Episode 5 - LIVE BLOG! Kinda

I'm live-blogging the recording of last Sunday's episode - so this isn't a spoiler unless you totally missed it, haven't seen the results online and can't get your own recording of the show.

I'll start in just a couple minutes....

When we last left off - Rob & Amber were eliminated from the race, with Charla & Mirna finishing just ahead of them at the mat.

Starting out of Argentina, teams are pretty shocked that Rob and Amber are no longer in the competition.

Oswald and Danny are the first to read their clue - Travel by taxi to Marshall Glacier when they arrive at the glacier, they need to ride a chair lift and hike half a mile to start their task of using an avalanche beacon to search the area another beacon (along with their clue) that is buried. Despite the order in which teams arrive from the mat, the chair lift doesn't open til 8am so teams start the day at an even pace.

Team Guido (Joe & Bill) find their clue first and get the next clue - fly to Maputo, Mozambique. Since international flights are limited teams are being supplied tickets for a later flight, and the last connection into the country. If they manage to find something sooner - it's fair game.

Back at the glacier, the BQs run on ahead without picking up their gear/beacon. This sets them back alongside Oswald and Danny who have lost ground. Eric and Danielle (Frat and Pinky) find their clue - Danielle "Mozambique? What city is that?" and "if you're ever caught in an avalanche, don't count on Oswald and Danny to get you out," (their words, not mine :-P)

Teams race to a travel agent to gamble and get a better flight than they were supplied with, which leaves at 3:00pm. Os & Danny and Teri & Ian, who are at the same agent, get a 9:40am flight. The rest of the teams have the same success.

Once on the ground they must find and chose a marked car with a driver. Make their way more than 45 miles to the Apopo training field, which doesn't open until a specific time - so again, teams have time to catch up.

ROAD BLOCK - Who smells a rat?

One person must get up close and personal with a rat. Trained rats locate left over land mines as team members guide them to find a route marker buried along with a deactivated mine. Once the rat locates the mine/clue - a trainer will go retrieve their clue. Rats were harnessed along a rope line, they could give signals but needed to stay on course - team members control the rope line and help guide the rat to find what they're both looking for. Joe and Bill's rat locates a mine first by scratching at the ground. Joe then called over the trainer who confirmed the findings with a metal detector. Charla and Mirna are the last to leave the Road Block.

Teams then have to drive back into Maputo and find a building, where they will get their next clue.

DETOUR

Pamper - teams go a half mile to the market and find a stall. Chose a nail polish kit and convince people to get their nails painted by them. They need to make roughly 30 bucks to proceed.

Porter - teams travel a longer distance and will then use their hands to fill 10 large 40 lb bags with coal and sew them shut. Then carry one of the bags to an address where they will get their next clue.

Charla and Mirna go with Pamper while the other teams head to Porter and gave a really hard time - not only painful on the hands but tedious and dirty. BQs also join them in the nail painting fun, but they're the only others to take this detour.

From the Detour teams head to Fortaleza, the pit stop for this race. Charla and Mirna breezed through the Detour and came in FIRST (for their first time).

The BQs had a riot doing nails and are finished their task - they come across the mat 2nd. No one from Porter (the coal bag filling task) has finished yet.

In a turn of events, Teri and Ian end up painting nails - they ended up at the market by mistake. Ian is convinced no one will let him give them a manicure but they end up only getting TWO customers who pay them their entire quota. They seriously lucked out there.

"Do I look like Rambo?" "You look like a saggy raccoon." Oswald and Danny are the first to finish the coal task. Uchenna and Joyce are following other teams to addresses, forgetting that their delivery address is unique.

Teri and Ian check in 3rd. It's pretty obvious that the least frustrating, least dirty and grueling was the nail painting task - all 3 teams that headed that way are now sitting pretty at the pit stop.

Oswald and Danny finish 4th and chase Phil around "I'm hugging you!" they're totally filthy with coal, and he's surprised they even went for that task, "we came to win, not to sissy fight."

Joe and Bill race Eric and Danielle to the mat - Team Guido gets in as team number 5, meanwhile Eric screams at Danielle "she got beat by a bunch of queens" and they cross 6th.

Uchenna and Joyce are marked for elimination and must arrive 1st at the next pit stop. If they are not first, they have to wait 30 minutes before they can check in. This is the same system they had last season. I'm glad they're not out yet - and I'm even MORE glad the race is finally out of South America. Things have been shaken up and I have to say, I'm liking the Oswald and Danny - they always have the best attitude and are still competitive. No one is seriously annoying me, except maybe Eric's bright lime green track pants and "Colege" t-shirt.