Welcome to the Gateway to Hell
These dramatic images offer a rare glimpse of the ‘Gateway To Hell’, one of the world’s oldest continuously active lava lakes.
Portuguese travel photographer Joel Santos, 38, piloted a drone over the bubbling lake – which reaches temperatures exceeding 1,100 degrees Celsius – while he stood just a metre from the edge.
The lake, situated in Afar, Ethiopia, has had a continuous flow since 1906 and lies inside the 2,011-foot-high Erta Ale volcano, otherwise known as the Smoking Mountain.
The last major eruption occurred In September 2005, which killed a 250-strong herd of livestock and forced people in the surrounding area to flee.
There were further evacuations in August 2007 caused by lava flow, after which two people went missing. The most recent eruption came in November 2008 .
Mr Santos is well aware of the hazards posed by filming such a potentially devastating natural phenomenon at such close quarters.
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He tells MailOnline Travel: ‘This was one of the most dangerous projects I’ve done since I was just 20 metres away from the lava, one metre from the edge.
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