Lesson 25:Journey of the Kon-Tiki

Heyerdahl studied drawings from hundreds
of years ago, when the Spanish came to South
America. He wanted to find out exactly what kind
of materials and building methods people in South
America used to make rafts back then. Heyerdahl
was determined to build a raft exactly like one
those early people might have built.
The crew made their raft from balsa wood,
which is plentiful in South America. They tied
together nine huge tree trunks. Each one was
about 45 feet long and 2 feet wide. They laid
other logs crosswise to make the raft stronger.
They wedged pieces of pine between the logs
to fill any big gaps.
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