Photo. The famous Kon-Tiki Raft in the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, Norway. Travel Explorations.
Sailing in Thor Heyerdahl`s footprints is a big challenge. After nearly two months, the men in the expedition could finally set their feet on safe ground. Just as Thor Heyerdahl did, they also started from Peru.
They were six men in the team: four from Norway, one from Swedan and one from Peru. The expediton leader was the Norwegian Torgeir Sæverud Higraff.
They called their venture for "The Tangaroa Expedition", after a Polynesian god of the sea, and they focused on environmental issues. They reported information about polution to children, and they are making a movie about their expedition.
Their raft was build by balsa wood just as the Kon-Tiki Expedition. The balsa wood raft Kon-Tiki was built as a copy of a prehistoric South American vessel. A crew of six men sailed the raft from Callao in Peru the 28th of April 1947 and landed on the island of Raroia in Polynesia after 101 days.
The men in the Tangaroa expedition were greated by the local people when they arrived the biggest village on Raroia. The Vice President in French Polynesia congratulated them. A big ceremony was organised to celebrate their great journey.
Stein Morten Lund, 9 July 2006
Additional information
Thor Heyerdahl first made his famed 8,000-kilometer trip across the Pacific in 1947 and thus proved it was possible to cross an ocean on rafts made of reeds. Based on this he also claimed that people from different continents have been in contact in the past, and that the ocean was not an obstacle for them. One of Heyerdahl's grandchildren, Olav, is among the crew. He will be responsible for building and repairing the raft.
Thor Heyerdahl:
He was also called Sir Kon-Tiki and the Citizen of the World. He passed away quietly in his home in Italy the 18 of April 2002, at an age of 87. As one of the most famous Norwegians ever, he has accomplished many different things in his life, but his name will always be closely connected to the Kon-Tiki voyage and the archaeological investigations on Easter Island (Rapa Nui) and East Polynesia.
The Kon-Tiki Museum in Norway:
This museum is located in Oslo, the capital in Norway. It's one of the most popular tourist's attractions in Norway. The full name of museum is The Kon-Tiki Museum Institute for Pacific Archaeology and Cultural History. It houses original vessels and objects from Thor Heyerdahl's world famous expeditions: The Kon-Tiki raft, the papyrus boat Ra II, Easter Island statues and a model of Tigris.
Information in Norwegian:
Formål: Skal, med Kon-Tiki som forbilde, seile fra Peru til Tahiti på rundt 100 dager.
Mannskap: Fire nordmenn, en svenske og en peruaner. Leder Torgeir Sæverud Higraff.
Flåten: 18 tonn tung, bygget av balsastokker fra Ecuador.
Oppgaver: Å klare å styre og navigere flåten, påvise forurensning formidle data til skolebarn, lage film.
Kilde: www.Aftenposten.no
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