OK, so here we go with Leg 6 of the Amazing Race. About 5 minutes ago on CBS (if you watched both hours), Phil not only took Meredith and Gretchen’s money, but took everything but their passports and the clothes on their backs. And then he made them honourary members of Ulong. A bit more than 5 minutes ago, Ray and Deana won Toyota RAV-4’s, which would be cool, except Ray is a bit of a wanker. Anyways…
Standings after 5 legs:
1 – Ray (1) and Deana (2) [FF]
2 – Ron (2) and Kelly (2)
3 – Brian (2) and Greg (2) aka the Dudes
4 – Lynn (2) and Alex (2)
5 – Rob (2) and Amber (2) aka Romber
6 – Uchenna (2) and Joyce (2)
7 – Meredith (2) and Gretchen (2)
x8 – Susan (1) and Patrick (2) – Leg 4
x9 – Debbie (1) and Bianca (1) – Leg 3
x10 – Heidi (1) and Megan – Leg 2
x11 – Ryan and Chuck – Leg 1
We are in Soweto, South Africa, a former shanty town known for where 30,000 students protested apartheid, now a vibrant city. This was the fifth Pit Stop in a race around the world.
Ray and Deana, who were the first team to arrive at 10:41an, will depart at 10:41pm. They rip the clue, and find that they must drive about 30 miles to the Rhino and Lion Nature Reserve and sign up for one of two shuttles (one at 8am, one at 9am) to feed the lions and get their next clue. Ray says Deana needs to assert herself more. Of course, maybe Ray needs to tone it down a bit, I dunno.
Ron and Kelly, 12:39am. Ron thinks that his team is in the best physical shape of the remaining teams. I can’t argue about Ron, but I’m not so sure about Kelly’s physical fitness. Anyways, Kelly had noticed the sign for the Nature Reserve yesterday, so they’re just backtracking to it.
Ray and Deana reach the reserve, and are the first team to sign up for the 8am shuttle. They go back to the car to sleep. Ron and Kelly reach the reserve, and also sign up for the 8am shuttle
Dudes, 1:03am. Brian (blue bandanna, blue t-shirt) reads the clues as (and I’m paraphrasing here) “head back home, give your mom a big hug and eat her chicken enchiladas”. Brian says that Greg (red bandanna, brown shirt) would come to his rescue, no matter what.
Lynn and Alex, 1:24am. They say they’re people first, racers second. They understand that there’s money at stake, but half of the prize is experiencing it.
Rob and Amber, 1:33am. Amber notes that they’re not exactly liked, and Rob thinks that Christmas cards from the other Racers is about as likely as one coming from glass house resident Lex. But then, do they get cards from anyone besides Shii Ann at this point?
Brian and Greg are the last team to sign up for the 8am shuttle. Lynn and Alex are first on the 9am shuttle.
Uchenna and Joyce, 2:20am. Joyce thinks that the Race has brought them closer together.
Meredith and Gretchen, 3:51am. They note that the other 6 teams have $118 for this leg, while they have nothing. Gretchen is worried about carrying their passports in a plastic bag. Which kinda sucks – you’d think that they’d at least get to keep the Amazing Fanny Packs. Meredith, like Ron, notes that the reserve is back the way they came yesterday.
Romber. Rob, shockingly, has a problem with Lynn and Alex – they drive him nuts. This may have been a theme throughout the season.
Uchenna and Joyce are (again) having problems locating a place – in this case, the reserve. Meredith and Gretchen – who had a 90 minute deficit – arrive ahead of them and sign up. But fear not, the prospective parents make it in plenty of time to sign up for the 9am shuttle. And we find out that Uchenna and Joyce gave the grandparents some of their clothes, which is both kind and brilliant in a way – the grandparents are forced for this leg to carry stuff in plastic bags, and Uchenna and Joyce lighten the loads in THEIR packs just a little bit.
Now the grandparents are off to ask the others for money. Gretchen makes a really bad pun/plea for money, which merits a severe fine in some parts of the world. They get money from the other teams, except Romber and Ray and Deana. Rob, with a huge smile on his face, says that “they’re the biggest con artists goin'”. Ray, however, says that he’ll maybe give them some money later, because he wants to see a team other than his eliminated this leg, and it might as well be the ones at the biggest disadvantage.
Ray/Deana, Ron/Kelly and the Dudes board the shuttle. They get instructions from a guy who sounds like he speaks mainly Afrikaans, and they’re off. Lions (actually, just lionesses) are few, and they head back to get their clue. They must now fly 150 miles to Gabarone, Botswana. From there they’ll travel over 400 miles by train and bus to a Giant Aarvark (no really) just outside of Gueta, where they’ll find their next clue. The three teams head back to Johannesburg.
The remaining 4 teams head out to feed the lions. Noone gets eaten, and they receive their clues.
Back in Johannesburg, Ron and Kelly stop at the South African Airways ticket office. The agent notes that her earliest flight leaves at 1:35pm, but Air Botswana has one leaving at noon. The Dudes arrive at JHB. Ron and Kelly get tickets on Air Botswana, and the Dudes score tickets as well. Ray is mad at Deana for not watching the signs. Yeah, I’m shocked too. Still, they get tickets on Air Botswana.
The remaining 4 teams get their clues and take off. Lynn and Alex leave first, and the other teams employ the “tried, tested and true” method of follow the leader. Which, you’d think Meredith and Gretchen would be a bit gun-shy about, but whatever. Uchenna (of all people) notices that the other teams are going the wrong way, and heads in the other direction. Anyways, the 3 teams hit a tollbooth, where they discover that they’ll have to do a “louie” to get to the airport.
Uchenna and Joyce get tickets on the Air Botswanna flight just as it starts boarding. Meredith and Gretchen and Romber get on the SA Airlines flight. Meanwhile, Lynn and Alex are scared for their lives, as they think they’re in “Compton”, South Africa. Um, yeah, sure. They get someone “least likely to have a gun”, who they call “Tupac” to help them get to the airport. They get there and luckily get tickets on the 1:35 flight.
At 1pm, the first four teams head out to the train station. Ron, Kelly and the brothers decide to share a cab. At the train station, the two teams find out that the train leaves at 9pm, meaning that everyone is going to get on.
At 2:35pm, the second flight arrives. Lynn and Alex find a taxi. Rob, spotting the taxi, mistakes it for a bus. Rob wants to share a ride, but Lynn and Alex insist that there’s not enough seats (this is a large van, mind you). So Rob then asks the driver if this is, indeed a bus. He finds out it isn’t, and leaves. And really, fair is fair, until Lynn notes that if it was any other team, he’d have let them on and shared the cab. But Lynn apparently likes his air conditioning.
OK, and here’s where I really have a problem with these two. They really have a lot of potential as Racers, but it only gets turned on when they’re trying to screw over Rob and Amber. Not sharing a cab with them when you’re bottom three is good strategy, but they weren’t doing it as strategy, they’re doing it to screw over Rob and Amber – hence the “no room” comment. They’re falling ass backwards into good gameplay, and it’s really frustrating to see. Also, Lynn is about as big of an ass as Ray, but I’m trying to be impartial here.
Rant over. Rob is on tilt, and gets a cab. Meredith and Gretchen get a taxi as well. All three teams get tickets, and Lynn continues with the “no room” story. Like Patrick, he’s trying to paint Rob as the “bad guy” when really Rob hasn’t done anything that’s outside of the game. Rob notes that with 7 teams left there’s no more room for friends.
Teams take a train to Francistown, and then take a bus to the Giant Aardvark. The bus, btw, conveniently stops in front of said Aardvark. Teams rush to the cluebox. It’s a Roadblock! A team member must successfully complete a bushman hunting training exercise, throwing a spear at a moving target. Brian, Ron, Rob, Lynn, Joyce, Ray and Meredith take the task. Ron, Brian and Lynn choose their bushmen, while Meredith and Gretchen seem to get lost in what seems to be a fairly deserted area.
The exercise is harder than it looks, as the Racers are finding out. Eventually, Brian hits the target, and they get their next clue. They must drive to 35 miles to a cattle post at Xau Xarra, where they’ll find their next clue. They’ll have a guide with them to take them through the bush. Ron finishes next, followed by Lynn. All three teams get in their cars and take off. Ron notes that other teams have probably not driven in the desert while he has. In retrospect, that was just foreshadowing, but at the time, that really seemed to be a rather random comment.
Ray finishes the Roadblock, and Joyce finishes next. Deana wants Ray to show a wee bit more patience, while Uchenna and Joyce can’t find their bags. Meredith finishes, and Rob finally does as well. Meredith and Rob get in their cars, ahead of Uchenna and Joyce.
Teams are driving along. Rob passes the grandparents, and then pass Ray and Deana. Gretchen wants Meredith to slow down, Meredith wants her to look out for markers instead. Uchenna and Joyce catch up to the grandparents. Brian and Greg note that the sand is slippery, and soon, they wipe out!! And it looks like the cameraman was hurt. Lynn and Alex pass by the wreckage, and check to see if everyone is okay. Brian and Greg look distraught, but (and this is important) tell the partners to go because they don’t want to cost anyone else the Race.
Rob and Amber pass by, notice the wreckage (and that there are a lot of people around), and Rob notes that while they don’t anyone to get hurt, it’s still a Race. Lynn thinks it’s typical of them to not stop. But again, the Dudes told them to go.
Ron and Kelly reach the clue box – it’s a Detour – Food or Water.
In Food, teams need to use local tools to grind corn (or “Pour it in there and beat the crap out of it” as Ron puts it). Locals will sift the corn and accept it only if it’s the right consistency. In Water, teams must sick water from an underground source, fill up 12 ostrich eggs, and bury the eggs underground.
Ron and Kelly choose Food.
Lynn and Alex leave the brothers once they find out that a doctor’s on the way. The other teams pass the wreckage, and the brothers wave them on. All I can really conclude, then, is that the brothers would’ve waved Romber on had they not been so in shock. Meaning, of course, that Lynn and Alex are full of shit.
Romber reach the Detour, and after checking out both options, choose Water. Lynn and Alex choose Food. And of course they tell Ron and Kelly that they “helped out” the Brothers (because standing around qualifies as helping, apparently). Ron says nothing, while Kelly is still a bit peeved about the Argentinean cookout and that Rob managed to quit and is still a frontrunner. Anyways, Rob is digging, Amber is sucking, and they seem to be doing a pretty good job.
Ron and Kelly are making good progress, as is Romber. Lynn and Alex seem to be struggling though. Ron and Kelly finish, and their clue tells them to drive 7 miles to the next Pit Stop, at the Makgadikgadi Pans, the largest salt pan in the world.
Rob and Amber fill the eggs, and get their clue. Lynn and Alex are having trouble.
Ray/Deana, Meredith/Gretchen and Uchenna/Joyce reach the Detour. They all decide to do Food. Corn is ground up, and the difference I see here is that Uchenna/Joyce and Meredith/Gretchen are developing a rhythm, while the other teams are not. BTW, have Lynn and Alex whined about Romber to these three teams yet?
A replacement car comes for the brothers, and they’re off.
Ron/Kelly and Romber are neck and neck, but it’s Ron and Kelly that reach the Pit Stop first. They are team number one, and apparently get no prize. Romber is team number two. Phil asks them if they saw the wreck, and Rob admits that they did, and (sheepishly) admits that they didn’t stop. Phil is either disgusted or amused – I can’t tell which.
Back at the detour, teams are pounding, but the grandparents are close. The brothers are hoping that the Detour is tough. Uchenna and Joyce finish, and head to the Pit Stop. Lynn and Alex finally finish as well. Ray accidentally whacks Deana in the head, but doesn’t apologize. The Dudes reach the Detour, and note that there are still two teams doing one. And because those teams are doing Food, they decide to go for Water.
Uchenna and Joyce are team number three. Lynn and Alex are team number four, and claim that they would’ve been team number two, but judging by their performance in the Detour, I highly doubt it. And of course, they take ANOTHER shot at Rob and Amber, despite the fact that the brothers told them that they should go. And bear in mind that “stop and do the right thing” would not be on their minds if Rob and Amber had flipped over.
Ray’s idea of motivation is apparently saying it’s depressing doing the Detour with Deana. Meredith and Gretchen finish, and head to the Pit Stop. They arrive, and they’re team number five.
The final two teams finish their detours at roughly the same time. Deana’s face is really red and swollen. They’re driving, with Ray and Deana having a slight lead. The brothers catch up, and it’s a footrace!! Although not much of one, as the 6’3″ brothers pull away mere steps from the parked cars. They’re team number six!!
Ray and Deana are the last team to arrive, and they’ve been Philiminated. Interestingly enough, this is the first Pit Stop that I can recall where you can see other Racers in the background.
Anyways, as you can tell, I’m pretty much fed up with Lynn and Alex at this point. Maybe it’s the editing, but all we see of them is whining about Rob and Amber while they ignore the fact that their performance in the Race has been, frankly, average at best. Meanwhile, we’ve seen bits and pieces of the Boston Rob we know and love, but for the most part, he and Amber have been racing well and playing the game rather ethically. So basically, I don’t know what it is that’s bugging Lynn and Alex (mostly Lynn) so much.
Ok, enough from me. Thanks again to Michaelangelo for covering for me last Tuesday, and I’ll be back to live coverage this week for Episode 7 of The Amazing Race!!
