Lopes Gonçalves or Lopo Gonçalves (15th century) was a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 explorer of the African coast. He was the first European sailor to cross the equator, the first to reach the point where the coast turns south and the first to reach Gabon

Gabon

Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...

. In 1473 or 1474 he and Rui de Sequeira, pushing Portuguese exploration east along the Nigerian coast reached the point where the coast begins to run south. He followed it south, crossed the equator, passed Cape Lopez

Cape Lopez

Cape Lopez is a 55 km-long peninsula on the coast of west central Africa, in the country of Gabon. It separates the Gulf of Guinea from the South Atlantic Ocean, and is located at latitude -0.63° and longitude 8.7° . Lying in the delta of the Ogooué River, it shelters the seaport of Port-Gentil...

in Gabon, which is named after him, and reached Cape St. Catherine which is about 2 degrees south.