They say that Africa is not for sissies, and after five nights on the first leg of Ford SA’s Ranger Odyssey Africa competition I tend to agree.
The initiative sees ten contestants and eight Ranger bakkies take on six African countries, in a 21-day and 8000km-long adventure.
The Odyssey started in Nairobi on June 24 and weaves its way through Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique (this could change if the unrest in Mozambique continues) and Zimbabwe, before ending in Pretoria on July 14.
Thousands of entries were received before being narrowed down to 20, with these entrants having to attend a gruelling boot camp before the final ten were chosen. Aside from 4x4 and convoy-driving attributes the judges looked for communication (contestants have to blog daily), camping and team-work skills, to name a few.
The ten also come from a wide range of backgrounds, ranging from a management consultant to a full-time lifestyle blogger. The winner will drive away with a fully-kitted Ranger from the Odyssey.
FULLY KITTED FORDS
Tackling the heat and the technical routes in Africa are bakkies modified in SA (at a cost of around R150k each) for ride-height and offroading – the 3.2-litre turbodiesel engines, and manual and auto gearboxes are completely standard. Suspension tweaks include revised coils, bushes, leaf springs, and undercarriage and diff protection. Guarding against the poor diesel quality in Africa is a higher-quality fuel filter, with a snorkel fitted for those river crossings.
Other accessories include a different front bumper (some with a bullbar) housing a winch and spot-lights, a steel canopy which opens on all sides (and houses items like a gas bottle, storage drawers, jerry can, spade and high-lift jack), and a stronger rear bumper with tail-light protectors. The inside of the Ranger is pretty-much standard, with just seat covers and floor linings offering dust protection. All these extras pile on approximately 400kg, bringing the Ranger to just under the 2.5-ton mark.
AMAZING MEMORIES
The trip itself is epic, and if the first leg I covered is anything to go by contestants are in for a few amazing memories.
Highlights over my five nights included the Amboseli National Park (140km south of Kenya’s capital Nairobi), which offers the biggest elephant herds in Africa and over 400 species of bird life. A treat here was venturing into an actual Maasai village and meeting its people; and sleeping in full view of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain on the planet.
The Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania is also a sight to behold. It’s a Unesco World Heritage Site and is the world’s largest inactive, intact, and unfilled volcanic crater. It formed when a large volcano exploded and collapsed on itself two to three million years ago – and is 610 metres deep with a floor covering 260 square-kilometres.
It’s something straight out of Disney’s Lion King, with a mix of lush and sparse landscapes, rivers and dams, and most of the major animal species. What makes it special is that it all feels locked in by its high crater walls, almost like nature’s time capsule.
We also visited Nairobi in Kenya and Arusha in Tanzania, and they’re real eye-openers in that they make you realise just how progressive South Africa is in comparison. Our streets, buildings and general infrastructure are way more advanced. I’d like to think that our border posts are better too – it took over four hours to get our convoy over the Kenyan border into Tanzania.
NO CLEAR WINNER
Spending time with the contestants it’s safe to say there isn’t a clear winner, with all the finalists young, bubbly and enthusiastic. It’s no walk in the park either, with their daily duties varying from tent-pitching to special assignments, long driving, and social media. Not to mention the odd bakkie wash thrown in for good measure.
I was worried that the Rangers would feel like over-laden donkeys, but the 3.2 turbodiesel seemed to whistle along happily with four passengers, cargo and accessories on board.
The 13.7l/100km average consumption figure seemed high, but once you factor in mainly all-wheel (4H) driving and all that extra weight, it seems acceptable. By the time I left the bakkies were still in one piece with no real rattles or mechanical difficulties encountered – and we were mostly offroad, some of it extreme.
You can follow the Ranger Odyssey and the daily contestant blogs at www.rangerodyssey.com – the winner will be announced on August 8. -Star Motoring