Faits intéressants

projektant łodziłódź z papirusupiramidy teneryfy

Thor Heyerdahl, Traveller That Crossed The Atlantis Ocean In A Reed Boat

Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl became famous by having proved that ancient navigators could have crossed the Atlantic ocean on sailing boats. How did he do that?

In 1969 Thor Heyerdal built a boat from papyrus (Ra) using the projects of ancient boats of Egypt and started a trip from Morocco to Barbados with a crew of 11 sailors. The first expedition didn't have success as the boat broke apart and the crew had to abandon the vessel. But the next year Thor Heyerdahl built another similar boat (Ra II) and this time had a great success. He achieved the coast of Barbados and proved the whole world that ancient people could have crossed the ocean using the Canary current and create contact between separate cultures.

In 1990 Thor Heyerdahl founded a Spanish-Norwegian project protecting the pyramids of Guimar in Tenerife. Now you can make a visit to the park with a big collection of endemic plants created by Thor Heyerdahl and step-pyramides the origin of which nobody knows till nowadays. In the museum of Guimar you can also visit the Expeditions Room and see replicas of papyrus anf wooden vessels that Thor Heyerdahl sailed in his expeditions: Kon Tiki (Pacific ocean, 1947), Ra and Ra II (Atlantic ocean, 1969 and 1970), Tigris (Indian ocean, 1977-1978).