Reprinted with permission from www.travelfreak.com

Teams take a moment to watch elephants drink before leaving the pit stop. Team Bro is the first team out at 5:39 a.m. and drive themselves to Boro Village for their next clue. BFFs leave a half hour later, followed closely by Permullet, YouTube, and My Family Is Famous. Roller Derby and Newlyweds are just a few minutes behind.

My Family Is Famous gets pulled over for speeding and are surprised that a quick batting of the eyelashes is insufficient to evade a speeding ticket. They must go to the police station and pay their ticket that day, which will surely slow them down. They are surprised to learn that a police station in Botswana does not accept American dollars. Because Caroline isn’t allowed to leave the police station, Jennifer gives a “nice man” (translation: the only white person she could find at a police station in Botswana) a hundred bucks and asks him to go into town and exchange the money for her. The man actually returns with the money, and My Family Is Famous are on their way to the Road Block.

Team Bro finds the clue box and choose to go for the Fast Forward. To win the Fast Forward, they will need to water ski one mile down a river that has a sign reading “Danger Crocodiles.” A mile is a long way, but they knock out the task like champs and get to skip all tasks, checking in at the pit stop as team number one. Nice.

Put a bro on some water skis and see what true happiness looks like.

The BFFs realize that Team Bro already did the Fast Forward, so they dive into the Road Block. This Road Block requires teams to deliver two goats upstream by canoe. The goats are adorable, but not thrilled about being in a canoe. Also, upstream means “against the current,” so the task is not nearly as easy as it sounds.

The Newlyweds also get a speeding ticket and are sent to the police station, and YouTube are very, very lost. BFFs pass My Family Is Famous on their way back from the goat drop-off. They are followed closely behind by Permullet and My Family Is Famous, who must be professional goat canoers because they pass Roller Derby on the river.

YouTube and the Newlyweds arrive at the task together, but the Newlyweds have to complete a Speed Bump which requires them to string a beaded skirt and do some sort of “seduction dance” before they can float the goats.

Team BFF are the first to arrive at the Detour, where teams must choose between Brains and Brawn. In Brains, the teams go on a horseback safari and must remember what animal cutouts they see along the way which sounds extraordinarily boring. Brawn involves stacking firewood on a cart and using a carrot and stick to coax donkeys into delivering the firewood down the road. BFFs go with Braun, and Permullet go with the thing called “brains,” naturally. Joining the BFFs at the donkey pen are My Family Is Famous and Roller Derby. BFF fills their cart with sticks and they’re off! I said they’re off! They pull, they dangle a carrot, they pet the donkeys, but nothing will get those stubborn beasts to move. So they take a risk and switch tasks.

Back at the river, YouTube is having a very tough time with the canoe. When they finally deliver the goats, the Newlyweds have almost caught up. Donkey delivery isn’t going much better as My Family Is Famous drives their cart into a thicket, allowing Roller Derby to pass them on the dirt road and check in as team number two.  My Family Is Famous checks in seconds later as team number three.

Permullet get some brains and check in at the pit stop as team number four, while the BFFs lose their brains and have to start the task from the beginning. The second time isn’t a charm, and BFF make the same mistake again, so they give up and head back to the donkey task.

The Newlyweds and YouTube chase each other with donkey carts and check in at the pit stop as teams number five and six. That means the BFFs are the last team to arrive, and they are eliminated from the race.

Next week, the teams go to Switzerland and repeat that challenge with the giant wheels of cheese sliding down the side of a mountain, so that should be fun.

Reprinted with permission from www.travelfreak.com

Teams start out the sixth leg in Hanoi, Vietnam. The BFFs are the first team to leave at 10:40 p.m. and must fly to Maun, Botswana to sign up for one of three flights that will take them to the edge of the Kalahari desert. The earliest flight leaves at 10:45 a.m., so all of the teams are able to catch up which is convenient for the production crew, but boring for the viewers.

My Family Is Famous and Team Bros get on the first flight, Newlyweds and YouTube are on the second flight, and Roller Derby, BFFs and Permullet pack themselves onto the last flight to the Kalahari.

Elephants, giraffes, ostriches, monkeys, and the teams are directed to drive down a marked road and look for their next clue. Once they find the clue box, the teams are met by local bushmen who will assist with the Roadblock. One member from each team must dig a scorpion out of a hole and place it in a jar while belting out Here I am, rock you like a hurricane.

Team Bro finds a scorpion hole first and digs with bare hands, My Family Is Famous does not dig very aggressively because digging ruins a good manicure, and the Newlyweds bring their own gloves in anticipation of something in Botswana being icky. Digging, digging, digging, and there are not many scorpions at home in their hidey holes. Team Bro is the first to find a scorpion and complete the challenge, followed by My Family Is Famous, Roller Derby, and Newlyweds. The clue sends teams farther down the road with their bushmen in tow.

YouTube is deathly afraid of the scorpion, but after a good deal of squirming and squealing, he traps one in a jar. At the back of the pack, Team BFFs find a scorpion next, and Permullet is digging so ferociously that the bushmen are afraid she will stab the scorpion with her digging stick.

Detour! Teams must choose between Fire and Fowl. In Fire, teams must make fire using sticks, grass, and a sprinkling of elephant poop. In Fowl, teams must set a trap to catch a guinea fowl.

 

Awfully happy to be setting a trap for a flightless bird.

Team Bro and My Family Is Famous choose to make fire. It takes strength and finesse to make a fire out of nothing but shrubbery and dung, none of which My Family Is Famous possess. Team Bro, however, channels a young, pre-rehab Drew Barrymore and starts a blaze with nothing but their bare hands and angry hearts. The boys quickly receive the next clue, which directs them to make their way on foot to the pit stop, with the bushmen. Phil checks Team Bro in as team number one.

Roller Derby and the Newlyweds join My Family Is Famous at the fire challenge, followed by YouTube who have already friended their bushmen on Facebook. The BFFs and Permullet are the only teams that choose to trap fowl, but I suspect a couple of the teams will have to switch challenges because where there’s no smoke, there’s no fire.

Oh nifty! Teams have to build a little rope snare trap with an egg in the middle. The BFFs get it right on the first try and receive a clue that sends them to the pit stop as team number two. Permullet sets their trap next and check in as team number three.

As expected, everyone at the fire challenge switch to the guinea fowl trap challenge. Roller Derby build the trap wrong but YouTube get it right and check in at the pit stop as team number four. They are followed closely behind by My Family Is Famous, who check in as team number five and faux flirt with the bushmen because haha, silly looking bushmen, no woman could ever find you attractive. And was it My Family Is Famous or the Newlyweds who made a big stink about the big stink in the car? Oh, don’t you just love traveling with Americans? They are always so tolerant of other cultures. Sigh.

Anywho, that leaves a race for last place between the Newlyweds and Roller Derby. Both teams are struggling with this seemingly simple task, but eventually Roller Derby gets it right. Unfortunately, the girls don’t read their clue very well and run back to the car instead of to the pit stop. They correct their error, backtrack, and check in as team number six. That means the Newlyweds are the last team to arrive. Lucky for them it is a non-elimination leg. They are still in it, but they will face a Speed Bump during the next leg of the race.

Next week, Permullet fight in the world’s tiniest log flume, and donkey’s race to the finish.