Juan Sebastián Elcano

Hello! My name is Juan Sebastián Elcano. I grew up in a small town called Getaria in Spain, right next to the big, blue ocean. Ever since I was a boy, around the year 1487, I loved the sea. I learned how to sail ships and find my way by looking at the stars in the night sky. I always dreamed of exploring faraway places and discovering new things on the other side of the water.

In 1519, I joined the most exciting adventure of my life! A brave explorer named Ferdinand Magellan was leading five ships on a special mission for the King of Spain. Our goal was to find a new way to sail to the Spice Islands. This was a place famous for wonderful spices like cinnamon and cloves that made food taste delicious. We sailed west, across the giant Atlantic Ocean, into waters that no one from my country had ever seen before. It was a big and important journey.

Our trip was very long and very difficult. We faced huge storms that tossed our ships, and sometimes we ran low on food and water. It was a scary time for all of us. Sadly, our captain, Ferdinand Magellan, did not survive the whole trip. In 1521, after a battle in a place we now call the Philippines, he was gone. The crew was worried, but we knew we had to finish our journey. The other sailors chose me to be the new captain of our last remaining ship, the Victoria.

As the new captain, it was my job to get my crew and our precious ship home safely. Instead of turning back the way we came, I decided we should keep sailing west. We sailed across the huge Indian Ocean and all the way around the tip of Africa. It was a very long and dangerous part of the trip, but we were determined to make it. Finally, on September 6th, 1522, after three whole years, our little ship, the Victoria, arrived back in Spain.

We were the first people to ever sail all the way around the world! Out of more than 200 sailors who left with us, only 18 of us made it back on my ship. I went on other voyages after that, always exploring the great, wide ocean. I lived to be about 39 years old. Today, people remember me as the captain who completed that amazing first trip around the globe. Our journey proved that our world is round and full of wonders waiting to be discovered.