Tenerife – Visiting the Thor Heyerdahl Museum – written by Marie

Today was our visit at the Thor Heyerdahl Museum in Güimar so we could learn more about the namesake of our ship. The sun was shining and everyone was happy. It was wonderful that Jacqueline Bear, the widow of Thor Heyerdahl (now shortened as ‚T.H.‘), came to visit the museum with us.
First we went to the library of the museum. There Jordana gave her lecture about T.H.
Basically he wanted to prove contacts between old civilizations. So he led some expeditions with models of old ships to prove his theory.
At his first expedition, called ‚Kon Tiki‘ he sailed across the Pacific ocean only with a raft.
At his second expedition he crossed the Atlantic ocean.
But I think that T.H.’s third expedition, named ‚Tigris‘,  is the most interesting, because Detlef, our Captain, was involved. So we were able to ask him some questions about T.H. and their journey. Detlef told us that T.H. was a wonderful storyteller and that he also was a great translator for everyone and everything. Jacqueline added that her husband was ‚involved in everything‘ and that he was totally focused on his targets. She also told us that T.H. always had an answer, that he was democratic and disciplinary. But the most important fact: He really loved the ocean and the atmosphere.
We asked Detlef if he had ever regretted being on the adventure ‚Tigris‘. He answered: ‚No, because in this age‘ – he was 27 years old – ‚it was a perfect chance for me‘. Finally we asked what the biggest accident during the journey was. Detlef described that a pole of their boat was broken and how they had to repair it.
After Jordana’s lecture Jojo and Jule were allowed to interview Jacqueline; I’ll try to summarize the most interesting questions:
They asked how it was to live with T.H. and his widow told us that it was ‚always exciting‘. They were traveling all the time.
An other question was whether Jacqueline had any advice for us. She answered that she hopes T.H. was like a hero for us. ‚He was one for Detlef and Detlef does good things. It’s (KUS) a fabulous expedition and T.H. should open your mind, too.‘ Her husband was always looking out for young people and he would have loved to be with us.
Now it was quiet in the library and in some faces you could see a little smile. But the most memorable moment was when she and Detlef told us the last advice of T.H.: ‚Take care of the world and the ocean. We only have one world and one ocean. You’re young people and have to take care of your world and your ocean.‘
We also discussed the big question, whether T.H. was a scientist or an adventurer. Many of us thought that he was both, because his expeditions were adventures. Jordana said it in a nice way: ‚He is an ’scientific adventurer“. But his widow said that he was only a scientist, because he never did something ‚just for the adventure‘. I believe everyone has his own plausible opinion, but it’s a very good question.
Then we went to the ‚cinema‘ of the museum for watching a movie about T.H. and pyramids worldwide. It was really cool that we could choose the language of this film. The English version was the original voice of T.H. and of course everyone wanted to listen to him.
When the movie had finished we were allowed to explore the museum by ourselves. We discovered for example the ‚garden of poisons‘ or visited the museum of ‚Casa Chacona‘.
After a long and interesting day we drove home to the Thor.
Now I want to finish with popular words of T.H.: ‚Borders? I’ve never seen one, but I heard that they exist in the minds of most people.‘