Living in Peru : your everyday companion

(by Wolfy Becker)

The Heyerdahls continue conquering the seas. Their maritime feats world-wide are not something that happen every day. But this famous family was and still is involved in several of the most memorable oceanic achievements during the last 60 years.

Famous Norwegian navigator Thor Heyerdahl , - who in 1947 left the Peruvian port of Callao and arrived in French Polynesia on his Kon-Tiki raft, crossing 8,000 kilometers with a crew of five -, wanted to prove his theory that South American Indians were capable of sailing to Eastern Polynesian shore aboard primitive rafts and could have been the ancestors of the Polynesian race; a theory which was believed impossible until then.


Now his son Thor jr. recently arrived in Peru watching his son Olav trying to replicate the exact same feat some 60 years later. Olav's expedition set out from the Port of Callao, Peru, on April 28, sailing in the spirit of the Kon-Tiki balsa wood raft on a replica named "Tangaroa", a greater, more modern and safer version, to re-enact his late grandfather's famous voyage, with its crew proving once again that it could have been possible for South Americans to navigate a vessel made of reeds over the ocean to Polynesia.

The crew - 4 Norwegians, 1 Swede and 1 Peruvian -, sailing from Peru to Tahiti, also wanted to monitor pollution of the seas, relay data as an educational project for school children and make a film of the voyage.

The adventure had originally been scheduled for last year, in honor of Norway's 100-year anniversary of independence, but the voyage was postponed because of a lack of sponsors and funds. Several important sponsors pulled back after the tsunami disaster and redirected their funds to relief efforts, something the Tangaroa crew certainly respected.

Last Saturday their spy-glass finally revealed something other than masses of wavy saltwater, causing a crewmember to shout out the famous phrase "land! land! I see land!" They made landfall and won a hero's welcome in Tahiti after a 71-day voyage.

"It's fantastic to be here. There's no word to describe this sensation to have finally arrived at our destination," said Olav Heyerdahl after arriving on the Tuamotu atoll of Raroia, the same atoll where his grandfather Thor Sr. and his crew crashed on to the coral reef 59 years ago after a 101-day journey.

The ceremony on Raroia was just the first of several over the next few weeks, as the raft sails from island to island. The final goal is Tahiti on July 29.

(read more about the "Tangaroa" expedition here)

(interview with Olav Heyerdahl)

tags : Peru Tahiti FrenchPolynesia Heyerdahl adventure culture travel Kon-Tiki Tangaroa

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2 Comments

# henrietta creighton says :
5 August, 2006 [ 08:49 ]

every school child should be taught about these marvelous men. we all need heroes & can search the world over & not find any one to top "my boys". words like--- energy- carry through- imagineers-love & respect- courage-love of life-ddependable-ever learning----describe each one.lets not forget the basic word that is the key--enthusiasm.& purpose. great grandma ETTA.

# Wolfy says :
22 August, 2006 [ 09:57 ]

another update on Olav Heyerdahl's voyage was published today, August 22, in the Houston Chronicle: Thor Heyerdahl Kon-Tiki trip recreated

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