EXTRAORDINARY EXPLORERS

BORN IN ITALY AND EMBARKED ON 4 MAJOR VOYAGES.

FAMOUSLY DISCOVERED THE AMERICAS ON HIS FIRST JOURNEY BUT THOUGHT HE'D FOUND INDIA. HE WAS SELF-EDUCATED IN ASTRONOMY, GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.

ALTHOUGH HE WAS ITALIAN HIS JOURNEYS WERE MADE POSSIBLE BY THE SPANISH MONARCHS AND HE EVEN DIED IN SPAIN.

A PORTUGUESE EXPLORER WHO IS GIVEN CREDIT FOR DESIGNING THE FIRST EXPEDITION THAT CIRCUMNAVIGATED THE WORLD. HE WAS INITIALLY FUNDED BY SPAIN TO SEARCH FOR THE EAST INDIES HE NAMED THE OCEAN BEYOND THE AMERICAS THE 'PACIFIC OCEAN' AS IT WAS TRANQUIL. OF THE 260 MEN THAT WENT ON THE JOURNEY ONLY 18 RETURNED. HE WAS KILLED IN A FIGHT WITH NATIVES IN THE PHILIPPINES SO DIDN'T COMPLETE HIS VOYAGE HIS SECOND IN COMMAND WAS THE FIRST EUROPEAN TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE WORLD

A KNIGHTED ENGLISH NOBLEMAN, WRITER AND SOLDIER.

QUEEN ELIZABETH I RESPECTED HIM SO HE FOUNDED VIRGINIA IN NORTH AMERICA.

HE BECAME PART OF THE INNER CIRCLE AT COURT AND WAS MADE CAPTAIN OF THE QUEEN'S GUARD IN 1587.

RALEIGH HELPED DEFEND ENGLAND AGAINST THE SPANISH ARMADA AS THE QUEEN'S NAVAL ADVISOR. HE LED AN EXPEDITION TO DISCOVER THE LEGENDARY 'EL DORADO' BUT HE WAS UNSUCCESSFUL.

RALEIGH TRIED TO FIND IT AGAIN BUT ENDED UP FIGHTING SPANIARDS WHO KILLED HIS SON. HE WAS SENTENCED TO DEATH TO APPEASE SPAIN.

bumping along the off beaten track. Sun shone down from the gaps in the white clouds spun like candy floss. Amy restlessly fidgeted in her seat, winding down the window trying to get rid of the cloying heat that wouldn’t disappear. The rush of breeze filled the car and Amy stuck her head out for two blissful seconds before her Mum shouted she didn’t like the noise and her sister said it was too cold. Amy reluctantly winded it up trying to enjoy the outside air for as long as possible.

She had been dreading this trip weeks now, all of her friends are going somewhere fancy while all her family were doing was going to auntie’s and uncle’s house who Amy thought was mad, her mum thought there a bit wacky and on top of all that they lived in the countryside right in the middle of nowhere. It was going to be living torture. They were going for the whole summer holidays, six weeks. Amy had tried to escape the night before they were due to go but she only got to the bottom of the road before her mum realised what was happening.

The car trundled on, the edge of the forest thinning into stubby grass. The track continued on still bumping down a deserted road. Amy slumped down in her seat zoning in and out of her sisters incessant chatter about everything and nothing. She turned on her phone, sighing as the internet wouldn’t connect. She didn’t think there would be any so it didn’t come as a surprise. There was no wifi to text her friend like she promised she would.

Her sister reached for the controls, turning on radio 4. Amy had no idea why she even liked it, as it was just constant chatter with old men who spoke in low boring monotones.

“This is radio 4 weather”

Amy bit her tongue down so hard drew blood to stop herself from complaining, the guy who spoke sounded 100 and was going to pass out any moment from boredom.

“the weather is cloudy with a slight chance of rain”

No surprise thought Amy, looking up at the grey clouds ready to downpour any second from now. Music faded out as the presenters went back to talk about the recent news events. Amy slumped even more in her seat, wondering how this holiday was going to turn out.

She must have slept because when she opened her eyes they were driving down a twisty road with uncut hedges taller than the car. Radio four had thankfully turned off but sadly her sister was still talking, this time the subject was The X Factor, a show that Amy positively despised but her sister adored. She checked her phone again, heart dropping when it still came up with no internet. Her friends were going to think that she had gone mad already.

The car juddering to a stop shook Amy out of her thoughts. She looked around expecting to see her aunties and uncles squat thatched cottage but could only see the uncut hedge. Her mum sighed loudly as the car stopped in the middle of the road.

“And then she said this but the judges said she wasn’t made for the show shame really because….Mum why have we stopped?

“Broken down”

Her mum answered in a clipped reply, reaching for the controls to ring the AA but there was no internet. What a surprise. Her sister started talking again about what a shame it was that they might have to go home, while Amy tried really hard not to smile.

“Oh no, will we have to go home?”

Amy attempted to sound sad as she said it, but it still sounded overjoyed. “No, we will push it, the house is only a short distance away, come on.”

Her mum said, just as rain get any worse?

Susannah B, Year 9