Well, is this the gateway to
Hell? A very daredevil photographer travels to the edge of 150-feet wide active
lava lake named after Satan's kingdom. If we must imagine the fiery depths of
hell, the mental image can't be far from these incredible images by Karel Tupy
of Ethiopia's Erta Ale, the world's oldest continuously active lava lake. The 35 years old photographer “Tupy” says; he
was frightening about his camera may would have melt from the scorching heat of
the lava as he captured the intimidating scenes of the 150-feet wide basalt
volcano. Without any doubt the view is simply staggering as lava inside the
volcano is constantly moving, bubbling and bursting. There was immense heat and
when I got to an edge of the crater, it was unbearable. After couple of
seconds, my facial skin was so hot, I had to get away. Although there was a point where I was afraid
my camera was going to melt.
Lava Lakes can be found in the
badland desert area of the Afar Depression in north-eastern Ethiopia, Erta
Ale's famed lava lake formed around 1906 and is one of six in the world. The
volcano's name translates in the local Afar tribe's language as “smoking
mountain” though the pit to its south is recognized by locals as “The Gateway
to Hell”, an appropriate moniker given the luminous lava spitting lava and
searing heat. Though locals aren't particularly welcoming to outsiders and the
surrounding terrain is far from hospitable, travelers do make the journey to
witness this real natural phenomenon.
In 2009, BBC TV show The Hottest
Place on Earth went there to record a world first 3D laser image of the
volcano. Like a true journey to the center of the Earth, volcanoes offer an exclusive
window into planet’s interior. Standing at the lip of the lava lake you can see
why the locals see this as "The Gateway to Hell", as the incandescent
bubbling lava lake hisses like some badly burned porridge cauldron, overturning
and sporadically belching molten lava. Having gained his own access to the
area, in which five people in a group of scientists and tourists were killed
while others were taken as hostages in a 2012 attack claimed by the Afar
Revolutionary Democratic Unity Front (ARDUF), Tupy couldn't agree more with Dr
Jerram's impression.
However the lava is almost 25
feet below the edge, sometimes during a burst the lake spits the lava outside
the crater, so you’ve to be very careful not to get hit by it. What you get hit
by quite often though is fumes. Whereas is very necessary to avoid contact with
lava, apparently, it's the fumes that can be the worry. Though, the environment
gets far worse that what he experienced. In September 2005 an eruption killed more
than 250 head of livestock and forced locals in the surrounding area to flee.
There were more evacuations in August 2007 caused by lava flow, after which two
people went missing. The last eruption came in November 2008. This place is something
you don't see every day. As a photographer, I get to see astonishing places and
when you see that people like those photos. This is kind of a reward in itself.
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