Walkthrough of the Buffalo Region in Survival: Fountain of Youth

This guide is a continuation of the previous guide for Survival: Fountain of Youth and includes a walkthrough for all quests in the Buffalo Region. The text contains spoilers that may spoil your impression of the game, so I recommend referring to the walkthrough only for those quests that you are having trouble with. Let’s get started.

Sail to the Buffalo Region

So, after completing the “Lonely Rock” quest chain, you receive a new quest chain, “Santa Maria“. The very first quest in this chain requires you to travel to the Buffalo Region. Here’s how to do it correctly.

Before setting off, immediately gather all the necessary resources to build a Dock and Cart. As you probably already know, the Dock allows you to make quick trips on your boat, which greatly saves time. Having docks in different regions, you can instantly “teleport” between them.

If there is no dock, you will spawn at a special point from where it takes quite a long time to swim to the shore.

You will have to make a Cart anyway, otherwise you will simply get tired of carrying resources to the boat. As I mentioned in previous guides, it won’t be possible to stuff it into the boat and carry it with you. You will have to build a new one for each new dock.

Here is a list of materials you will need:

• 3 Builder Toolkit,
• 2 Liana Rope,
• 2 Split Log,
• 4 Small Stick.

You should also take a good supply of food and water with you.

Traveling to a new region is done as follows:

1. Open the map (M) and switch to “World Map” mode (the topmost icon on the left).
2. Click on the region that is above the central Bird Region.
   
3. Make sure one of the conditions listed in the pop-up window is met and confirm the trip.
   
   At this point, you should be in boat control mode, otherwise the move will not happen.

Find the Santa Maria

Immediately after you spawn in the Buffalo Region, you will receive the quest “Find the Santa Maria“. It won’t be difficult to find the ship, as its masts literally stick out from behind the rocks right in front of you. Sail to the ship.

Find the captain’s cabin

You will receive this quest as soon as you approach the Santa Maria. To complete it, you must climb onto the ship and find the captain’s cabin. It is located in the stern (rear) part of the ship.

Search the ship for the key

The captain’s cabin will be locked, so you need to find its key on the ship. The key is located in the hold. The path to the hold is blocked by an Old Grate.

To break the Old Grate, you must go to the bow (front) part of the ship’s deck and find an Iron Rod there, which lies in the boat on the left.

Use the Iron Rod to open the Old Grate. Now you have access to the hold. Go inside.

At the bottom, there is an Old Cannon, aimed at an old wooden wall. Approaching this cannon, you will receive the quest “Shoot the cannon in the hold“.

This is necessary so that you can get to the blocked part of the ship and get the key. To fire the cannon, you need 4 things, which you can easily find using concentration (V). But just in case, I’ll show you where everything is.

• The Barrel of an Old Cannon. It lies on top of the ship’s deck in the stern (rear) part not far from the helm. Bring it and install it on the Old Cannon.
  
• Gunpowder Bag and Cannonball. In the wall opposite the staircase, there is a passage that is blocked by boxes. You must clear it. Inside you will find 2 rooms. In the right room will be a Gunpowder Bag, and in the left – a Cannonball. Pick them up and load the cannon.
  
  
• Torch. The torch is needed for the cannon to fire. A ready torch lies next to the cannon itself. You will also find Flint nearby to light it.
  

When everything is ready, fire the cannon at the wall.

In the far room on the bench will be the key to the captain’s cabin. Pick it up.

Get into the captain’s cabin

Now, having the key, you must enter the captain’s cabin, after which you will receive the next task “Investigate the captain’s cabin“.

To complete it, you must read The Logbook of the Santa Maria, which lies on the table.

From a short cutscene, you will learn what happened to the captain and his assistant, after which you will receive the next task. Before leaving the ship, I recommend thoroughly searching it. In particular, it is important to dismantle all the hammocks and bags, because from them you can get Tendon Thread. At this stage of the game, you are experienced enough to know without my hints how important this resource is for crafting equipment, and how difficult it can be to get it.

Find Cooper Island

Cooper Island is located west of Santa Maria. I marked it for you on the screenshot. Approaching the island, you will receive the next task.

Find a camp of the surviving Spanish crew

The first thing you should do after landing is to immediately climb the Cartographer Tree and map the island. There are several such trees on the island, and on top of the central one, you will even find a book.

Do not hesitate to map the island, as it will greatly assist you in the future.

After receiving the island map, immediately build a Dock. I recommend doing it in the western part of the island, as it is closer to all key points (as it seemed to me), but you can build anywhere.

Now you should find the camp of the survivors (or rather what is left of it). It is located right in the center of the northern cliffs. I’ve marked its location on the map for you.

When you enter the camp, you will get the task “Search the Captain’s Tent“. After finding the captain’s tent and entering it, you will receive the next task “Take the Diary“. The Diary of Ponce de Leon lies right on the table, so you just have to read it.

A short cut-scene will start, and you will learn part of the story about what happened to the Santa Maria crew. Immediately after this, you will get the task “Take note with a map“. The Map of the Cooper Island also lies on the table in the captain’s tent, so you just have to take it.

The map shows the location of the copper mine, which is not so important for us, since if you have not been lazy to draw a map, you already know where to look for this mine.

The next small task that you will get is “Search the Hill“. To complete it, climb the hill by the stairs. This structure is located near the camp.

Having climbed up, you will receive a new task “Read the Note…“, which requires you to read “Ponce de Leon’s Order About Search Parties“, which lies on the table. After that, you will receive the next task.

Find Cooper Mine from the Map

Finding the mine will not be difficult, as we clearly see it on the game map. I’ve marked the route for you.

Take a Cart and a pickaxe with you, as you will have to mine Cooper Ore and deliver it to your camp. The mine is guarded by a jaguar, which you will have to defeat. At first, it slowly sneaks up, as if thinking that you do not see it, and then begins to attack.

I found a very simple way to defeat it, almost without taking damage. You have to take a pike and back away, delivering a powerful counterattack each time the jaguar will rush at you. Don’t be afraid of it. Just 4-5 pike blows, and you will overcome it.

As you approach the copper mine, you will get the task “Look at the plate“. To complete it, you must interact (E) with the sign that stands next to the mine.

From a short cut-scene, you will learn how Fernan Delgado and Ponce de Leon fought with the jaguar, and it seems they even won.

Mine Cooper Ore

Now your task is to mine copper ore from the mine. Jumping ahead, I’ll say that you need 2 pieces of ore for 1 copper ingot. You will need just 1 ingot for the story quest. Nevertheless, I advise you to stock up on ore for the future if you plan to continue playing. You will be able to craft improved tools and equipment from copper ingots.

Craft a Cooper Ingot

To smelt a Cooper Ingot, you will have to build a Smelter and a Charcoal Pile for producing coal. Without coal, you will not be able to smelt ingots, since the Smelter only accepts coal as fuel.

If you lack Clay, you can mine it in the southwestern part of Cooper Island from a Termite Mound. You will need a Wood Shovel for this.

After building a Smelter and Charcoal Pile, smelt the ingot. After that, you will receive the next task.

Repair the Sextant

Immediately after smelting the copper ingot, you will receive the tasks “Repair the Sextant” and “Make a feather and ink“. I remind you that in the survivors’ camp on Copper Island, on the table standing on the hill, lies the sextant we need and a blank parchment.

The Cooper Ingot is needed precisely to repair the sextant, and A Feather and Ink is required for the character to be able to draw something on the parchment.

So first, create A Feather and Ink, then return to the survivors’ camp on Cooper Island and climb the hill. Repair the sextant to get the task “Draw a map“, and then interact with the piece of parchment on the table to draw a map on it.

When the character finishes drawing the map, pick it up along with the sextant into your inventory.

Find Windy Island and Diego Nunez

Now your task is to find Windy Island by the map drawn by the character.

For better understanding, I’ve marked Windy Island on the regular game map for you.

As soon as you approach the island, you will get the task “Find Diego Nunez“. You will find Diego Nunez’s body near the entrance to the cave in the northeastern part of the island.

After you approach it, the game will show you a cut scene about what happened to this poor guy. Don’t forget to pick up the Magnifying Glass, which lies next to Diego’s body.

This concludes the story of the current version of the game.

When the developers release an update, we will be able to continue the search for the crew from Santa Maria and perhaps even find the Fountain of Youth.