Ojeda also reaches Cabo de la Vela,…
August 1499 CE
Ojeda also reaches Cabo de la Vela, on the Guajira Peninsula, which he names Coquivacoa.
A few days later, the expedition leaves Cabo de la Vela for Hispaniola with some pearls obtained in Paria, a little gold and a number of slaves.
The scarcity of goods and slaves will result in a poor economic return for investors in the expedition.
However, the importance of the voyage comes from the fact that it is the first detailed reconnaissance of the coast of Venezuela and that Spanish explorers have carried it out.
Following Colombus' third voyage, Ojeda is credited with leading the second European expedition to have visited Venezuela, and the first to have visited Colombia.
The expedition also affords Juan de la Cosa the opportunity to draw the first known map of the area now known as Venezuela, as well as being possibly the first journey that Vespucci made to the New World.