The Papyrus Boat 'Ra' by Leif Engberg

Photo Credit: Leif Engberg

My name is Leif Engberg and has been a photographer at the Daily News for 35 years. I have had the whole world as a workplace for both news and reports. I have attended dozens of Olympic Games, both summer and winter Olympics. I have followed several presidential campaigns in the United States. The Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 was a mission, as well as the wars in Vietnam, Biafra and the war between India and East Pakistan, which became Bangladesh. I have been posted to the conflicts in Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Africa and on to Central America with Nicaragua, El Salvador, Cuba and Colombia.

The Papyrus Boat Ra

Photoreporter of the Year, prize stories

00-05-1969

The papyrus boat 'Ra', based on ancient Egyptian drawings, sets sail from the old Phoenician seaport of Safi, Morocco. Norwegian adventurer and anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl attempted to prove that a similar boat could have survived the voyage across the Atlantic. The vessel broke apart a few weeks into the journey, but the following year, Heyerdahl managed to reach Barbados with 'Ra II'.

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