A view of the peninsula of Paria

Columbus arrives in the Paria Gulf, on August 3, 1498, and is surprised by the huge amount of fresh water coming from the mouths of the Orinoco and other adjoining rivers, and invading large parts of the Gulf up to the open sea. He almost cannot believe it is a land, because it is too far south to be part of Asia. Finally on the 15th of August, Columbus, after two weeks of explorations and perplexities, realizes that the mouths of the Orinoco and the Paria peninsula are part of a land and constitute an Otro Mundo: un Nuevo Mundo. In this way he changed the course of history.