The pan is part of the Kalahari Basin, the floor of which was formed around 1000 million years ago. Today, the Etosha Pan rarely has water as it is supplied mostly from rainfall but with high evaporation the water quickly disappears. A San legend about the formation of the pan tells of how a village was raided and everyone but the women slaughtered. When the lake dried up nothing was left apart from a huge white pan. The game viewing in Etosha is excellent, the best time being from May to September.
Visitors can expect to see many buck species, elephant, giraffe, rhino and lions.
More fortunate visitors will see leopard and cheetah. There is a network of roads linking the three campsites and subsidiary roads lead to various waterholes. All three camps have floodlit waterholes which allow for excellent night game viewing. The waterhole at Okaukuejo is famous for Rhino and Elephant, while the newer waterhole at Halali is fast attracting more game. Bordering the Etosha Park there are numerous privately owned hotels and lodges , many of these offer private game drives either on their own game reserves or in the Etosha Park itself.