Vasco Núñez De Balboa
Spanish Balboa travels to South America
Introduction
Vasco Nunez De Balboa was born in about 1475, in Spain. Nobody really knows exactly where he was born but most historians say around 1475. His family was not rich, so when he was young, he worked for a rich nobleman who lived around Southwest Spain. Sailors came here to pick up supplies and crew members to sail to the New World, also known as North America. Balboa heard the stories that returning sailors told. Soon, he wanted to become a sailor too.
South America Voyage
In 1501, Balboa sailed to South America by joining a Spanish expedition. The expedition explored the northern coast of Columbia but the group could not settle because they didn't have enough water, food, supplies, or men. So, they sailed through the Caribbean Sea and to the island Hispaniola. Balboa used his money from the Spanish expedition to buy land and pigs. The Native Americans unfortunately worshipped the pigs. They would not but OR eat the pigs. Since he could not farm or raise pigs, he soon found himself poor and in debt.
Accomplishments
- The Spanish sailor was the first European to see the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. Balboa sighted the ocean in 1513 from a mountain top in what is now Panama.
- He became the governor of Darien.