Thor Heyerdahl                              

Thor Heyerdahl was born 6. October 1914 He grew up in Larvik with his parents Thor Heyerdahl and Alison F. Lynge When he was a little boy he was very interested in nature and animal and he made his own museum on the boy room in steingata 7.

Thor Heyerdahl moved to Oslo in 1933 where he came in contact with Bjarne Kroepelin. Bjarne had a private library with a lot of book about Polynesia, and Heyerdahl really like the subject. In 1936 thor get married with Liv Torp.

The Polynesia expedition

Thor's first expedition was with his wife Liv to the island Fatu Hiva in Polynesia from 1937 to 1938. The aim of the expedition was to leave the civilization and live fully in harmony with nature. Before they left, they did not think to go back from the island. But they returned to Norway after one year because of tropical rain and diseases.

The Kontiki ekspedition

With a crew of five persons Thor Heyerdahl sailed from Callao in Peru to Raroia Atoll, in 1947. A journey of nearly 8,000 km. The purpose of the expedition was to prove that Polynesia was settled by South America in pre-Columbian times. Kontiki raft was constructed of balsa-wood on the traditional way.      

- Kasper A. Nordby