- On 8 July 1497 Vasco da Gama led a fleet of four ships with 170 men from Lisbon. -
- The distance traveled in the journey around Africa to India and back was greater than the length of the equator. -
- It is not known for certain how many people were in each ship's crew but approximately 55 returned, and two ships were lost. -
- Two of the vessels were carracks, newly built for the voyage; the others were a caravel and a supply boat. -
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Journey to the Cape
- The expedition set sail from Lisbon on 8 July 1497. -
- After reaching the coast of present-day Sierra Leone, da Gama took a course south into the open ocean, crossing the Equator and seeking the South Atlantic westerlies that Bartolomeu Dias had discovered in 1487. -
- For over three months the ships had sailed more than 10,000 kilometres (6,000 mi) of open ocean, by far the longest journey out of sight of land made by that time. -
- By 16 December, the fleet had passed the Great Fish River (Eastern Cape, South Africa) – where Dias had anchored – and sailed into waters previously unknown to Europeans. -
- With Christmas pending, da Gama and his crew gave the coast they were passing the name Natal, which carried the connotation of "birth of Christ" in Portuguese. -
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Mozambique
- Vasco da Gama spent 2 to 29 March 1498 in the vicinity of Mozambique Island. Arab-controlled territory on the East African coast was an integral part of the network of trade in the Indian Ocean. -
- Fearing the local population would be hostile to Christians, da Gama impersonated a Muslim and gained audience with the Sultan of Mozambique. -