Foto

2011-11-28, 5:30 PM, 20 Celsius.

In the evening of 3 August 1492, Columbus departed from Palos de la Frontera, Huelva, Spain, near the portuguese border.
His first landfall in the New World was at San Salvador, Bahamas, 12 October 1492, the first of several islands he would discover.

On 13 January 1493 he left Samaná Península (today part of the Dominican Republic), and after more than 5,000 km sailing uncharted waters, on February 15 1493, the island and the islet in this photo were the first land Columbus sighted on his way back from America.

The island with the same name as the flagship he was forced to leave behind on Christmas Day 1492, together with 39 sailors who had no place in the two smaller ships left, and so became against their will the first european settlers of America.

The two smaller ships left that the day before, February 14 1493, a storm had separated, causing each captain, Columbus and Pinzón, to believe that the other had perished.

That was the reason why only Columbus ship landed on this island, more precisely 7 km to the north of this photo.

From there he would set sail to Lisbon. He arrived at the Old Continent on March 4 1493, spending one week to report to his TRUE King, John II of Portugal.
Because Columbus was in fact the portuguese Colom, born in Cuba, Alentejo.
And because, unlike the current government, he was not a traitor.
In fact his mission was to divert the spanish king from the real path to India and the spice islands.