Etosha Pan

The Etosha Pan is a large endorheicsalt pan, forming part of the Cuvelai-Etosha Basin in the north of Namibia. It is a vast hollow in the ground in which water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after water has evaporated. The 120-kilometre-long (75-mile) dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park, Namibia's second-largest wildlife park, covering 22,270 square kilometres (8,600 mi). The pan is mostly dry, but after heavy rains, it is flooded with a thin layer of water, which is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface.