You have the distinction of being the very first professional archaeologist ever to have been invited to work on these islands, which, as the last pirate haven, have remained closed to the exterior ever since Commodore Perry put an end to their swashbuckling. The island of Fortuna, where you will be conducting your research, is the northern most of the pair. Isla Fortuna landscapes encompass brilliant coral-sand beaches, rugged basaltic cliffs along the coast, and an interior marked by steep mountains and deeply inset valleys opening to the narrow coastal plain. Tropical cloud forest shrouds the upper slopes of an extinct volcanic range, and occassional stands of jungle intermixed with large patches of savanna, now given over to cattle pasturage, cover the valley floors and coastal plain.
Small rivers flowing out of the mountains give rise to mangrove boarded estuaries at the coast.
Wild fruits, coconut, and sugar cane grow in profusion on the island, which is a good thing. You will be camping out during your stay on the island, your entire operation running on a thread of a shoestring budget. As tax revenues have never been what they once were during the heyday of pirating, you have negotiated a fee of one pirate's chest filled with Kennedy Dollars. Excavating the entire island is both financially and practically impossible. To live long enough to finish would require first locating the legendary fountain of youth.