At first, his trading went according to plan and was largely successful, but da Gama encountered problems with some of the Muslim population in Africa who were upset at his disruption of their trade routes, which earned them large amounts of wealth (Enchanted Learning). In addition, though his initial dealings with the Indians were mutually beneficial, the native inhabitants soon grew suspicious of da Gama and demanded large taxes fro the amount of goods he was receiving; da Gama left with all of his new goods and several Indian hostages without paying the taxes, which certainly did not improve relations with Europeans in the future (Subrahmanyam 79-88). The cultural effects of the voyage, both on the native inhabitants of Africa and India and on da Gama's crew, were quite extensive. Da Gama actually worried that some of his crew would abandon the ships and the voyage in order to settle in new lands that seemed pleasing to them, and had to work hard...

The Christian traditions that he and is crew brought to Muslim and Hindu people did not take hold, but there was a growing awareness of European culture and custom -- for better and for worse -- that was transferred to these people, having arguably the most lasting effect of his voyage (Doak; ThinkQuest).
Works Cited

Correa, Gaspar. The Three Voyages of Vasco da Gama and his Viceroyalty. New York: Elibron, 2005.

Doak, Robin. Da Gama: Vasco da Gama sails around the Cape of Good Hope. Minneapolis: Compass Point, 2002.

Enchanted Learning. "Vasco da Gama: Explorer." Accessed 27 October 2009. http://www.enchantedlearning.com/explorers/page/d/dagama.shtml

Subrahmanyam, Sanjay. The Career and Legend of Vasco Da Gama. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997.

ThinkQuest. "Vasco da Gama." Accessed 27 October 2009. http://library.thinkquest.org/4034/dagama.html