Polynesia to the Polar Regions

More museums today. We started at the amazing KonTiki museum which houses the original Kon Tiki raft built and sailed by Norwegian Thor Hyerdahl from Peru to Tahiti in 1947 to prove that early South American mainlanders could have traveled to Tahiti and other Pacific Ocean destinations. Much later, DNA evidence from Easter Island natives (and their chickens) demonstrated that there had been ties with the southern continent. When we were on Easter Island in 2022, we saw stone walls identical to Inca construction in Cusco and Machu Picchu and also learned about Heyerdahl's excavations on that island. Several hundred small carved statues from Easter Island are included in this excellent museum. Heyerdahl comes across as a great adventurer who was also a bit of a crackpot, but the museum is fascinating.

Across the street from the KonTiki museum is the Fram museum, housing the ship Norwegian explorers Fridtjof, Sverdrup, and Wisting unsuccessfuly sailed in 1893 in search of the North Pole; in 1911, Roald Amundsen took it to Antartica where he was first to complete an expedition to the South Pole. The ship is in great shape now, and visitors can wander its decks and cabins and see where the sled dogs slept en route.

When we got back to downtown Oslo, we learned that our ship had been delayed so they're putting us up overnight and busing us early tomorrow to Kristiansand where we'll board and continue on as scheduled. We're getting anxious to see some Northern Lights!!!Read more