Vasco da Gama

Here, far down the coast of Africa, amongst high, stormy seas sits this cape. In 1488 no European has explored this far. It's not even on the map. The Portuguese Bartolomeu Dias is on a mission from the Portuguese king, to find Africa's most southern point -- and a route by sea to India -- when a storm seizes and blows him here. Dias rounds the cape and realises that the map is inaccurate.

He calls the cape: The Cape of Storms. Proudly he returns home to report to the king, John II. But strangely enough, the king doesn't give Dias any recognition of his discovery. Doesn't the king realise the importance of this discovery? Well, yes, he even renames it: The Cape of Good Hope.

Because now we have good hope of finding the way to India. In these days Spain and Portugal are the two major seafaring nations. Christopher Columbus is financed by Spain to find India by travelling west. But the Portuguese king is certain that the best way to India lies east. If only one can find it, one wouldn't have to...

first sail the Mediterranean Sea, and then go by land over the Arabian peninsula where the muslims charged you taxes. After much fighting, Spain and Portugal decide to split up the sea and the rights to the new colonies. The border is drawn here, west of The Azores. Spain claims the right to the area west of the border and Portugal to the east. Portugal gets a new king.

Manuel I. He decides upon a new expedition round the Cape of Good Hope. This time the ships will reach India. The leader of the expedition is called Vasco da Gama. The ships Sao Gabriel, Sao Raphael, Berrio and a storage ship leave Lisbon's harbour in 1497.

The first part is easy. Passing Teneriffe and the Islands of Cape Verde. But at this point they turn and head for open sea. The ships need to capture the strong winds south of the Equator to be able to pass the south coast of Africa. Not until after three months and 10,000 kilometres on the open sea, are they able to spot the African coast again.

This is the longest journey that has ever been made on the open sea. The storms are ferocious at The Cape of Good Hope, but they make it and finally the ships are able to sail up the east coast of Africa. The trade routes here are controlled by Muslims and Vasco da Gama is worried about how the Muslims will treat them - as they are Christians. So they disguise themselves as Muslims when they visit Mozambique. But the Sultan here becomes suspicious, so they need to escape.

When their ships leave the harbour they fire heavily with their canons upon the city. Not very nice. And it will get worse. Off the coast of Kenya they engage in piracy. They attack Muslim ships.

Not that strange then, that they are received as pirates in Mombasa and chased away again. Finally it's time to catch the powerful monsoon winds and head for India. The ships arrive in Calicut in 1498. They did it! But the king of Calicut is not impressed.

The crew look battered and have failed to bring nice gifts. So the king believes them to be pirates and refuses to trade with them unless they pay in gold. And now we see da Gama's worst side. He abducts several indians and behaves very violently. Eager to get away quickly he defies the monsoon winds, trying to sail against them.

The home trip lasts 132 days. Two of the ships are wrecked and lost; and from the crew of 170 only 55 survive. Vasco da Gama returns to Portugal in triumph and is rewarded. The Portuguese now master the sea all the way to India. But what happened to Dias who came here first and called this cape the Cape of Storms?

He died here - in a storm.