Saving Puppies On An Active Volcano in Sumatra
How I Trekked Mount Sibayak and Almost Adopted a Puppy
When you arrive in the town of Berstagi in northern Sumatra, the first thing you notice isn’t the volcano. Or the main square. But the many cabbage fields lining the roads.
They stretch for kilometers and make for a soothing scene when driving through. Close observers will notice tombstones systematically nestled into the cabbage fields. To this day I haven’t been able to find out the custom behind this phenomenon.
And then you arrive in Berastagi. Located between two active volcanoes this cozy town feels like you’ve arrived in the mountains.
And for a reason: Berastagi links the Sumatran lowlands and highlands. Acting as a stopover between the city of Medan, North Sumatra’s capital, and Indonesia’s largest lake, Lake Toba, it supplies a lot of the province with fresh produce.
Breaking Out of Our Homestay and a Trek into Darkness
The day of the trek, my friend Adelia and I climbed over the gate at our accommodation because we forgot to let them know we’d be leaving early. There’s now CCTV footage of us heaving ourselves over the property gate at 4 am.
Zoe, the friendly guide we’d booked, picked us up and took us to the foot of the mountain. Then we hiked for about 2 hours through pitch black darkness to reach the crater. While walking, Zoe recounted local legends about mountain tribes kidnapping people invading their territory. The story would’ve probably scared me more if I wasn’t so excited to get to the top of this volcano.
Suddenly we saw something stumbling around in the dark. A tiny puppy. And then a second puppy stumbled along. They looked malnourished, cold and lost.
We thought it impossible that they’d made their way up here. They were so weak and the trail so steep. Naturally we assumed their mom had to be around. Making clicking noises with our tongues we hoped to somehow get her attention if she was close by.
When no pup mom was to be found, we decided to carry the puppies with us — first to the summit to watch the sunrise and then back down. At the foot of the volcano was a ranger’s post and we were hoping that they belonged there.
Arriving at the top, the first light started to illuminate the world around us. From now on, every passing minute revealed a little more of the view. I heard Zoe boiling water for tea and cuddled closer with the puppy that had chosen me as his human. I named him Cappuccino.
A Volcanic Sunrise and Happy Puppies
Adelia and I watched the sunrise on this active volcano, balancing puppies and cups of steaming tea. It was misty and entirely as great as it sounds.
The puppies were brave and stayed calm the entire hike down the mountain. Adelia’s pup, Espresso, did have a little throwing-up incident. The poor fur ball must’ve felt terrible.
Arriving at the ranger’s post they got really excited and started happily tumbling around as soon as their little paws touched the ground. The ranger informed us that they belonged to the station and that somebody must’ve taken them up the volcano. And had left them there.
Giving the puppies one last cuddle we left. Hoping they’d be safe.
A few days later we met fellow travelers who had just completed the same hike. They told us that they saw the puppies too — safe and sound at the rangers’ place.
