Vasco Da Gama Research Paper

553 Words2 Pages

In Europe, gold, spices, and other goods were beneficial. Europeans had to navigate long routes to reach them. They were looking for a shorter and better way to get there. Vasco Da Gama was a Portuguese explorer and was the first European to reach India. Since he was very little, Da Gama knew about ships and navigation. At a very young age, he was already the captain of a ship. All his useful skills would make him very successful with his trip to India. Many voyagers attempted the challenging task of opening a trading route from Portugal to India, many were very close, but none of them could accomplish the task. Until the king of Portugal Manuel chose Vasco da Gama to attempt this expedition. He sailed from Lisbon July 8th, 1497 with a purpose of reaching India and open a sea route from Europe to the …show more content…

Da Gama sailed west avoiding the coast of Africa. Da Gama and his crew sailed past the Canary Islands and on July 26 they reached Cape Verde Island. The stayed on the island for about a week and on August 3, they continued their voyage. They sailed down from the South Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope to avoid storms and strong currents. On November 22, they went around the Cape of Good Hope and three days later set foot in Mossel Bay, South Africa until December 8th when they continued sailing. January, they stayed for a while at the Copper River until they reached River of Good Omens where they established a statue. The reason why many of Da Gama’s crew members died was that of a disease caused by not much exposure to the sun. That’s why they stayed in Rio de Cobre for about a month. After, they arrive at the island of Mozambique on March 2. After a while, they began sailing, stopping shortly in Malindi, what is today Kenya. They sailed through the Indian ocean for 23 days and reached India on May 20, 1498. In Calicut India, the king was not impressed by the gifts Da Gama offered

Open Document