Founder's fav's · For petrolheads
Hakskeenpan and Speedweek
A dry pan in the Kalahari where grown men try to go very, very fast.
Hakskeenpan is a perfectly flat, perfectly dry lake bed on the edge of the Kalahari, and every year Speedweek turns it into a top-speed track. Cars, bikes, anything with an engine and an owner with something to prove. It's also where the Bloodhound land speed car came to test.
I went in 2014 for Speedweek. The heat, the dust, the sound of something flat out across the pan and then the silence. I came home sunburnt, deaf and wanting a faster car.
Plan a trip hereOpens the planner with Hakskeenpan and Speedweek as your finish. Set where you start and how many days, and it works out the route, fuel, night stops and weather.
Get there
- Flights to Cape Town ›Compare fares into CPT
- Hire a car ›Pick up at Cape Town airport
- Places to stay nearby ›Within about 40 km
- Tickets, tours and experiences ›Hakskeenpan Speedweek
Some of these links pay OneTrackMind a small fee if you book, at no cost to you. It's what keeps the planner free.
Good to know
- It's a long way from anywhere: plan the night before in Upington.
- Bring shade, water and more water.
- The roads in are long gravel. Fine for any car if you drive to the conditions.
The trip it's from
Places change. Check opening times and conditions before you go.