The Ra Expeditions

Posted on by Thor Heyerdahl
The Ra Expeditions Ra tells of Heyerdahl s voyage from N Africa to S America in a papyrus boat modelled on those depicted in Egyptian wall paintings A violent storm ended the st expedition but within a year the seve

Ra tells of Heyerdahl s voyage from N Africa to S America in a 45 papyrus boat modelled on those depicted in Egyptian wall paintings A violent storm ended the 1st expedition but within a year the seven men had embarked on their 2nd journey in Ra II.One riddle, two answers no solution Why a reed boat To the Indians in the Cactus ForestWith Bedouin Buduma inRa tells of Heyerdahl s voyage from N Africa to S America in a 45 papyrus boat modelled on those depicted in Egyptian wall paintings A violent storm ended the 1st expedition but within a year the seven men had embarked on their 2nd journey in Ra II.One riddle, two answers no solution Why a reed boat To the Indians in the Cactus ForestWith Bedouin Buduma in the heart of AfricaAmong Black monks at the source of the Nile In the world of the Pyramid builders Out in the Atlantic Down the African coast to Cape JubyIn the clutches of the sea Into American waters RA II, by papyrus boat from Africa to AmericaPostscript

  • [PDF] The Ra Expeditions | by ☆ Thor Heyerdahl
    363 Thor Heyerdahl
The Ra Expeditions

  1. See also .Thor Heyerdahl October 6, 1914, Larvik, Norway April 18, 2002, Colla Micheri, Italy was a Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer with a scientific background in zoology and geography Heyerdahl became notable for his Kon Tiki expedition, in which he sailed 4,300 miles 8,000 km by raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands All his legendary expeditions are shown in the Kon Tiki Museum, Oslo.Thor Heyerdahl was born in Larvik, the son of master brewer Thor Heyerdahl and his wife Alison Lyng As a young child, Thor Heyerdahl showed a strong interest in zoology He created a small museum in his childhood home, with a Vipera berus as the main attraction He studied Zoology and Geography at University of Oslo At the same time, he privately studied Polynesian culture and history, consulting what was then the world s largest private collection of books and papers on Polynesia, owned by Bjarne Kropelien, a wealthy wine merchant in Oslo This collection was later purchased by the University of Oslo Library from Kropelien s heirs and was attached to the Kon Tiki Museum research department After seven terms and consultations with experts in Berlin, a project was developed and sponsored by his zoology professors, Kristine Bonnevie and Hjalmar Broch He was to visit some isolated Pacific island groups and study how the local animals had found their way there Just before sailing together to the Marquesas Islands in 1936, he married his first wife, Liv Coucheron Torp b 1916 , whom he had met shortly before enrolling at the University, and who had studied economics there Though she is conspicuously absent from many of his papers and talks, Liv participated in nearly all of Thor s journeys, with the exception of the Kon Tiki Expedition The couple had two sons Thor Jr and Bj rn The marriage ended in divorce and in 1949 Thor Heyerdahl married Yvonne Dedekam Simonsen They in turn had three daughters Annette, Marian and Helene Elisabeth This marriage also ended in divorce, in 1969 In 1991 Thor Heyerdahl married for the third time, to Jacqueline Beer b 1932.Thor Heyerdahl s grandson, Olav Heyerdahl, retraced his grandfather s Kon Tiki voyage in 2006, as part of a six member crew The voyage, called the Tangaroa Expedition, was intended as a tribute to Thor Heyerdahl, as well as a means to monitor the Pacific Ocean s environment A film about the voyage is in preparation from

369 Reply to “The Ra Expeditions”

  2. during the last two days, I crossed the Atlantic twice in a boat made of papyrus reeds I had already read Thor Heyerdahl s first work, the one which made him famous, regarding his Kon Tiki voyage from Peru to Polynesia However, I don t remember being effected by that book as I was by this one Whether that is due to the slightly difference subject matter treated, the change in the author s style, or likely a change in my own attitude, I do not know While the book is, like Kon Tiki, primarily abo [...]

    Reply

  3. The first part of the book describes Heyerdahl s research into reed boats in various parts of the world Northern Africa, the Mediterranean, South America Then there is the preparation for, and building of Ra A quick crew selection, and the journey commences, from Safi, in Morocco The Journey of Ra is a leaning exercise, and falls only a few hundred miles short of achieving the goal of reaching the Americas Barbados to be exact An interlude during the book, presented as a conversation amongst the [...]

    Reply

  4. This books captures all of the emotional sense of failure attached to Ra I which I remember reading about in the newspapers when it first happened It throws in a brief overview of the successful Ra II expedition Having spent time on these reed boats in Lake Titicaca, I can attest to the fact that although they float, they are so low to the ground it must of taken king size balls to sail the Atlantic in a reed boat, especially the second time.

    Reply

  6. I first read this book when in high school nearly 40 years ago, and was surprised this time by some of the scenes I remembered in vivid detail This time the book was even interesting because I followed Heyerdahl s travels on Wikimapia and could zoom in on satellite photos of the topography he was describing including Lake Titicaca, Lake Chad, the Gulf of California, Ethiopia, and Morocco.It was interesting to read again the evidence the author presented regarding a possible influence of Mediter [...]

    Reply

  7. I think that the first Ra expedition was a failure it wasn t, of course like all scientific experiments, even a failure yields information, sometimes, as in this case, information vital to later success colored the tone of this book Kon Tiki and Fatu Hiva were both written by an admittedly younger, optimistic Heyerdahl this one wasn t Still, it s good adventure, and as fascinating as the other two I ve said it before, and I ll say it again DIscovery, NatGeo, History and all the other such chann [...]

    Reply

  8. Die Geschichte der Ra und im folgenden der Ra II ist definitiv interessant,nur leider ist der Schreibstil nicht so,dass man das Buch gerne liest.Allerdings habe ich mit diesem Buch viel ber Schifffahrt und Gemeinschaftssinn gelernt.

    Reply

  10. I bought this book in Oslo as a souvenir read and fell in love with the tale told by Heyerdahl The writing was lively and vivid, as well as instructive The people involved with these two expeditions were wonderfully characterized and I was sad to say good bye to them when I closed the book at the end I will need to re read Kon Tiki I was a child and did not appreciate what a good writer Thor Heyerdahl was and what an adventure that journey represented.

    Reply

  11. As far as adventure is concerned, I don t think there is anyone around today who could be better than Thor Heyerdahl The book is fantastic, it has really opened my eyes to the wonder of history and archaeology Apart from the first chapter which was maybe a bit slow going, I was totally gripped and couldn t put the book down for the rest of the book.

    Reply

  13. Another good adventure story by Heyerdahl Barely possible Yes Likely You decide.What I remember most about this book is the crew, on the first try, singing We don t want a yellow submarine as the boat sank.The second try was less melodromatic but became and a lament about the filthy state of the Atlantic, even that early Tar balls, sewage, various sorts of flotsamHeyerdahl points out in one of his books This one that nobody need starve at sea who has a fine cloth his crew used their shirts to [...]

    Reply

  14. As usual Heyerdahl keeps me spellbound I had already read the Kon Tiki and the Tigris Expeditions some years ago and after reading Ra I plan to take another look at the other expeditions, nostalgia I guess The possibilities touched during such expeditions leave me with a whole lot of questions especially about the Phoenicians, Malta s possible part, trans Atlantic crossings in the era BC etc I especially found intriguing the reference to the start of the Mayan calander which is 12.08.3113 BC as [...]

    Reply

  15. After reading Kon Tiki, I was hungry for similar kinds of accounts, so when The Ra Expeditions came out, I snapped it up I enjoyed it, but not quite as much as Kon Tiki The first hundred pages were considerably dry, basically describing his research into reed boats Somehow it wasn t as fascinating as the research he described in Nonetheless, it held my attention, and satisfied for a time my itch to know about the ancient world and travel It also stoked the fire of my dreams about someday trave [...]

    Reply

  16. Rousing adventure on the high seas with one of the great adventurers, Thor Heyerdahl and his multi cultural crew And a duck and a monkey I don t think I share his theories about Egyptian contact with the New World, but I really enjoyed the book I marveled at what audacity it took to sail a reed boat from Africa to the Caribbean hard to believe they came out of it alive I would never have the guts to do something like this What a crackpot I was inspired to read this after my visit to the Kon Tiki [...]

    Reply

  17. And this is Mr Crazies first book trip Also read when we used wood burning computers, but that s not what is important, now Papyrus was beat into masses of sticky fibers or fibres as the Brits would say , dried and used for writing on And this guy built an ocean going vessel out if the stuff and tried to sail it across a really big ocean Nuts You be the judge Unearth a copy of a classic obsessive compulsive s adventure and have a good read.

    Reply

  18. I loved the other two books that I have read by the author and so I decided why not try this one I hope it lives up to the others I liked this one, but not as much as the other two This one is a bit like the other two, it is about replicating a crossing by an ancient civilization This time with a different type of boat I did enjoy parts of this book, but would recommend reading Fatu Hiva before reading this one.

    Reply

  19. Lopulta sain luettua t m n Ja oli todella hyv Ja viel kun olin n hnyt laivoja Oslon Heyerdahl museossa, olin todella vaikuttunut Uskomattomista olosuhteista selvisiv t ja todistivat viel , ett on mahdollista, ett Afrikasta on purjehdittu Amerikkaan jo ennen viikinkej kin Aina ei tieteenteko ole nen kirjassa istumista

    Reply

  20. Als ich ein Kind war, schw rmte meine Mutter mir immer von Thor Heyerdahls Abenteuern vor Ich muss sagen, dass ich sie gut verstehen kann Auch oder gerade heute hat dieser Bericht nichts von seiner Faszination verloren Sind wir wirklich so fortschrittlich, wie wir glauben

    Reply

  21. Lots of fun, definitely channeling some Cold War anxiety, though, making The Ra Expeditions less engaging and whimsical than Kon Tiki Also, the general theory seems rather half baked Kudos to Heyerdahl for making the trip, but he had a little tunnel vision here.

    Reply

  24. I couldn t get into this as easily as Kon Tiki however my husband really enjoyed this book If you enjoy the sea and true adventure, this is a good read.

    Reply

  25. Thor might just blow your mind Plus you gotta see these boots he is wearing while building the first Ra behind Giza.

    Reply

  26. Not as good as Kon Tiki Lots of weird at least to an atheist Jesus references, and plenty of benign 70s racism Also I felt great anxiety for the boat and crew.

    Reply

  30. I read this upon publication and I found it a bit dry compared to Kon Tiki It s fully the equal in substance, though I recall having a sense that a few things went by in fast forward mode.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *