The day the first European saw the Pacific Ocean – level 3

25-09-1513

Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer. In 1513, he led an expedition to the Pacific Ocean in Central America.

He started his journey across the Isthmus of Panama on September 1, together with 190 Spaniards, a few native guides, and a pack of dogs. The expedition had to go through a dense jungle. They also had to fight different groups of natives.

Close to the end of their journey, they had to go across a mountain range. They were told by the natives that one could see the Pacific Ocean from the top of this range.

On September 25, 1513, Balboa reached the top of one of the mountains and saw what no other European had seen before – the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

Difficult words: isthmus (a narrow piece of land with water on each side), dense (with a lot of trees), native (a person born in a particular area), range (a group of mountains), one (a person).

What challenges did the expedition face while crossing the mountain range?

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