Let's Talk About the Kon Tiki Expedition

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Weird World Adventures, the podcast. I'm your host, Mallory. [00:00:12] Speaker B: And I'm your host, Michael. [00:00:14] Speaker A: And we're here to show you just how weird this world of ours really is. I don't think it's fair because I had to read you this opener and I was sassing you before about me having to, you know, call you out for laughing. Because you called me out for laughing last time. [00:00:29] Speaker B: No, I'm a professional. [00:00:32] Speaker A: Well, you're laughing right now. [00:00:34] Speaker B: No, I'm good. [00:00:35] Speaker A: Are you? Mm. What are we gonna talk about today, Michael? [00:00:40] Speaker B: What are we gonna talk about today, Mallory? [00:00:42] Speaker A: You don't want to tell us? The 1947 Kon Tiki Expedition? Why are we gonna talk about it? [00:00:49] Speaker B: Because I made a smart purchase. [00:00:52] Speaker A: Yeah, you did. [00:00:53] Speaker B: Yeah, I did. [00:00:53] Speaker A: If you didn't tune into the ECAD episode, you wouldn't know that Michael bid on a piece of the Kon Tiki. [00:01:00] Speaker B: Bid and won. [00:01:01] Speaker A: Bid and won a piece of the Kon Tiki, which now lives here at our house. [00:01:08] Speaker B: It does. [00:01:08] Speaker A: It does. He was really excited. Now tell everyone how you know about. [00:01:13] Speaker B: Why don't we start with what it even. [00:01:15] Speaker A: All right, all right, all right. I think this is so interesting. Okay. It was, As I said, 1947 expedition. It was 101 day, 4300 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean on a raft led by Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl. [00:01:37] Speaker B: Heyerdahl. [00:01:37] Speaker A: Heyerdahl. He used a balsa wood raft. That's crazy, by the way. Built with ancient techniques. And he aimed to prove that South Americans could have settled Polynesia, showcasing incredible bravery and navigating exclusively via ocean currents and winds. [00:01:57] Speaker B: So his whole thing was, he thought, like his theory, his pet theory, was that Polynesia was originally settled from South America or that to Asia. [00:02:13] Speaker A: Right. Or at least that the South Americans could have made it there. [00:02:17] Speaker B: Okay. [00:02:18] Speaker A: And. And early settled there. [00:02:21] Speaker B: Got it. [00:02:22] Speaker A: But I mean, I think genetically they kind of proved it was Asia. But that was his theory. [00:02:27] Speaker B: Yeah. Would they have. [00:02:29] Speaker A: This was 1947. I don't think they would. [00:02:31] Speaker B: They wouldn't have been able to know the genetics yet. Right. I mean, I'm sure they. When could we do genetic testing? I'd actually. [00:02:39] Speaker A: I don't know when did genetic testing. [00:02:44] Speaker B: But when he would. When he had this area, I think he was the outlier already. [00:02:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it sounds like it. It was the 50s, so it wasn't quite there with the discovery of chromosome abnormalities and the cause of down syndrome. So it was a little bit stereotyping. [00:03:01] Speaker B: Though. [00:03:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:02] Speaker B: That wouldn't have been ancestral genetic typing. You know, like down syndrome. You can see the actual chromosomes. [00:03:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:03:12] Speaker B: Being the problem. [00:03:14] Speaker A: Right. [00:03:15] Speaker B: Trisomy three of them. But to tell someone's ancestor, you'd have to be able to, I think, read the chromosomes. [00:03:26] Speaker A: Right. So this is. This is. [00:03:27] Speaker B: This is before. [00:03:29] Speaker A: Yes. So he believed that the Polynesian islands were once settled by pre Incan populations from Peru. Contrary. Contrary to the popular belief of Southeast Asian origin. [00:03:43] Speaker B: Okay, so at his time, it was plausible, but, yeah. The prevailing theory was South Asia. [00:03:52] Speaker A: Yes. [00:03:53] Speaker B: Okay. [00:03:53] Speaker A: It wasn't disproven, and that was his theory. [00:03:56] Speaker B: Got it. [00:03:56] Speaker A: But, yeah, the predominant was, like, still Southeast Asia. [00:04:00] Speaker B: Proof of concept. [00:04:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:02] Speaker B: It could have been done. [00:04:03] Speaker A: What a ballsy move. [00:04:05] Speaker B: That's a hell of a way to try to prove your pet theory and not prove it. Even if you do, even if you're able to do it. Just proves that it could be done. Not that it was. [00:04:16] Speaker A: Right. Well, I think he just wanted to prove that it could be done. I mean, it was named Kon Tiki after the Incan sun God, Viracocha. [00:04:27] Speaker B: Viracocha. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Viracocha. The vessel was constructed from nine balsa logs from Ecuador. So we're committing to this. [00:04:35] Speaker B: What is balsa? [00:04:37] Speaker A: Balsa. Would. We used to. Okay, this is gonna be. [00:04:39] Speaker B: I can't picture it in my head. I know. This is gonna go great on an audio format. [00:04:45] Speaker A: I know. Exceptionally lightweight, soft hardwood, renowned for its strength to weight ratio. So it's good for models because it, like, gives a lot of give. Okay. So I know balsa wood rods. This is gonna sound really crazy, because my freshman year acting class in college, our instructor's thing was, like, you have to know your lines like it's your life, basically. Like, there's no thought into it. Like, it has to be just second nature. [00:05:14] Speaker B: Live the art. [00:05:15] Speaker A: Right. Well, I mean, you can't think about the line. It has to just come out. So. So we would have to run our lines, and we had to bring in these two balsa wood sticks, and we would throw the balsa wood sticks, like, juggling back and forth to our partners while we were saying our lines so that you knew, like, you couldn't think about it. You just knew them instinctively, and you're, like, focusing on throwing the sticks. That's how I know balsa wood. What a bull. [00:05:41] Speaker B: What a. It's funny. [00:05:45] Speaker A: Mm. [00:05:46] Speaker B: That's funny to me. You must know. Please come out. You don't have to. You can't think about it. It just has to be so ingrained in you, which would be indistinguishable from how I would do it, which is I also wouldn't know my lines, and they would just come out, and I would have no talent at all. [00:06:04] Speaker A: But then your scene partner would be very confused when you said the wrong thing. [00:06:08] Speaker B: Well, they'd be focusing on my balsa wood. They wouldn't even notice I'd be hurling that balsa wood at them. They wouldn't even know what was happening. [00:06:16] Speaker A: I wish I still had it. [00:06:17] Speaker B: Making up. Total bullshit. [00:06:19] Speaker A: They had to be, like, a distinctive size, like, width and length, and we would just juggle them back and forth. [00:06:26] Speaker B: It's how we do the podcast, by the way. Yeah, we prep. So, like, I live this podcast, and it just comes out every week. The topic is so ingrained in me. I'm just hurling balsa wood at you, [00:06:41] Speaker A: and then if you dropped it, you had to start over. I've never heard. Oh, there's another. I have a. Okay, this is a tangent. We're going off on a tangent right now, but this is good. [00:06:51] Speaker B: Oh, are we. [00:06:51] Speaker A: This is good. This is good. So we kept those sticks, I think, into my. This was definitely. No, it was still freshman year, but we had a Parent teacher day where my professor invited the parents in to see what we were doing in class. Right. [00:07:07] Speaker B: In college. [00:07:07] Speaker A: In college. I don't know. We were a very small, weird class. It was at vcu. We, like, went in the big room we weren't normally in because our parents were all coming in. And we did this exercise because you had to build trust and be comfortable with everybody around you and your body. I know, I know. And so you would have your balsa wood sticks and you, like. So one. One partner would be blindfolded. Just be blind. [00:07:31] Speaker B: And juggling. Bolster. [00:07:32] Speaker A: No, no, you're not juggling anymore. [00:07:33] Speaker B: Okay. [00:07:34] Speaker A: The other person would. Your partner would stand behind you and put the sticks up against your back and move you forward, and you walk together, and we're all moving around each other. And they would tell you, like, okay, go right. Like, by poking you with the stick and go left. So they had to steer you. Yes. [00:07:47] Speaker B: Cattle prods. Balsa. [00:07:49] Speaker A: Yes. So they'd steer you with the balsa wood, and you'd have to weave in or out of each other. And, like, not. And no one. The weird thing is no one got hurt. Except for Parent Teacher Day, because, you know. So the teacher. The parents came in, and that's the day that someone gets hurt. Right? Because there was this girl that our professor just hate. And she just, I don't know, wasn't paying attention on parent day and walked her partner into the wall in front of all the parents. [00:08:13] Speaker B: Walked her into a wall. [00:08:14] Speaker A: Into the wall. [00:08:16] Speaker B: You're gonna see the wall, right? [00:08:19] Speaker A: I mean, that had to be intentional. Right? But he was furious and we were like, well, I mean, she walked her into a wall. [00:08:24] Speaker B: I also need to invest in a pair of balsa wood sticks and just herd you around the house to do chores. It's time for the dishes. [00:08:32] Speaker A: Wow. [00:08:33] Speaker B: Sweetheart, I'm just gonna move you here. I'm nudging. Do the dishes. [00:08:39] Speaker A: Monster. Anyway, that's how I know. [00:08:42] Speaker B: So it's a great material. [00:08:43] Speaker A: It's a great material. [00:08:43] Speaker B: You can make a raft and go on a solo expedition 4300 miles across the Pacific or you can herd your wife around and get her to do the right choice. [00:08:54] Speaker A: Wow. Wow. You took the wrong lessons out of this. [00:08:59] Speaker B: So these are my viracocca. [00:09:02] Speaker A: Viracocca. [00:09:03] Speaker B: Viracocca. [00:09:04] Speaker A: Balsamic sticks on theme. I say because he names it after the Incan sun God. Peru. Got some balsa logs from Ecuador. [00:09:13] Speaker B: Let's just say one more thing about parent teacher day. [00:09:16] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [00:09:17] Speaker B: If I was the parent and I was coming in for the like, here's. Look at what we're doing with your college tuition money for your kid. And someone's herding around my kid with balsa. [00:09:31] Speaker A: Wow. [00:09:32] Speaker B: I just got scammed for like $100,000. What am I, what have I been paying for? Yeah, that's the kind of thing you maybe don't want to showcase. [00:09:45] Speaker A: I don't remember what else we even showcased. I just remember that because the girl was locked into the wall. [00:09:50] Speaker B: Yeah, that's. I'm sure all anybody that went to that parent teacher day remembers. That is the only thing that was remembered. That and maybe the. The irritation of knowing how much money you just spent on this clearly valuable diploma. [00:10:07] Speaker A: Oh my God. So good. Anyways, so the Kon Tiki. [00:10:10] Speaker B: Yes. [00:10:10] Speaker A: Was a six man crew, including people. [00:10:14] Speaker B: I thought it was just this guy. [00:10:16] Speaker A: That's because you watched [00:10:19] Speaker B: a bad intro to it. [00:10:21] Speaker A: So this guy Thor there was also a navigator, an engineer. What kind of engineer do you need [00:10:27] Speaker B: on a, on a raft maintaining all this high tech balsa wood equipment? [00:10:33] Speaker A: A telegraph operator. So I guess he had two telegraph operators. And they must have had a telegraph machine on there. So maybe that's why they needed engineers. And a sociologist. [00:10:43] Speaker B: Three people to do that job. [00:10:45] Speaker A: And a sociologist. [00:10:47] Speaker B: That's also interesting. [00:10:49] Speaker A: So this, I mean, how big was the raft? I need to ask that question now. I wish. I want to see it. Like people size. [00:10:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:56] Speaker A: It has to be huge. It was 45ft long and 20ft wide. [00:11:03] Speaker B: Okay. [00:11:04] Speaker A: So I mean, that's not. It's not huge for six people. [00:11:09] Speaker B: I wouldn't want to live on it with six feet. [00:11:10] Speaker A: I mean, did they tie themselves to like the raft when they does it? Oh, yeah, it does have a little hut. Weird. Has this tiny little hut on the back of it. [00:11:23] Speaker B: Do you think someone's awake the whole time? [00:11:25] Speaker A: Like you're sipping shit? You have to, right? [00:11:27] Speaker B: You can't all be. [00:11:28] Speaker A: I mean, isn't there always someone, like on all pirate ships, in the ships in the crow's nest Nest? I guess, man. [00:11:33] Speaker B: Wow. What? [00:11:34] Speaker A: I'm dying. [00:11:35] Speaker B: Isn't there shitting in the crow's nest? [00:11:38] Speaker A: Isn't there always someone in the crow's nest? [00:11:40] Speaker B: I don't know. I guess. Seems like you would always have. [00:11:43] Speaker A: I feel like that's also like pirate law. [00:11:46] Speaker B: Pirate law? [00:11:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:48] Speaker B: There was a distinct lack of law in pirate culture. [00:11:54] Speaker A: See, yes. Traditionally when a ship was at sea, the crow's nest was meant to be manned by a barrelman at all times, especially when people are sleeping. So you're gonna have somebody on lookout. Yeah, definitely. So a six man crew on this relatively small raft. Yeah, yeah. The journey was from April 28 to August 7, 1947. The raft left Caillou, Peru, and was towed out to the Humboldt Current by the Peruvian Navy. [00:12:32] Speaker B: It's a funny use of the Navy to me. [00:12:35] Speaker A: I know. We're gonna tow it out by the [00:12:37] Speaker B: navy right after World War II. Well, we have all these ships we made for the war and not a lot to do now that the war is over. [00:12:46] Speaker A: So we're gonna. [00:12:47] Speaker B: So let's just tow this raft out here. [00:12:50] Speaker A: So they had to be towed into the well, but I mean, the early civilizations in Latin America weren't gonna be towed out by the Navy. [00:12:58] Speaker B: That's a good point. So doesn't that not prove this yet? [00:13:01] Speaker A: Because it wouldn't prove it to me. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Because you didn't. Yeah. [00:13:05] Speaker A: You didn't do it on your own. You were towed out by the Navy. [00:13:09] Speaker B: Well, totally plausible if this battleship just brings him into the current. [00:13:15] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:16] Speaker B: So once you're there, you're good. It's great, right? [00:13:20] Speaker A: That seems like. It seems. [00:13:22] Speaker B: Doesn't seem problematic. [00:13:24] Speaker A: It seems problematic to me. [00:13:25] Speaker B: Look, I'm no expert, but I watched Castaway and I'm pretty sure one of the Hard parts of getting off the island was getting out of the island, right? [00:13:33] Speaker A: You have to get away from all the waves. Like you have to get through the tide, right? Yeah, yeah, Right. [00:13:39] Speaker B: If the ship just pulls them out there, done deal. [00:13:42] Speaker A: Right. [00:13:44] Speaker B: Wilson would still be with us. [00:13:45] Speaker A: Poor Wilson. [00:13:46] Speaker B: Wilson would still be with us. [00:13:47] Speaker A: I cried when I was. I was like eight when that came out. [00:13:50] Speaker B: It is a ball. [00:13:51] Speaker A: It was. It was a ball. It was like. It was like a stuffy. Right? You're like, I feel for this. [00:13:57] Speaker B: You're a bad example because this is a middle aged woman now who sleeps with not one, but two stuffed animals that she's had since probably about eight. [00:14:08] Speaker A: Yeah. Wishbone I got when I was eight. [00:14:10] Speaker B: Yeah, it looks like it. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Wow. You take that back. We all love Wishbone. We're all gonna watch the Wishbone documentary. [00:14:17] Speaker B: Who is this we? [00:14:20] Speaker A: Everyone loves Wishbone except for you. That was. It was the greatest. That's how I learned all about the classic literature and then it made me want to read. I'm just saying, I feel like this [00:14:31] Speaker B: is mentioned once an episode at least. [00:14:33] Speaker A: He played Raoul, the Vicomte de Chagny in Phantom of. [00:14:36] Speaker B: I'm pretty sure we mentioned this last time. [00:14:38] Speaker A: Well, we love Wish. [00:14:40] Speaker B: We're talking about the Contiki. Maybe he can do the Contiki and I'll watch that. [00:14:44] Speaker A: I would watch that. I would watch that. Maybe he did. It sounds like the book was well received. So the crew. [00:14:54] Speaker B: My mom bought me the book. It's downstairs. [00:14:56] Speaker A: So good. The crew faced sharks. I mean, that has to be brutal on that raft, right? Faced sharks. They like. [00:15:04] Speaker B: I mean, I'm sure they just leave you alone on a raft. They're not gonna bother you. [00:15:08] Speaker A: I mean, they faced sharks. That's what it says. [00:15:12] Speaker B: But what does that mean? Sure. They're in the ocean with you. [00:15:15] Speaker A: I mean, I feel like they're probably attacking the raft. It depends on the shark. Have you seen Jaws? [00:15:20] Speaker B: I have. They're gonna need a bigger raft. [00:15:24] Speaker A: Yeah. They faced massive storms, which sounds horrifying. And the constant slow drifting at the mercy of the ocean isn't part of the problem. [00:15:36] Speaker B: They kind of got stuck in the doldrums. [00:15:38] Speaker A: I think they did. [00:15:40] Speaker B: And they just can't move because there's nothing. It's just a. It's a raft with a sail on it. [00:15:47] Speaker A: Everyone's gonna hear the lovely typing of my hands. Yeah, I got stuck in the doldrums. [00:15:51] Speaker B: Yeah. See ya. [00:15:52] Speaker A: But it did not remain there forever. Well, I would sure hope not. Thank you, Google, for That. [00:15:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I know what the doldrums are. [00:15:59] Speaker A: So after they left the coast of Peru, they encountered areas with little to no wind where their raft drifted slowly at the mercy of the currents. [00:16:06] Speaker B: Now I know what the doldrums are. [00:16:08] Speaker A: Yeah. How? [00:16:09] Speaker B: Phantom Tollbooth. [00:16:10] Speaker A: Did you ever see the Phantom Tollbooth? What? [00:16:14] Speaker B: What a blemish on your record. [00:16:16] Speaker A: Well, hey, you have it downstairs. Wishbone. [00:16:18] Speaker B: I have it downstairs. [00:16:19] Speaker A: Okay. [00:16:19] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:19] Speaker A: The Doldrums. [00:16:20] Speaker B: Yeah. You haven't. The kid that goes through the Lord Phantom Tollbooth and he's in a cartoon world. It's Eddie Munster. [00:16:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. I've never seen that. Weird. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Yeah. There's nothing to do in the doldrums. [00:16:37] Speaker A: It's also, like, used for an emotional state now, too. Right? It's like a metaphor. [00:16:42] Speaker B: It's not from phantom. I mean, I just. [00:16:44] Speaker A: No, no, no, I know. So they spent time waiting for constant winds to catch their sail to move them westward towards Polynesia. During the slow periods, they were surrounded by marine life and sharks, which they observed from the raft. [00:17:00] Speaker B: See, now they just observed them in this report. [00:17:02] Speaker A: I know. Despite this, they survived for 101 days and managed to reach the Tuamatu Islands by relying on the Humboldt current and prevailing trade winds. So let's go back here. So they face sharks, observed sharks, massive storms, and the constant slow drifting mercy of the ocean. [00:17:26] Speaker B: I'm not saying it's not ballsy. It seems like a terrible idea. [00:17:30] Speaker A: It gets crazier, too. They relied on fishing and collecting rainwater, all while documenting the behavior of the marine life. So at least they're doing some other research while they're there. Right. We're gonna document the marine life, but I mean, just collecting rainwater and eating the fish, I mean, that's. [00:17:48] Speaker B: How else would you do it, though, back then? [00:17:51] Speaker A: I mean, I think you could bring water. They just did a raft, so it's not really gonna work. They can't bring that much. Right. [00:17:56] Speaker B: Well, they probably brought some water and then relied on it getting refilled. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So after 101 days, the raft crashed into the reef at Raroiya Atoll. Rawario. [00:18:10] Speaker B: Sure. You nailed that. [00:18:11] Speaker A: I nailed it. And the Tuamatu Islands, completing the journey. [00:18:15] Speaker B: Atolls are fun. [00:18:16] Speaker A: Atolls. What's an atoll, Michael? [00:18:19] Speaker B: It's like an island with a hole in it. [00:18:22] Speaker A: Yeah, like a donut. [00:18:23] Speaker B: It looks like a donut. [00:18:24] Speaker A: Okay. [00:18:25] Speaker B: I don't think they have to be donut shaped, but I think it has [00:18:28] Speaker A: to have a hole. Weird, weird, weird. So their legacy and the reason that it's so well remembered is the journey proved that a primitive pre Columbian raft could actually make the journey. Though modern genetic and linguistic evidence suggests that Polynesians originated from Asia, which was the prevailing. Yes. With only limited early contact from South America. So. So he proved that that could have happened. [00:19:01] Speaker B: Well, if you had a navy. [00:19:02] Speaker A: If you had a navy. I was going to say that. I was going to say that, but it still likely did not. But he. I mean, it was such a PR stunt at the time that his book the Kon Tiki Expedition became an international bestseller. And the 1950 documentary won an Academy Award. [00:19:21] Speaker B: I didn't even know there was a documentary. [00:19:23] Speaker A: I know you have to watch this [00:19:24] Speaker B: won an Academy Award. [00:19:25] Speaker A: And if it's 1950, I'm sure it has all the people in it because it's fresh. So, yeah, I would love to. [00:19:29] Speaker B: They would have just done it. [00:19:30] Speaker A: I wonder what a documentary from the 50s would even look like. I would love to watch that. [00:19:35] Speaker B: Like an old movie, wouldn't it? [00:19:37] Speaker A: I know, but I've never seen any because I've never seen a documentary. I mean, is the style, like, different than a modern documentary? Like, I've never seen a documentary from that time, I guess. [00:19:47] Speaker B: I'm sure Vanna Herzog. [00:19:48] Speaker A: I know. [00:19:49] Speaker B: My boy. [00:19:50] Speaker A: Your boy. The original raft is preserved at the Kontiki Museum in Norway in Oslo. And I. [00:20:01] Speaker B: It's Oslo. [00:20:02] Speaker A: Oslo. [00:20:03] Speaker B: It's Oslo. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Oslo. Oswald. Wow. Wow. [00:20:09] Speaker B: So I'm guessing you haven't been there. [00:20:10] Speaker A: I have not. You know, I always wanted to go to Norway. I've made it to Finland. I could have hopped over, but I didn't. [00:20:18] Speaker B: Well, should have seen the Contiki. [00:20:21] Speaker A: I know. Well, now I missed opportunity. I need to go next time to Sweden, to the Abbe Museum and then to Norway. [00:20:32] Speaker B: What a reason. What a reason. [00:20:34] Speaker A: How can you not go to the ABBA Museum? [00:20:36] Speaker B: I could go and not. [00:20:40] Speaker A: So the. The museum there, I know, is kind of run by some people from the Explorers Club, which is how they get pieces of the Kon Tiki. And my first, I guess, interaction experience with the Kandiki was at the Explorers Club. I did not know what it was. It was my first ECAD. So 2023, and Steve Elkins just comes down with a piece of, like a huge piece of it. It was like this big, going like, hey, everybody, look at this piece of the. Hold it. This is a piece of the Kon Tiki. You ever think you're gonna be able to hold a piece of the Kon Tiki again? You should hold it and, like, how to hold it. [00:21:15] Speaker B: Where are those? For those listeners who couldn't see her as she said, it was this big. [00:21:21] Speaker A: Wow. [00:21:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And held up something to me. It was about three feet in length. [00:21:26] Speaker A: I have a pregnancy brain. [00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Okay. [00:21:28] Speaker B: It was this big. [00:21:29] Speaker A: It was this big. I feel like that expression just tells you how big it is. [00:21:34] Speaker B: But you held up this big. You held up a hand gesture with my excitement. Yeah. [00:21:41] Speaker A: Three feet. [00:21:42] Speaker B: It was about three feet. [00:21:44] Speaker A: And he was very. He was very proud of it. And he, like, told us we had to hold it because it was such an important thing. So we all had. So they have this huge piece of the Contique giraffe. Touch it at the Explorers Club in their archives. And I think they just keep cutting off a piece of it to give out every year or to. Sorry. To auction off. Every year. [00:22:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:03] Speaker A: In a pretty fancy box. [00:22:04] Speaker B: It was in a fancy box. [00:22:06] Speaker A: It was. And Michael got it. [00:22:08] Speaker B: I got it. [00:22:08] Speaker A: He won it. [00:22:09] Speaker B: I won it. [00:22:09] Speaker A: Now it's in our library. [00:22:10] Speaker B: It's in our library. [00:22:12] Speaker A: A piece of the Kon Tiki. [00:22:13] Speaker B: I really was worried I was gonna have a lot of buyers remorse the next day about that. [00:22:17] Speaker A: I know you were so worried about it, but you didn't. [00:22:19] Speaker B: And then I didn't. [00:22:20] Speaker A: You felt so good about it. I was proud. I didn't want to stop you because I was supposed to be the responsible one. I didn't want to stop you because you were so excited. [00:22:30] Speaker B: There goes our kids college money. [00:22:33] Speaker A: Everyone else was like, oh, that's so cool. [00:22:35] Speaker B: I know. Yeah. I didn't have any buyers remorse about it. [00:22:37] Speaker A: No. [00:22:37] Speaker B: I usually do. I'm not. I'm not a. I'm not a spender. I'm not a buy stuff for me kind of guy. [00:22:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:45] Speaker B: As you know. Yes. You know, I worry about. I would. I would. I would worry about buying too many just books for a few bucks, you know? [00:22:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:22:56] Speaker B: But, yeah, I don't know. Just. I guess whatever itch I wanted, it stayed itchy. [00:23:02] Speaker A: It hit that good spot. [00:23:05] Speaker B: It's the collector, maybe. I like collecting stuff. [00:23:07] Speaker A: The collecting is very cool. I'm a collector. [00:23:10] Speaker B: It just seems like I'm collecting a piece of history that goes in our library. [00:23:13] Speaker A: Yeah. All right. I got this fun piece that is Five Fascinating Facts. That's about the film, though. We don't want to talk about the kind. I want five fascinating texts, you know? You know what I always say about the podcast? [00:23:32] Speaker B: I say you just gotta. You have to live it. [00:23:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:23:35] Speaker B: That's just. Come Out. And you're gonna pull up this fact sheet. That's not even the right kon Tiki. You are dropping that balsa wood all over the place. I'm hurling that balsa wood at you. You're just like, I can't keep it up. [00:23:49] Speaker A: Thanks. Wow. Wow. I'm living it. So the construction. I just think this is interesting. Okay. [00:23:56] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:56] Speaker A: Okay. The main body of the float was composed of nine balsa tree trunks. This is saying they're tree trunks. Okay. Up to 14 meters long and lashed together with 30 millimeter hemp ropes, which you have a piece of here. [00:24:12] Speaker B: Cross cut down a few, like, legit trees. When I was younger, in a very. We don't know what we're doing. This is very unsafe kind of way, we built a paintball field by one of my friends. He lived kind of in the middle of nowhere in high school. [00:24:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:27] Speaker B: And there was. It wasn't a river. It was like a creek. But it had been there long enough where if there wasn't water in it, you know, if it hadn't rained in a while, it was probably eight feet. Like, you could fully. An adult could fully stand in the bed and the banks would be over your head. [00:24:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:48] Speaker B: So we built. We wanted to build a bridge over it because it kind of traversed where we wanted the paintball field. So we wanted, like, a bridge to cross the gap. So we cut down just some actual giant trees out there. [00:25:00] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:25:01] Speaker B: With a few hand saws. And it was. I think we had two handsaws. We were, like, cutting it from both sides, taking turns, and it was like eight guys trying to. We also just needed it to fall over the river. It's not like we were gonna be able to move the tree once it fell. So we cut it and just push it. There was, like eight of us rocking this, like, giant. You know, just a full giant tree. [00:25:28] Speaker A: Seems like a great idea. [00:25:29] Speaker B: It was a terrible idea. It worked. It worked. We did it. We did it twice because we needed two trees. [00:25:34] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:25:35] Speaker B: And then we went to Lowe's and bought plywood planks and just nailed them to the two trees. It worked. But there was a. There was a moment there while the trees rocking back is, you know, teetering. Like it wants to go down. And it. Like, we're almost there. And then it rocks all the way back. You're like, no, no, no, it's the wrong way. [00:25:53] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:25:54] Speaker B: It was close. It was a close. It was a close call. [00:25:56] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:25:58] Speaker B: Times two. Anyway. [00:26:00] Speaker A: That's terrible. Horrifying. [00:26:02] Speaker B: Good times. [00:26:03] Speaker A: So this is the part that I think's interesting. The supplies. So here we go. We can elaborate on. So they did carry 1,040 liters of drinking water. [00:26:13] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. [00:26:14] Speaker A: 56 water cans. [00:26:17] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. [00:26:17] Speaker A: In 56 water cans. As well as a number of sealed bamboo rods. The purpose stated by Heyerdah. Heyerdahl. Sorry, Heyerdahl. For carrying modern and ancient containers was to test the effectiveness of ancient water storage in the bamboo. [00:26:34] Speaker B: Okay. [00:26:35] Speaker A: So for food, the KON Tiki carried 200 coconuts, sweet potatoes. [00:26:40] Speaker B: That's a lot of coconuts. [00:26:41] Speaker A: Bottle cords and other assorted fruit and roots. And then I guess they fish. [00:26:47] Speaker B: So stuff they would have had. [00:26:48] Speaker A: Yeah, they're trying to, like, recreate. [00:26:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:51] Speaker A: That's a ballsy move. [00:26:54] Speaker B: Mm. [00:26:55] Speaker A: Anyway, the US Army Quartermaster Corps provided field rations. Well, that's. That seems like it's cheating. Field rations. 10. Food and survival equipment, maybe just in case. And in return, the Contigu explorers reported on the quality and utility of the proficients. [00:27:13] Speaker B: Okay. [00:27:14] Speaker A: So they reviewed it. [00:27:15] Speaker B: They're reviewing it. Nice. [00:27:16] Speaker A: It reminds me of Jimmy's MRE. [00:27:19] Speaker B: I was just gonna say the MRE reviews. [00:27:20] Speaker A: Please go back on MallorySadventures.com if you haven't, and just search MRE. Because my friend Jimmy decided to live off of these MRE army meals for, [00:27:33] Speaker B: like, months, he decided, but was also in a position where he was hiding out. [00:27:39] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. [00:27:40] Speaker B: In his room for a few months. [00:27:41] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:42] Speaker B: He literally thrust upon him the opportunity was thrust upon him. [00:27:47] Speaker A: These are, like the hardcore camping military provisions that don't need to be cooked. Like, they have everything they need. And he did a review of. [00:27:57] Speaker B: Well, they are military rations. [00:27:59] Speaker A: That's what I mean. And he reviewed it, and it was comical, I think. I asked him how it was going, and he actually sent me a breakdown of every meal he had. And it was very comical, though. Like, he elaborately described his experience with each and every one. I got a daily update. [00:28:22] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:23] Speaker A: And I put it together. I was like, can I please use these? And I put it together as two articles, so they're worth it. [00:28:31] Speaker B: It's fun. [00:28:31] Speaker A: They are very stream of consciousness and very hilarious, and you definitely need to read it. But anyway, so they sent the MREs for reviews. [00:28:40] Speaker B: So he did it too. [00:28:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:43] Speaker B: Hair doll. So needs memories. [00:28:45] Speaker A: On the Contiki, they also caught plentiful numbers of fish. Ooh. Particularly flying fish. Weird, weird dolphin fish. Yellow finish. [00:28:56] Speaker B: Definitely think you have to catch them. [00:28:58] Speaker A: I don't. I feel like they would just fly [00:29:00] Speaker B: onto the raft because they're not gonna. [00:29:01] Speaker A: They're like leaping. [00:29:02] Speaker B: Yeah. They're not gonna know what a raft. They're not gonna have evolved to avoid rafts. [00:29:06] Speaker A: No, of course not. They definitely. Probably just. Well, that was an easy fish, right? [00:29:10] Speaker B: I wonder how many are out there for that to happen, though. [00:29:13] Speaker A: Apparently a lot to be noted. [00:29:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I guess so. [00:29:16] Speaker A: And then they also ate sharks. [00:29:18] Speaker B: I thought they were just observing the sharks. [00:29:20] Speaker A: They ate them too, apparently. I'm hearing so many conflicted things about these sharks. [00:29:23] Speaker B: It started with the sharks eating them maybe. [00:29:26] Speaker A: Now they're maybe eating the sharks. [00:29:27] Speaker B: So them watching the sharks and now they're eating the sharks. [00:29:31] Speaker A: They were equipped with watertight sports wristwatches manufactured by Swiss watchmaker from Eterna. And then after the journey, Eterna decided to brand their sports watches as Kon Tiki. [00:29:46] Speaker B: I need to get a Kon Tiki sports watch for memorabilia too. My next unnecessary purchase. [00:29:53] Speaker A: Yeah, that sounds like a good raid. [00:29:56] Speaker B: The other kids. [00:29:57] Speaker A: You'll have this whole Contiki theme going on. The expedition carried an amateur radio station with the call sign of LI2B, operated by former World War II Norwegian Resistance Radio operators. Wow, that's like. [00:30:11] Speaker B: That's very specific. [00:30:13] Speaker A: Yeah. Interesting. So they were. They were like in constant communication. Their transmitters were powered by batteries and a hand crank generator. Wow. Wow. Each unit was water resistant, used two E30 vacuum tubes, and provided approximately 6 watts of RF output, the equivalent of a small flashlight. Well, that sounds interesting. And. Oh, it like shows kind of the. The voyage there. Anyway, we've covered a lot about the Kon Tiki voyage. We don't need to go into anything crazy. I wanted. I wanted to know more about their rations. To be honest, I don't know why that was really just. [00:30:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Now I have to know which MRE Higher doll thought was the best. [00:31:01] Speaker A: Yeah, you do. [00:31:02] Speaker B: You do compare it with Jimmy's notes. [00:31:04] Speaker A: But you need to tell everyone how you know about the Kon Tiki because you didn't do that. [00:31:08] Speaker B: I feel like I did it the other one. [00:31:09] Speaker A: You might have, but some people might not have heard it. [00:31:12] Speaker B: Well, go back and listen. [00:31:13] Speaker A: Wow. [00:31:16] Speaker B: I know it from an episode of Curb youb Enthusiasm. [00:31:19] Speaker A: Yeah, you do. [00:31:20] Speaker B: Where he happens to go and see the play. The Contiki. [00:31:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:31:25] Speaker B: Which Is that even a real play or is that also just fabulous? [00:31:28] Speaker A: No, I think it was a guy's one man show. So I think in. [00:31:30] Speaker B: So that was a. [00:31:31] Speaker A: In the thing. This guy just put together. A one man show. Yeah, about Being Thor Heyerdah. [00:31:38] Speaker B: But that is a real show. [00:31:39] Speaker A: No, no, no. I think this guy just put it [00:31:41] Speaker B: together for the episode. [00:31:42] Speaker A: For the episode? [00:31:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. That's what I'm asking. [00:31:44] Speaker A: I think so. I think that was the point was this guy put a one man. Cuz. One man shows. [00:31:48] Speaker B: What do you mean this guy though? I mean, it's Clive Owen is. [00:31:50] Speaker A: Yeah. Clive Owens character. Is it him or is it his character he's playing? [00:31:54] Speaker B: Clive Owen. Yeah, he is Clyboan, but he's like playing a fictionalized douchebag version of Clive Owen, I hope, because. Yeah, it's like his one man play. I guess that's why I thought Thor was the only one on the Contiki. Because it's my exposure to the Contiki. Yeah. [00:32:17] Speaker A: That's doesn't sound like. Yeah, so. No, there is. So he just. [00:32:20] Speaker B: From an episode of Curb your Enthusiasm. [00:32:22] Speaker A: Yeah, on Curb. He made like the one man show. And he's angry because he's not getting recognized. [00:32:28] Speaker B: He's not getting. [00:32:28] Speaker A: Didn't Larry not praise him? [00:32:30] Speaker B: Yeah, not adequately. He gets very offended. [00:32:35] Speaker A: And it's the one where they have the fake. The crier. Yeah, the crier. And they put her in the audience. [00:32:39] Speaker B: He starts dating the girl because she's. She's a. She's a hired crier. [00:32:44] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:45] Speaker B: And he thinks it's legit and he's getting the praise he wants, the tears he wants from his performance. And they start dating and then he realizes, you know, it's just good stuff. It's just good stuff. Go check it out. [00:32:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:55] Speaker B: But anyways, that's. Yes, that's my exposure to Kon Tiki. [00:32:58] Speaker A: Very nice. Very nice. Well, I hope you learned about the Kon Tiki today and balsa wood and [00:33:06] Speaker B: why you should definitely pursue a theater arts degree at VCU so you can throw those balsa wood logs at each other. [00:33:13] Speaker A: Hey, theater. VCU gave us some love. They had some good teachers. [00:33:16] Speaker B: No, they didn't. [00:33:17] Speaker A: My time there, I will say I'm [00:33:19] Speaker B: gonna prodding you around the house with [00:33:20] Speaker A: some bulls in it too. I will say my time there, it was a lot of people from Broadway. I feel like we got good training. We had some. [00:33:28] Speaker B: I'm sure you did. I know there's something funny to me about the idea of having a parent visit day and showcasing. Prodding each other around with sticks. [00:33:42] Speaker A: The arts are weird. You also do the trust faults. You do all the stereotypical roll your eyes stuff. And we had to wear all black. [00:33:51] Speaker B: That's awesome. [00:33:51] Speaker A: We had to neutralize our emotions so people don't look at you and judge you based on your character. So you had to wear all black. So we were those weird theater kids walking around. Oh, look, that whole group of people is wearing all black. It's the theater. And they were like, specific, like, T shirts. They can't be like. It can't be like wife beaters, like long sleeve, like short to long sleeve T shirts at a specific whatever, like black sweatpants or movement pants. Like, it was very specific. Very, very specific. [00:34:18] Speaker B: It's funny because I do wear all black to work now. [00:34:22] Speaker A: You do. [00:34:23] Speaker B: And I sit in a dark room. [00:34:24] Speaker A: Yep. [00:34:25] Speaker B: Every day. [00:34:26] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:34:27] Speaker B: Not just all black. I wear the same. I have multiple outfits of the same black outfit. [00:34:31] Speaker A: Yep. Same pair of black scrubs. It's really nice, though. I like black scrubs. They're very nice. They have your name on it, though. We weren't allowed to have any, like, flare or identifying anything. You need 18 pieces of flare, right? Oh, my God. [00:34:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:34:46] Speaker A: Come on, Office Space. Yeah. Yeah. [00:34:49] Speaker B: You only know that because I made you watch. [00:34:51] Speaker A: That's true. I hadn't seen it. Thank you guys so much for tuning into Weird World Adventures, the podcast. For those of you who have not watched yet, be sure to go to Amazon prime and watch. Weird World Adventures. Season 2 is out now on Prime. It's streaming free internationally and you can stream it free in the US via the Fawsome app, which is on Roku Fire tv, Apple tv, all that good stuff. So just if you put Weird World Adventures into your television. [00:35:21] Speaker B: Weird World Adventures. [00:35:22] Speaker A: Weird World Adventures. It will tell you how you can watch it. Well, but a lot of people say Real World Adventures, which is like, I don't know how they get there. And it regularly comes up where I'm like, that's not the name of the show. So. Weird World Adventures. Also be sure to check out mallorysadventures.com M A L O R I E S adventures dot com. Gotta spell it. [00:35:45] Speaker B: I see. [00:35:45] Speaker A: Okay. And we're also Mallory's Adventures on Instagram and Weird World Adventures on Facebook. [00:35:51] Speaker B: It's also on Fawsome. [00:35:53] Speaker A: That's what I said. [00:35:54] Speaker B: Did you say that on? [00:35:54] Speaker A: I did. [00:35:55] Speaker B: Wow. [00:35:56] Speaker A: Wow. Thank you guys for tuning in today. I'm your host, Mallory. [00:36:04] Speaker B: And I'm your host, Michael. [00:36:05] Speaker A: And until next time, everybody stay weird.