In Oslo, Norway, the Kon-Tiki Museum explores Thor Heyerdahl’s raft expedition from South America to Polynesia.
What is the Kon-Tiki Museum
The Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo tells the story of Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer who set out to prove Polynesia could have been settled from South America.
He did this by sailing a wooden raft 8,000km in 101 days, from Peru to Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands – part of French Polynesia.
Thor Heyerdahl’s raft
That raft – the Kon-Tiki – is on display at the Kon-Tiki Museum on the Bygdoy Peninsula. But there’s more to the museum than just the raft.
This engrossing Oslo Museum tells the story of Heyerdahl’s quest, but also the personal history behind it.
For his masters degree, Thor Heyerdahl was given the task of visiting an isolated island in the Pacific Ocean and studying how the island’s fauna had found its way there.
Thor Heyerdahl on Fatu Hiva
In 1937, he and his wife, Liv, landed on Fatu-Hiva in the Marquesas Islands without provisions, determined to live off what they could gather with their own hands. They wove a home out of bamboo and coconut palm leaves, and lived off plants such as pineapples, papaya and sweet potatoes.
These plants, plus several others on Fatu-Hiva, are originally from South America, and had been growing on the island before European explorers arrived in Polynesia.
While on Fatu-Hiva, Heyerdahl also heard from Chief Tei Tetua, who told the legend of Tiki – who had led his forefathers from the east. Given the nearest land to the east is in South America, that meant the local legend was that the people of Fatu-Hiva had come from South America.
The birth of the Kon-Tiki Expedition
After returning to Norway, Thor Heyerdahl set out to prove that the settlement of Polynesia from South America could be true. The Kon-Tiki Expedition was born.
The original Kon-Tiki raft, which is proudly on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum, was built in Callao, Peru. It is made up of nine large balsa logs from Ecuador, plus bamboo and manila rope. The Kon-Tiki is 15 metres long and 5.5 metres wide.
The problems with the Kon-Tiki Expedition
In 1947, Heyerdahl and his five man crew used the southeasterly trade winds to sail it to French Polynesia, a remarkable achievement given the significant flaws in the plan.
As the museum details, Heyerdahl was scared of water and had no sailing experience. There was also no-one who could teach them how to steer such a large raft – that knowledge had effectively been lost for centuries.
One crew member almost died after going overboard, and once they finally reached Raroia, the Kon-Tiki couldn’t get past the reef. So, Heyerdahl tied up all the valuables and deliberately smashed into the reef, with all the crew members making it to shore separately.
The adventure caught the public imagination and sparked debate over where the Polynesian people came from. Later DNA research suggests East Asia is more likely than South America.
What the Kon-Tiki Museum does well
The Kon-Tiki Museum also looks at what the Kon-Tiki crew did afterwards. Knut Haugland, for example, was the museum director for decades.
It also looks at Heyerdahl’s later exploits, which included trying to sail reed boats from Morocco to the Caribbean. This was spurred by wondering if there was a link between the pyramids in Egypt and Peru. The second of these reed boats – the Ra II – successfully reached Barbados, and is on display in the Kon-Tiki Museum.
The Kon-Tiki Museum is hugely enjoyable to visit, largely because it carries Heyerdahl’s infectious enthusiasm and sense of adventure with it. It taps into that impish desire to do something just to see if you can. It’s much more about humans than a big raft.
Kon-Tiki Museum ticket prices, opening hours and location
The Kon-Tiki Museum is on Oslo’s Bygdoy Peninsula, next to the Fram Museum – which contains Roald Amundsen’s ship. The Bygdoy Peninsula ferry journey from central Oslo is the best way to reach the museum, and entry tickets cost 120kr.
The opening hours of the Kon-Tiki Museum are 10am to 5pm, daily.
More Norway travel ideas
Other Oslo experiences include fjord cruises on a silent electric catamaran, bike tours and sea kayaking adventures.
Other Norway travel articles on Planet Whitley look at whitewater rafting in Voss and what you learn on a Norwegian fjords cruise.
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