Topic summary
Portuguese Armadas
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Portuguese India Armadas.
Outward voyage
Notice that the trajectory, as described, skips over nearly all the towns on the East African coast north of Mozambique – Kilwa (Quíloa), Zanzibar, Mombasa (Mombaça), Malindi (Melinde), Barawa (Brava), Mogadishu (Magadoxo), etc. This is not to say Portuguese did not visit those locations – indeed, some even had Portuguese factories and forts (e.g. Fort Santiago in Kilwa, held from 1505 to 1512). But Portuguese armadas on their way to India did not have to stop at those locations, and so usually did not. The stop on Mozambique island was usually the only necessary one.