Kon-Tiki Reaches Polynesia
Next: August 7, 2027
101 days on a balsa raft.
The story
Where it comes from
On 7 August 1947 the balsa raft Kon-Tiki ran onto the reef at Raroia, in the Tuamotu Islands of Polynesia, and this Story marks the anniversary. It had left Callao, Peru, on 28 April with six men and a parrot aboard, led by the 33-year-old Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl. He wanted to show that ancient South Americans could have reached the Pacific islands by raft. Experts warned that the raft would fall apart within two weeks. After 101 days and more than 4,000 miles, it was wrecked on the coral, but all six men reached shore safely.
How it's celebrated
The original raft is on display at the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo, which tells the story of Heyerdahl's expeditions. To mark the day, watch the crew's own film of the voyage, read Heyerdahl's book about it, or trace the route on a map, from the coast of Peru across the open Pacific to a small atoll in Polynesia.
Did you know
- The raft was built from nine large balsa logs lashed together with rope.
- The film the crew shot during the voyage, 'Kon-Tiki', won the Academy Award for best documentary in 1951.
- In 2006 his grandson Olav Heyerdahl crossed from Peru to Polynesia on the raft Tangaroa in about two months, steering with adjustable guara boards, the Indigenous South American technique.
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