us owns a car suited to that sort of trip. So, when we were offered a Ford Territory, we jumped at the opportunity.
The Ford Territory SUV in Titanium guise was a far better option than my old Kia Picanto.
When my wife goes to Kruger, she likes to take half of our household items with her. Despite this, the Territory had more than enough room for our bags, cooler boxes and other miscellaneous items.
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Ford Territory spacious and comfortable
Driving on the highway for most of the journey to the park was pleasant. The Territory is so spacious and comfortable that the long stretches on the road seemed to go by quickly.
The brakes are very sharp but you get used to it fairly quickly.
Although I’m not a fan of automatics, the gear changes in the Territory are fairly smooth compared to other automatics I’ve driven in the past. I also had to keep checking the speedometer – on a few occasions I found myself going above the speed limit, but it felt like we were casually cruising.
It is, however, quite a thirsty car. On the open road we were averaging 9.2L/100km, but that did decrease to 8.5L/km once we were driving very slowly in the Kruger Park.
It was inside the park that the beauty of this car revealed itself. The Territory is perfect for this.
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Perfect for game viewing
The nature of spending a few days in the Kruger Park is that you spend most of the day inside the car. The ample room inside meant we never felt like we were on top of each other. There was also plenty of space – and compartments – for the many items taken on game drives, such as binoculars, snacks, bird books and a flask of coffee.
The 190mm ground clearance also became handy when viewing game. This was most obvious when a scrum of cars formed next to a hyena with a clutch of cubs right next to the road. Even when other cars were trying to squeeze into every available space between us and the pups, we were still able to keep an eye on them.
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Kruger’s dirt roads no match
The other standout moment for the Ford Territory came when we decided to take a quick evening drive to a waterhole near our camp. My wife decided she’d drive there. The small dam was only accessible via a dirt road. Now the car had been on a few dirt roads already and handled them with no problem, but this particular road was different. The whole stretch was craggy and regular potholes rivalled some of the worst roads in Joburg.
The car handled the road superbly, my wife not so much. I drove back to our camp – while my wife calmed her nerves with a beer – and found the drive fun. I stupidly forgot to try out the Mountain driving mode for this part of the park, but it probably wasn’t even necessary.
All in all, the Ford Territory is ideal for visiting the Kruger Park. The size and comfort are perfect for people like us, who spend most of the day winding up and down the roads, but still enjoy being cosy while we do it.
