Episode #1203

TAKING AN EARLY LEAD
Departing the Pit Stop in first place at 4:19am, dating couple Lorena & Jason opened their clue to discover they must fly nearly 3,000 miles to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in West Africa and find the city’s train station.

At the airport, dating couples Lorena & Jason and Nate & Jen along with friends Shana & Jennifer researched their options on the internet and found that Air France had the only flight going to Ouagadougou through Paris, landing at 4:35pm. While Lorena & Jason and Shana & Jennifer took the 8am departure to Paris, Nate & Jen learned of a fully booked 7:20am departure and asked to be put on the standby list. Nate noted, “We get that, we’re set.”

The other Teams began trickling into the airport and booking the 8am departure to Paris while Nate & Jen awaited their fate for the earlier flight. The couple was all smiles when the agent finally handed them tickets to the 7:20am flight. Nate remarked, “Hopefully we can take advantage of [our lead] because you never know what’s going to come next on this race.”

The remaining eight Teams all boarded the 8am flight to Paris, although Christina and her father Ron, who was suffering from a hernia, barely made the flight. With only moments to spare, Ron tried to erase the pain from his mind as he and his daughter ran through the airport to join the other Teams on the plane. However, after all the Teams settled into their seats, the captain informed them that a mechanical problem would force a delay on the tarmac. The Racers began to sweat as they realized that if they missed their connection in Paris, no other flights would be available until the next day, giving Nate & Jen a huge lead.

TOGETHER AGAIN
As Nate & Jen boarded the connecting flight to Paris, they noticed the other Teams hadn’t arrived and hoped for the worst. After getting comfortable, the dating couple noticed the other eight Teams enter the cabin after running through the terminal. Jen offered a “Glad you made it!” to each of the Teams as they shuffled past her and Nate.

After landing in Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso, Teams took a taxi to the train station, with sisters Marianna & Julia and dating couple Nate & Jen leading the way. Opening the clue at the station, they discovered they would be taking a train into the middle of the African Savannah to Bingo.

At the station, the Teams learned that the ticket window wouldn’t open until 6am the following morning. With a warm evening ahead, everyone kicked back, relaxed, and danced to the rhythm of African drums. 68-year old Don even kicked up his heels with sisters Marianna & Julia, commenting, “They’re feisty. They’re hot: A little bitchy, but not bad. A guy could learn to live with it.”

ALL ABOARD!
As the sun rose, Teams purchased tickets and boarded their train deep into the heart of West Africa. While most enjoyed a peek into a corner of the world they had never seen, one Team wasn’t nearly as thrilled. When Shana noted all the flies on the train, Jennifer replied, “These people bring flies.” Later Shana added, “Being on that train, it’s just beyond dirty.” Jennifer added, “There was just trash piled up. Nothing is clean. I could not live that way.” In contrast, Azaria remarked, “Africa, for me, feels like home. The opportunity to come here was a thrill for me and Hendekea.”

MILKING IT
At the stop for Bingo, Teams ran off the train to the cluebox, where they found a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one Team member had to milk a camel and extract enough milk to fill a bowl to the designated line. Then they had to drink the milk to receive their next clue. If their camel ran dry, they had to wait for all other Teams to finish milking theirs before using one of their camels.

Since camels are sensitive to loud noises and quick movement, the trick to milking the camels was in how the Racers treated them. Old pro Don, who had some past experience on a farm, began filling his bowl with little difficulty, as did TK whose soft voice and kind, words put his camel at ease. Conversely, Lorena’s fear and panic when the camel kicked her bowl causing a spill only managed to compound the problem. Julia encountered the same difficulty as Lorena, while Christina’s soothing encouragement yielded better results. For TK, the easy part was milking the camel. When it came time for him to drink the warm milk, he hesitated and gagged before swallowing the last drop. Later, TK described it as “a little grainy, a little sweet and warm.” Opening the next clue, TK & Rachel discovered they needed to lead four camels across the Savannah along a marked path to a group of waiting nomads.

CAMEL CARAVAN
As TK & Rachel walked off with their camels, Don chugged his milk and soon he and Nick followed the dating couple, unsure of where to lead their four-pack of friends. Soon father and daughter Ron & Christina joined the other two Teams, just as dating Goths Kynt & Vyxsin started out with their camels. At this point, TK realized they had led everyone in the wrong direction and began to retreat, eventually finding the correct path. Nate & Jen joined the growing number of Teams and camels.

Meanwhile, back at the Roadblock, Lorena, Julia, Jennifer, and Azaria all had difficulties finishing the task as they either spilt more milk or their camels ran dry. With the frustration pouring out of her, Lorena shrieked, “Baby, there’s no more milk!” Instead of losing their cool, Azaria and Jennifer opted to switch camels for milk with Julia and Lorena following their lead. Almost as quickly as he traded camels, Azaria finished the task, drank the milk, and began leading camels through the Savannah with his sister, which left the three women to battle it out together in last place.

BACK TO SCHOOL
Leading the caravan of Teams through the Savannah, newly dating couple TK & Rachel arrived at the cluebox next to the nomads. Opening their clue, the couple encountered a Detour having to choose between Teach It and Learn It. In Teach It, Teams had to choose a local child who doesn’t speak any English and teach them the English words for ten common items. In Learn It, Teams had to learn Möre, the primary African language used in this region. With a local school child as their teacher, Teams needed to learn the Möre words for ten common items.

As TK & Rachel, Nick & Don, and Ron & Christina all went off to teach English to children, dating Goths Kynt & Vyxsin and dating couple Nate & Jen opted to learn words of Möre. The Teams all ran into difficulty, though, when they couldn’t find the school that housed the eager pupils. This confusion allowed siblings Azaria & Hendekea to hitch up their camels and take the lead as they found a local who directed them right to the school.

While Nate & Jen struggled to learn the words of Möre, siblings and scientists Azaria & Hendekea used a systematic approach of each learning five words. Later, Hendekea joked, “It doesn’t take a brainiac to memorize ten words.” After a quick study, the siblings moved to the testing room, where an instructor flashed the cards of ten common items they just learned. The pair rattled off the words of Möre with relative ease as pictures of a train, tree, camel, fish, and others appeared before them. With the last item correctly translated into Möre, the siblings earned the next clue, instructing them to travel on foot to the Pit Stop in the outskirts of Bingo.

KEEP ON MILKING
As Azaria & Hendekea exited the schoolhouse, a big storm began to move across the plain with thunder and high winds that wreaked further havoc on Lorena and Julia who still continued to milk their camels. However, through the grueling elements, Julia managed to massage her camel into providing enough milk to fill the bowl, allowing her to drink it and lead camels away with her sister, Marianna. As the sisters walked away, Lorena’s camel kicked her bowl, setting her back once again and inducing another fit of hysterics as a helpless Jason looked on.

While the situation couldn’t have been worse for Lorena & Jason, Azaria & Hendekea felt better than ever by stepping onto the mat in first place once again. This time Phil rewarded the siblings with a trip for two from Travelocity to the pink sand beaches at the Elbow Beach Resort on the island of Bermuda. On their win, Azaria commented, “It feels good, but now I think we both feel like the target that was on our back is even bigger now.”

Before Marianna & Julia left with their camels, they offered Lorena a last piece of advice: milk a camel that had a baby next to it. This information proved to be the difference, as Lorena switched animals and quickly filled her bowl. After drinking the milk, Lorena burst into tears once again as Jason comforted her with a big hug and a kiss. Walking off with their camels, Lorena asked, “Do you still love me?” Jason replied, “Of course I still love you.”

A FULL MAT FOR PHIL
Although Ron & Christina and TK & Rachel taught star pupils who quickly identified all ten items in English, the two Teams couldn’t find the marked path to the Pit Stop. Their hesitation allowed Nate & Jen, Nick & Don, and Kynt & Vyxsin to all complete the Detour and join in the hunt for Phil. In the pouring rain, Jen spotted him first, sparking a mad dash through the muddy terrain that ended with TK & Rachel nabbing second place just ahead of Nate & Jen with Kynt & Vyxsin taking fourth place. After Ron & Christina and Nick & Don joined the others in fifth and sixth place, Phil joked, “I cannot believe that after all those thousands of miles that all of you guys have turned up at exactly the same time here on the mat.”

After Shana & Jennifer taught kids English to earn seventh place, a final showdown loomed for Marianna & Julia and Lorena & Jason, who ran with their camels fast enough to catch up with the sisters at the clue to the Detour. Both Teams chose to learn words of Möre because as Marianna said, ”Learn it, we depend on ourselves.”

POP QUIZ
School was in session as both Teams sat down next to each other, their nervous eyes pouring over the flashcards of the ten items in a very foreign language. Jason worried, “This is going to kill me.” Soon, Lorena & Jason sat down in the testing chair and awaited their drill. The dating couple started out strong answering one after another, but soon took longer pause in trying to conjure up the correct Möre word.

At this point, the sisters began their test in another room and slowly crept back in the Race by answering correctly as Lorena & Jason missed the word for “boy.” Lorena eventually remembered the Möre word for “boy” to earn their clue, but only moments ahead of Marianna & Julia.

After a tense footrace to the Pit Stop, dating couple Lorena & Jason excitedly stepped onto the mat in eighth place where Lorena once again broke down crying. On his partner, Jason remarked, “The reason she is so emotional is because she’s passionate. She’s passionate about life. She’s passionate about doing well…and that’s why we’re not eliminated right now.”

When they stepped on the mat, the disappointed Marianna & Julia received the bad news from Phil that they had been eliminated from the Race. On the experience, Julia remarked, “I couldn’t imagine running this Race with anyone but Marianna because I couldn’t have had a better Teammate.”