This was one of the best episodes of The Amazing Race in the history of the series. We get camels kicking, women screaming, teams teaching, teams learning, lots of rain and Phil with spiked hair.
Let’s get it started. Nine teams remain after Kate & Pat were eliminated last week. We learned that during the last leg, Ronald of Ronald & Christina developed a hernia while riding his bakfiet to the pitstop. He saw a doctor and Ronald admitted he was in intense pain. The doctor reduced the swelling by pushing the tissue back into his abdomen (gross) and Christina wanted him to be as healthy as possible to continue in the race. Perhaps by focusing on the pain, Ronald won’t be yelling at Christina in this episode. We’ll see. Ron said he may not be as “fast as the younger set, but I’ll do my best not be eliminated.”
Lorena & Jason are the first to depart the Durgerdam Yacht Club just outside Amsterdam at 4:19 a.m.
They’ll head to one of the toughest places to spell in the English language, Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso. As Phil tells us, Burkina Faso is a small developing nation in West Africa. Teams will take a plane there, then ride a taxi from the airport to the train station where they will find their next clue.
The teams head to the Amsterdam Airport where they must figure out that Ouagadougou is located on the African continent. As the teams head to the airport, I noticed this particular look that Jennifer gives to Nathan.
Do you ever want to see this look from your girlfriend or wife? This look could kill from 1,000 meters away and he gets it in the cab. Nate, you’re a better man than me, but the next time you want to count the Euros, let Jen do it and you’ll live a long life.
I mean, that is a killer stare. Men have died for less. Ok, we continue on.
The first team that figures out that Ouagadougou is in Africa is Azaria and Hendekea. This team is smart and you’ll see down the line they think on their feet and can get things done. After wondering about this relationship, I’m finding myself liking this team a lot. Hendekea says that she and Azaria are from Ethiopia and feel comfortable in Africa. Azaria says “It’s the cradle of civilization,” and soon we’ll see how comfortable they are in this leg.
Nate, who has survived Jen’s death stare, along with Lorena & Jason and Shana & Jennifer gather at the airport’s internet computer and figure to ask Air France on flights to Burkina Faso.
Both Marianna & Julia and Nicolas & Donald use their taxi driver’s cell phone to find out where they’re going. Smart on both teams’ part to do that.
Nathan & Jen find out there’s only one flight out to Ouagadougou going through Paris arriving late afternoon.
They’ll get out at 8 a.m. so it’s a long flight. Nathan & Jennifer need a flight out at 7:20 a.m., but that flight is full so they have to get on standby.
The last team to leave the pitstop is Ronald & Christina. He realizes what he did wrong in the last leg and says he’ll be more uplifting this time around. We’ll see as he really didn’t do himself any favors on the last leg.
Nathan & Jennifer do get tickets on the 7:20 a.m. flight to Paris so they have a 40 minute head start on the rest of the teams. But as they later find out, it’s all for naught.
Ronald & Christina get to the airport at 7:30 a.m. and run to the gate to check in, but on the way, his hernia acts up.
That picture says it all. He’s in pain. Can he continue to run? They make it on the flight just in a nick of time.
Nathan & Jennifer arrive in Paris while the second flight out of Amsterdam which contains the rest of the teams is sitting on the runway when the pilot announces there is a mechanical problem.
With one flight out to Ouagadougou per day, if Nate and Jen get on it without the others, they’ll have a huge lead.
The flight does get out, but with a substantial delay. Nate and Jen are relaxed as they get ready to board the plane. The teams hustle out the second flight as they have to literally run from one gate to the other. But one by one, they get on and Jen is steaming.
Her comments are so funny. She says, “Glad you made it,” to every team, but you just know she’s pissed that she and Nate didn’t get a chance to pad their lead. Oh well. Maybe next time, if there is a next time. All she and Nathan can do is look at each other.
But her stares at Nathan are just so intense. We went over it already, but for good measure, I give you the death stare again.
I can’t get enough it, sorry. This will be the last time I’ll put this picture in, but it’s really funny.
Ok, all teams are now on their way to Burkina Faso from Paris meaning everyone is bunched once again.
Teams disembark, head to customs and now look for a taxi to get to the train station so they can find their next clue. Marianna & Julia get out in first place. Nathan & Jennifer are second wi
th Azaria & Hendekea close behind. Ronald & Christina are in 4th, then we get our first mistake.
Shana & Jennifer decide to bargain with taxi drivers to get them to the train station. They get a driver who agrees to take them for 3,000 francs, but they give the driver 5,000 expecting change back, but he takes their money. Shana asks for change, but Jennifer is too trusting saying he’ll give them their money back. Oh, no. You’re being taken, Jennifer. Gotta learn in a foreign land, taxi drivers love duping tourists. Shana & Jennifer feel uncomfortable immediately making this unfortunate remark.
Guys, don’t be making a sold for money remark in a cab whose driver is about to take yours.
Nathan & Jennifer get to the cluebox first and discover they’re going to the village of Bingo. It’s literally in the middle of nowhere, so they’ll have to listen to the train conductor’s announcement of their destination. Once they get off the train, they’ll have to search for their next clue.
At the train station, Shana & Jennifer get 1,000 francs back, but they ask for 2,000 back. They won’t get it. The driver then tells them the fare was 4,000. They argue to no avail. Girls? You’ve just been taken. And the driver laughs as Shana & Jennifer get into the train station.
Once inside the train station, all teams discover that the ticket office is closed and they won’t be going to Bingo until the following day. So everyone will be bunched again, on the same train.
So everyone will leave Ouagadougou and will head for Bingo the following morning. Shana & Jennifer are again uncomfortable with their surroundings showing a few signs of little Ugly Americanism.
Azaria & Hendekea note this, but they say they are very comfortable. In fact, Hendekea in this picture looks very lovely.
In the first two legs of the race, she’s had her hair up in a ponytail, but here in this confessional, she’s looking very beautiful here. Ok, I’m smitten. Sue me.
Anyway, Azaria says he feels like he’s home and I’ve noticed this is the third time an African American team has come to Africa and felt at home. Chip & Kim back in TAR5 said the same thing and it was really great to see. And it was also good to see TK & Rachel and Nathan & Jennifer marvel at the sights they were seeing.
All nine teams then leave the train to look for the cluebox. They eventually find it and go immediately to a Roadblock. They will do what the locals in Bingo do. Milk a camel.
They’ll have to milk a camel and a fill a bowl to the designated line. Once done, they will have drink the camel milk to receive their next clue. This is where we get some real separation of the teams.
They can’t spill the milk otherwise they’ll have to start over. And if the camel runs dry, a team member will have to wait until the other teams are finished before using the other camels.
Ronald takes this roadblock and unlike the Ditch Vaulting roadblock on the last leg, excels immediately as he has milked animals before. TK certainly doesn’t have a problem, but Lorena does as her camel constantly knees her as it feels her fear and stress on this roadblock. How she survived it is a real mystery to me, but we’ll get to that later.
Julia’s camel also knees her and she gets scared. TK had the best attitude of anyone on this roadblock. He remained calm and was gentle with his camel. Ronald was getting milk out of his camel without any problems and Christina also took the gentle approach. Vyxsin was also doing well, while Jennifer of the blonds was not in her comfort zone.
In the meantime, Lorena’s camel was not allowing her to get any milk, making her spill her bowl and forcing her to try to refill it.
TK was the first to fill his bowl and he drank the camel’s milk with a few problems, however, he was able to get the next clue. The next task was to take four camels down a marked path to a group of waiting nomads where after handing off their camels, they’ll get the next clue.
Donald was the next to fill his bowl and drank up. While TK and Donald were having an easy time with the roadblock, Lorena, Julia and Azaria were finding all types of difficulty with their camels kicking or moving away. Christina was third to fill her bowl and Jennifer of the blonds was hoping her bowl was filled to the proper line, but it wasn’t and she had to go back, but as she was returning to her camel, she spilled some milk making her job tougher. Christina drank up and she was third out of the roadblock.
TK & Rachel and Nicolas & Donald were walking out of the roadblock, but were having problems finding the markers. Ronald decided to follow the pack out despite Christina’s protests. Vyxsin was next to finish the task.
Back with TK, Rachel noted that they were going the wrong way so TK decided to turn back forcing the other two teams following him to also turn around. Ronald then realized that it was better to have Christina lead as he admitted she was doing a better job.
Nathan was 5th from the milking task and they quickly got behind TK & Rachel on the way to the camel drop-off with the other teams following suit.
Back at Milk A Camel, Lorena was having tremendous problems as her camel kept kicking her and the bowl. Azaria’s camel kicked him just as he was almost to the designated line and he had to add more milk.
Lorena kept stressing and crying as her camel was running dry. This is not a pretty pi
cture, let me tell you. She kept looking at Jason, but there was nothing he could do for her.
Azaria finally asked if he could switch camels as his ran dry. This led to massive switching by the rest of the teams as they went to other camels to milk.
Azaria, Julia and Jennifer finally were filling their bowls, but Lorena found another camel that kicked her. Azaria finished filling his bowl and drank the milk to get the clue.
TK & Rachel were the first to the camel drop off and found their next task was a Detour. Teach It or Learn It.
In Teach It, teams must teach a student who does not speak any English to recite ten common words using pictures. When the child is able to recite all of the words correctly in one sitting, they’ll receive their next clue.
In Learn It, teams must learn the local language from a local schoolchild using the same method as Teach It. They will learn the words for ten common items. Once the teams can recite them back in one sitting, they’ll receive their next clue.
TK & Rachel chose Teach It. Nate & Jen went for Learn It. Kynt & Vyxsin decided to learn. Nicolas & Donald correctly surmised that a kid would be better to learn than teams on no sleep so they went for Teach It. Ronald said he had no REM sleep so he and Christina went for Teach It was well. However, no one could find the school right off the bat.
Back at the milking task, Jennifer was finally filling her bowl to the proper amount and she was able to drink the camel milk without any problems. She and Shana were 7th out of the task leaving Marianna & Julia and Jason & Lorena to vie for the final spot of the leg.
Azaria & Hendekea finally reached the camel drop off and went for Learn It. They quickly found a young child who took them to the school. While Kynt & Vyxsin and Nicolas & Donald got to the building, Az/Hend quickly got there third.
We saw teams teaching or learning and they seemed to be getting the hang of it, but the best approach was taken by Azaria & Hendekea who took five cards each which made the rote memorization much easier. This was the smartest way to tackle this. The other teams who did Learn It tried to memorize ten cards, but with Az taking five words and Hendekea taking the other five, they were able to go through the memorization much quicker. Then you had Nathan & Jennifer trying to memorize ten words and they were having a tougher time.
But then again, you had this look from earlier in the show to remember. Sorry, I just had to post it again. I just laugh every time I see the Jennifer Death Stare. Nate, what are you doing? Stop asking for Euros and let Jennifer count them. You’re going to be dead soon if you keep this up.
This will definitely be the last time I post that picture.
Ok, back to the Detour.
Jennifer and Nathan were trying to memorize their cards when Nate got a bit stressed so we 
got this situation with Jen trying to shush him and calm him down.
Another classic moment with Nathan & Jennifer. I really hope they stay in this race because I just love the dynamic between these two. I hope to see more arguing scenes in the next leg because I love capping them for you.
Azaria & Hendekea have their memorization down and blow through their recital rather quickly.
They received their clue and were instructed to
go on foot to the next pit stop, the Outskirts of Bingo.
Azaria & Hendekea were taken by their guide to the village where they were instructed to go and were on their way when the skies suddenly opened. Heavy rains fell on our racers causing those out in the open to find shelter.
But Lorena kept trying to fill her bowl and her second camel was having none of it kicking her once again.
Cutting to Azaria & Hendekea, they found Phil on the mat, underneath an umbrella and for the second time, they finished first in a leg, making
them the first multiple winner in this edition of the race.
For placing first, Azaria & Hendekea win their second trip, this time on a five day sojourn to Bermuda.
Back at the Milk A Camel task, Julia was finally getting the gist of it, treating her camel gently and she managed to fill her bowl to the proper line. She then drank up and that left Lorena suffering with her camel. But then, Marianna & Julia did the most inexplicable thing. Knowing that elimination could be coming, Julia pointed to Lorena which camel she could get milk from.
I mean, you have a team that’s down. Literally. Lorena is stressed out. She can’t milk. Jason can’t help her. They’re on the verge of being eliminated and you help them???? This is a race. Go. Don’t stop. Don’t help. Don’t give a team any clues. But Julia does and that is the Turning Point of this leg.
Julia tells her to go to the camel that has a baby with it and sure enoug
h, Lorena is able to fill her bowl and then quickly drinks up.
I just shook my head when I saw that. I knew at that point that the sisters were toast and would be eliminated.
Back at the school, Ronald & Christina’s student was reciting her English words with flying colors and they got their clue. TK & Rachel’s student was also going through her words nicely and the teacher handed them their clue.
Nathan & Jennifer (mostly Jennifer) were reciting their words back to the teacher and they able to breeze through. Nicolas & Donald’s student was stellar and they got out of the task easily. It was Kynt & Vyxsin’s turn to recite their words and they were next to get their clue. You can see where this is going. You have five teams finishing all at the same time and it was a footrace to get to mat next.
You had Phil and his greeter, a very nice woman standing to his left and five teams racing to the mat. Rachel and Jen bump into the woman whom later we find has a baby strapped to her backpack so you can imagine had they knocked her down how that would have looked. She was nice about it, but that was rather hairy.
So TK & Rachel, Nathan & Jen and Kynt & Vyxsin finished 2nd, 3rd & 4th respectively. Ronald & Christina finished 5th with Nicolas & Donald in 6th.
Phil said he couldn’t believe after the long trip from Paris that all five teams would hit the mat at once.
Shana & Jennifer get to school where they chose to Teach It. I really think this team rocked this task as Jennifer did a really great job teaching their student the 10 English words.
Now to Marianna & Julia and Lorena & Jason who both are taking their camels to the drop off point. It’s here where Lorena & Jason decide to run and Marianna & Julia don’t hustle.
Shana & Jennifer’s student goes through his words easily and the Blonds get the clue so they’re off to the mat.
Lorena & Jason catch up to the sisters, but Marianna & Julia get their clue first and decide to Learn It. Lorena & Jason also Learn It.
Shana & Jennifer hit the mat in 7th causing Jennifer to break out in tears. OMG! Stop crying! There’s no crying in The Amazing Race!
It’s here we see Phil and his spiked hair so for the ladies, you get a gift. Here’s Phil and his
spiked hair. Enjoy.
On the way to school, Lorena & Jason find it first while Marianna & Julia are close behind.
Both teams are learning their words. Lorena & Jason go to recite their words before Marianna & Julia.
They both struggle a bit, but Lorena & Jason get their clue first leaving the sisters behind.
And this allows Lorena & Jason to hit the mat in 8th place while the sisters get eliminated. I’m sure Marinna & Julia watched this episode and are kicking themselves because Lorena & Jason were out of this leg. I had really hoped the sisters would last a while. Oh well.
So your order of finish.
1. Azaria & Hendekea (winners of a trip to Bermuda)
2. TK & Rachel
3. Nathan & Jennifer
4. Kynt & Vyxsin
5. Ronald & Christina
6. Nicolas & Donald
7. Shana & Jennifer
8. Lorena & Jason
9. Marianna & Julia (eliminated)
Next week, teams show off their dancing skills and Shana & Jennifer make a controversial decision. It appears from the previews that they piss off Lorena & Jason. Should make for some interesting drama. That’s it. Good night.
