What happened on the Kon Tiki expedition?

After 101 days at sea the Kon-Tiki ran aground on a coral reef by the Raroia atoll in Polynesia. The expedition had been an unconditional success, and Thor Heyerdahl and his crew had demonstrated that South American peoples could in fact have journeyed to the islands of the South Pacific by balsa raft.

Who led the Kon Tiki expedition in 1947?

Thor Heyerdahl
Thor Heyerdahl, (born October 6, 1914, Larvik, Norway—died April 18, 2002, Colla Micheri, Italy), Norwegian ethnologist and adventurer who organized and led the famous Kon-Tiki (1947) and Ra (1969–70) transoceanic scientific expeditions.

What happened to the parrot on Kon-Tiki?

The parrot disappeared dragged by a wave one day. Torstein Raaby and the parrot Lorita on board of the Kon Tiki. The parrot disappeared dragged by a wave one day.

How did the Kon Tiki expedition get its name?

The Kon-Tiki expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named Kon-Tiki after the Inca sun god, Viracocha, for whom “Kon-Tiki” was said to be an old name.

When did the Kon Tiki raft cross the Atlantic?

On January 30, 2011, An-Tiki, a raft modeled after Kon-Tiki, began a 4,800-kilometre (3,000 mi), 70-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.

When did Thor Heyerdahl return from the Kon Tiki expedition?

The trip began on April 28, 1947. Heyerdahl and five companions sailed the raft for 101 days over 6,900 km (4,300 miles) across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotus on August 7, 1947. The crew made successful landfall and all returned safely. Thor Heyerdahl’s book about his experience became a bestseller.

How long was the Kon Tiki at sea?

After 14 days at sea Heyerdahl and his crew were confident that the raft was indeed seaworthy. And not just that: their vessel was “a fantastic seagoing craft,” Heyerdahl wrote in his log. After 101 days at sea the Kon-Tiki ran aground on a coral reef by the Raroia atoll in Polynesia.