Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on July 8, 1497, with a fleet of four ships. He sailed down the coast of Africa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on November 22, 1497, and then traveled up the eastern coast of Africa. In Malindi (modern-day Kenya), he hired a local pilot who guided him across the Indian Ocean to India. Vasco da Gama reached the city of Calicut (now Kozhikode) on the southwest coast of India on May 20, 1498. This voyage marked the first successful sea route from Europe to India around Africa, opening up a new era of maritime trade between Europe and Asia.
