Dubai: Internet users who run to online maps for directions can now see places that are impossible to reach by humans, including the heart of an active volcano – complete with otherworldly, bubbling lava.
Google’s latest addition to Street View now lets users explore inside a simmering volcano through the use of the Street View tool. Among the first exotic destinations to be featured is the remote Vanutuan island of Ambrym in the South Pacific.
Vanuatu, located a thousand miles off the coast of Australia, is an archipelago of 80 tiny islands brimming with lush green forests, pristine black sand beaches and nine erupting volcanoes.
The 360-degree images, captured by explorers Geoff Mackley and Chris Horsley, take viewers to a virtual tour into the fiery interior of one of the largest boiling lava lakes in the world – the size of two football fields.
The duo had camped out in the active volcano and repelled 400 metres into the crater last year to produce the images.
“You only realise how insignificant humans are when you’re standing next to a giant lake of fiery boiling rock,” said Mackley.
Explore the crater here.
