The Ra Expeditions

Twenty years on from his Polynesian Kon-Tiki expedition, Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl has decided to explore whether or not it might be possible to travel from Africa to America on a boat built only from reed, rope and wood. With the Great Pyramid of Khufu looking on, he and a team of highly skilled craftsmen set about turning twelve tons of papyrus into something than can carry a crew of seven people, their equipment and supplies on a journey of over 3000 miles. His inspiration for this particular trip seems to be some obvious similarities between the pyramids and sculptures of Mesoamerica and Egypt. Might a journey like this ever have been possible in the days of antiquity? Pretty swiftly after launch, they realise that a few design faults are likely to make their journey far from straightforward, but supported by their mascots - a monkey and “Sidney” the duck, they impressively manage to fend off the Atlantic for most of their crossing before finally having to abandon a “Ra” that now resembled more of a soggy Weetabix rather than a ship. Not to be defeated, though, Heyerdahl enlists the services of some traditional Peruvian boat-builders from Lake Titicaca. Flying them to Morocco, they build him something smaller and hopefully more buoyant for another go at their quest. Will they make it this time? Well history tells us what happens and the fact that we have so much photography from both of their expeditions means we needn’t fear too much for anyone’s safety. What we also get from those plentiful and revealing images, and from a sparing narration, is a glimpse into just how such a voyage might have been undertaken millennia ago. Living on dried seeds, fruit, fresh water from jars and from any fish that they can catch whilst combatting the strong currents and twenty foot waves, their ships and their crews are both severely tested. The sheer force of the swell can readily reduce even the sturdiest of tree trunks to splinters and with sharks often nearby, this is clearly a constantly perilous operation for all concerned trying to organise running repairs above and below the waterline. The second attempt benefits from a supporting dinghy - still crewed from Ra II - and that allows us to see some more footage, including from underwater, looking on as this hulk of slowly sinking fibrous mass struggles to stay on course through storms and calms alike. It’s a testament to human ingenuity and endurance as well as bold film-making and goes some way to substantiate theories of potential trans-continental communication beyond the old world of Europe.