“So what are you going to do on Verneuk Pan?” asks Jaco Carstens, owner of the Skaapkop Padstal and Soetwater Accommodation between Nieuwoudtville and Calvinia.
“Apart from stargazing and staring blankly at the horizon, as little as possible,” I reply.
As an extreme enduro rider who’s broken many bones; and with a son, Camron, who once held the quarter-mile speed record on Verneuk Pan for a car with a naturally aspirated 1,600cc engine, Jaco looks at me incredulously; like my wanting to commune with nature is a more baffling concept than racing a converted Triumph Spitfire to 198km/h over 400m.
This is my third trip to Verneuk Pan. And yes, when I arrived here for the first time 15 years ago, I too was momentarily gripped by speed fever. Soon I was racing my mate David Lowe on his BMW R1200GS Adventure, but he left me in a trail of dust after I maxed-out at 170 km/h on my Kawasaki KLR650.
When Malcolm Campbell bested the land speed record he came here to break (200mph/342km/h) in 1929 by nearly 10%, he was “verneuked” (cheated) when he later discovered this record had already been broken six weeks earlier. But on his last run he did break two other records that stood, the first when he got to 211mph (340km/h) over three miles (5km) and the second when he clocked 212mph (341.2km/h) over five miles (8km).
After our moments of madness all those years ago, we parked the bikes near the overnight caravans and donkey-fired shower, content to play Frisbee and then braai in the rustic “muisbosskerm” boma; sating our thirsts with cold beer from the honesty bar’s gas fridge.
Five years later, my wife and I met up with some friends here while on a long backroads trip in our old Land Rover campervan. We spent another absorbing evening under the stars and appreciated the much improved ablution facilities owner Louis Salzman had built here.
But while trying to arrange my third visit there, I discovered Salzman sold the farm some years back, and, more importantly, that new owners (Alastair and Elize Lospers) now offer only wild camping sites as the old ablution and boma facilities are no longer operational.
Yet I’m not particularly fazed. My newly converted vintage Pajero iO rig has a roof rack to carry the extra camping gear required, and a roll-out awning that should keep the midday sun from burning a hole in my soul.
As usual, I opt for a backroads route to get there. From Clanwilliam, I follow the R364 via the Botterkloof Pass to my overnight stop at Carstens’ Soetwater accommodation. The industrial–chic self-catering rooms are set in a long barn-style building behind the padstal, adjacent to which are some premium campsites.
After stocking up on braai meat the next day in Calvinia, the vleis capital of the Hantam, I access one of my favourite dirt tracks 16km east of the town. The Klipwerf road (P2286) partners the eastern flank of the majestic Hantamberge for 10km before making its way through Moordenaarspoort in the Vlakhoekberge, then meanders between koppies and scrublands for the remainder of this 89km crossing between the R27 and the R357.
Heading northeast from Brandvlei towards Verneuk Pan, the road and scenery change markedly. Karoo scrub is replaced with expanses of yellow grass interspersed with dark boulder hills that look like the ancient middens of some gigantic prehistoric beasts. Their current form is the aftermath of very old igneous intrusions that later weathered into thousands of smaller boulders over millions of years.
After a teeth-rattling 111km I reach the Lospers’ farmhouse. I’m met by a farmhand called Fransie who checks my paperwork and clears me to proceed the last 15km to the old campsite, from where I’ll scout for my wild camping spot.
The 10km access road is battered from the heavily laden speed-record enthusiasts and other groups that come here. But once I get to the tractor tyre that marks the turn-off onto the pan proper, and cruise across its surreal yellow surface to the big blue sky on the horizon, the jolts are forgotten.
In addition, I look forward to the succour of sitting a while, cold beer in hand, in the middle of the void; anticipating the volcanic sunsets that erupt here, followed later by the flickering of millions of fairy lights in the obsidian night skies above.
The next morning I take a long walk around the southern edge of this 57km long and 11km wide salt pan. Its cracked surface is punctuated with old start and finish markers, and about 1km later I come across an old ship’s bell hanging off the top of a post mounted circle of steel. No one seems to know who put it here and why; though, when I ring it, its peal shatters the pan’s dome of silence — perhaps it was once used as a starter’s signal.
With the resonance still reverberating I recall the tragic tale Jaco told me a couple of nights back. Two speed-record challengers lost their lives here less than a week before I arrived when their Audi Quattro crashed at around 300km/h. This tragedy is just one of many that have occurred on this pan where folk continue to push the hazardous boundaries of speed.
I’m again reminded of this when I visit the deserted old campsite’s boma later. Here I find a faded photographic memorial to Johan Jacobs who died on the pan when he crashed his Castrol Edge Jet Car at a speed of 500km/h in 2006.
Walking back to my vehicle about a kilometre north of the old campsite, I experience a small existential crisis of my own. A squadron of what I later discover are sweat bees (who knew?) have been following me around the pan for the last hour. I’m not too fussed because I have some citronella spray in the car, and I’m sure this will dissuade them from settling on me.
It doesn’t work. I put up with the pests and their mild stings for a few hours, but the squadron gradually increases to a swarm. Disregarding the fact I will be “verneuked” out of my second night of wild camping, I pack up so quickly I’m convinced I’m setting a “breaking camp record” in the process — pity there are no official timekeepers present.
Travel Notes
Getting there: Verneuk Pan is about 680km from Cape Town and 200km from Upington. It’s an out-of-the-way destination no matter how you approach it, either from Brandvlei and Van Wyksvlei in the south or Kenhardt in the north. While you may be able to get there in an AWD SUV with good ground clearance, a proper 4x4 with good AT tyres is recommended.
What to do here: This is a bucket-list destination like no other in South Africa and is ideal for the nature-focused who enjoy wild camping in wide open spaces. While most “non-speedsters” tend to just chill out, read, take photographs, stargaze, nature watch, go on long walks and spend quality time with family and friends, it’s also an ideal place to practise hobbies such as flying radio-controlled aircraft.
What to take with you: Take everything you need, including water, shower and toilet equipment, and leave no trace of having been there by taking it all out again.
Camping options: You can book wild camping sites with the Lospers in the south (Elize: 082 921 6714) or through Kareeboomdam farm in the west (Carol: 083 227 2239).
Best time of year to go: April to August.
More travel stories:
From old-fashioned gentlemen’s club to representative meeting spot
Remote hamlet offers quiet refuge for fishers and birders
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