Naked and Afraid (2013–…): Season 14, Episode 6 - Buffalo Bait - full transcript
There are a
lot of Cape buffalo right there.
Right now, they're
forming a defensive line.
You can see all the
strong ones in the front
and the young in the back.
They do that when
they feel threatened.
We should go.
There's nothing easy about this.
We got hail.
My heart's racing.
If you don't
fight, you won't make it.
Why is it so hard?
This is that part
where the afraid sets in.
Getting ready to get
dropped off and do this.
You know, it all started
with me on the couch
watching the show.
And now I'm on the show.
Super excited to do this
14-day Fan Challenge.
Check it out. We
got a zebra over here.
It's my new neighbor.
Oh, there are some
very cute impala.
Buffalo Alley, South Africa,
a vast grassland teeming
with aggressive black rhinos,
lions, leopards,
territorial baboons,
and the mighty Cape buffalo
that earns the area its name.
Right here we
got a Cape buffalo.
It's like the size of the truck.
Weighing up to 2,200 pounds,
Cape buffalo are known
as the Black Death
or widowmaker,
because they kill
200 people a year
on the African continent.
Fiercely territorial,
they will trample
anything in their path,
charging without
warning at speeds
of up to 37 miles per hour.
This area is definitely
teeming with wildlife.
I hope they don't
mind the houseguest.
My name is Andrew.
I'm a telemetry
technician in the ICU.
Right now, I'm 10
hours into a 12-hour shift.
I've done the Appalachian Trail,
I've done the
Pacific Crest Trail,
and I've been a fan
of Naked And Afraid
ever since day one
and I'm super stoked
to finally get to show the
world that I can do this.
Right now I'm watching
Naked and Afraid XL.
They're in Colombia.
Take that, Colombia.
Jeff kept being
so excited about everything.
I think he's got
the right attitude.
Always excited.
I wanna hunt, I wanna forage,
I wanna build an
awesome shelter.
And by the end of this thing,
I wanna be living the highlife,
so buckle up.
As an ICU technician,
Andrew is accustomed
to reacting quickly
in life or death situations,
but in an unfamiliar
environment...
- Wow.
- His enthusiasm
may ultimately
outweigh his stamina.
He begins with a
primitive survival rating
or PSR of 5.2.
I'm Ali.
I'm currently living in
Bozeman, Montana,
and I'm a grad student
studying sustainable
food system.
As a fan, it's, uh, pretty crazy
that today's the day.
Uh, definitely a bit nervous,
a little bit nauseous
because of the nerves.
I have tested my
mental endurance
in a number of different ways.
Watching the women
on Naked and Afraid
definitely inspired me
to feel like I can do more
in the outdoors as well.
I'm a big fan of Gabrielle.
I think she's a total badass.
Thank you.
If I can channel some of that,
I'll walk away feeling proud.
Ali is an
accomplished outdoorswoman,
but remains untested
in a partnership.
She begins with a PSR of 4.8.
Ah, giraffe.
I'm definitely about to be
one of the smallest
living things
walking around out here.
Yo.
Holy there
is a lion right there.
It's just slightly terrifying.
Just got real.
It's a little intimidating,
knowing I'm gonna
be out here with those.
There's no fence, just the lion.
Holy.
This whole situation,
it's so surreal.
There are lions and big
game out here that will kill you.
I almost feel like a gladiator
going into battle
and it's about to get real.
Whoa.
All right, baby. Let's do this.
South African bush, baby.
Being naked is
something I feel like
I have been comfortable
with for quite a while.
Okay.
I sit for drawing classes
and painting classes.
Well, step one naked is done.
Now we just got to get afraid.
Feeling a little exposed
right now, not gonna lie.
Woo, that sand is hot, boy.
And watch out for thorns.
Wilderness friend.
- Hey.
- I'm Andrew.
- I'm Ali.
- Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too.
- Where are you from?
- I live in Montana now.
- What about you?
- I'm from Key West.
Cool. Sweet. Nice.
And, um, are you super excited
we finally get,
uh, get to do this?
We're out here.
We'll see. Yeah.
To be honest, I
feel like my gaze,
it just immediately
went to penis
and then I was like, oh,
there's Andrew's face.
I had to make sure I
was like, stare at the face,
stare at the face.
What kinda inspired you
to get into this crazy mess?
It always seemed like a
way to, sort of, push yourself
to a new extreme and so I wanted
to get out here and try it out.
I like to do long distance runs.
I've done some
prolonged fasting.
Nettle is great for tea.
Some of my most useful
skills will be foraging.
Some huckleberry.
And just general
plant identification.
- Hell yeah.
- Yeah.
You know, and doing a
bunch of outdoorsy stuff.
And, you know, this
is the Mount Everest
of survival challenges, right?
Working in the medical industry,
you see people
knocking on death's door
and it just makes you really
wanna live life to the fullest.
That's what inspires me
to do wild and
crazy stuff like this.
Let's check out what we
got in the bags over here.
Yeah, let's see
what's over here.
In addition to
a knife and fire starter,
Andrew and Ali
have been given a pot
to help them hydrate
in the extreme heat.
Well, I've got the map.
Let's see what we got.
We got buffalo,
elephant, lion, rhino.
Yeah. It's like being in
a zoo without the fences.
It's crazy.
Let's try to follow
this game trail
and, uh, see if we
can get some water.
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Right.
Finally got to meet my partner.
I think our personalities
mesh really well.
Honestly, the dung
feels pretty good
on your feet to walk in.
It's like soft and not as hot.
Andrew seems awesome.
He seems like really upbeat.
He obviously has a lot of
experience in the outdoors.
I was expecting it to be
a lot more like a desert, but...
It's... Yeah, it's pretty green.
Yeah.
I'm super excited about that.
During the rainy season,
temperatures in Buffalo Alley
can plummet from the high 90s
to the low 50s in a day.
While thunderclouds
release a deluge of rain,
often lasting for
six hours or longer.
Ow.
Thorn?
Yeah.
The terrain is blanketed
by needle-sharp Acacia thorns.
After dark, nocturnal
camel spiders,
many as big as
six inches in length
leave the thickets to hunt.
Yo.
Check this out.
Whoa, I didn't even
realize that was a thing.
Ali, check it out.
Is that a rhino over there?
Uh, like, let's be quiet.
Are we downwind right now?
I think it probably
knows that we're here.
- Yeah.
- I think we stay definitely...
- Over that way.
- Give it a nice wide area.
For sure.
Hopefully they're
leading us to water.
From the looks of
all the animal tracks,
we're definitely getting
closer to something.
Oh, I see water.
It looks really gross.
We're thirsty.
This looks honestly
just like poop
that's been rained on.
Let's see if there's something
that looks a little
bit less gross.
Hmm.
This looks like the most
promising water, I would say.
Yeah. I think right
where it's flowing.
Yeah.
We should look for a spot
to set up camp around here.
Maybe like a little
bit up from the water
and make sure it's
like off a game trail
- because...
- Okay.
We don't wanna be in their way.
Maybe this big tree area.
Yeah. Like, right here?
Yeah. That's just gonna
take some clearing
and then we can
start to build it up.
Maybe I can get the
fire going or something
and start boiling water and
then come back and help.
Sounds good.
I've seen a lot of
people come out here
and try to make fire and fail.
All right. Rock and roll.
It's like riding a bike to me.
So this fire is gonna
get going real quick.
And that, my friends,
is how you make fire.
Nice big fire.
Fire's roaring, water's boiling.
Sweet.
Fire is definitely
essential out here.
We wanna boil the
water that we have.
Also, there's a lot
of big game animals,
we wanna keep them away.
Looks like buffalo
tracks over here.
There is animal poop right here.
Right up at our camp.
Fresh poop at that.
Part of the appeal of this spot.
There is a tree that
we can climb here
and buffalo cannot climb trees.
We're gonna try and build
up a bit of a wall tonight.
Perhaps put thorns on it to
keep stuff out of the boma.
A boma is a circular enclosure
of branches and
thorns with a fire inside.
It is designed to
keep large animals out
but doesn't have a roof
to protect against the elements.
This might make
a good front door.
Come on, baby.
I'm already, like, super
dehydrated, I can tell.
Come on.
Once we're inside for the night,
pull this thing and
wedge it right there.
Do we wanna check out the water
and potentially
take a water break?
- Still good?
- Yeah.
Super refreshing.
That is dirty.
- Super refreshing.
- You got to watch out
for the sediment.
Feeling pretty good.
Getting close to the
end of our first day here.
Me and Andrew seem to be
working really well together.
Okay. Hell yeah.
Sweet.
I wish we
had more time in the day
to keep building
it but it is what it is,
so probably just gonna make sure
that we got a fire going
around the clock tonight.
We got our first
official fire in our boma.
There's Ali closing our door.
I have a feeling
that we might see
some on this trip.
You think?
We're at a watering hole.
- Yeah. We're
- I mean...
- And we're really close.
- Yeah.
Yo.
Don't even say that.
Hear a growl?
Hear that?
It sounded like a
grunt or something.
We've basically
been up all night
trying to keep this fire going.
But there is definitely
something large.
There is definitely
something large.
It's leaving.
There was some
animal activity last night
and we don't know
what it was but it was big.
Here, we've got a
Cape buffalo track.
Nice deep print to let you know
how big those things really are.
They call them the Black Death
because they attack
without warning,
and they're like the
size of a small truck.
And it looks like he headed,
uh, right up towards our
boma here, so yippee.
Our Cape buffalo experience
I think has definitely
made us more cautious.
We did a little bit more
home renovation this morning,
added some more thorns.
Today, our priorities
are gonna be stocking up
on firewood and
then hopefully finding
some good food sources as well.
I am collecting
spinach for us to eat.
Yay.
The wild spinach
that's out here,
it's pretty plentiful.
Seems like there's a bunch
of spinach stuff around.
Hell yeah.
Not super high calorie but food.
- Yeah.
- You know.
It's something,
something to eat.
We could boil it so
that we can sterilize it.
You got some of your
classic South African spinach,
looks delicious.
Going for it, Popeye.
Oh, yeah.
All right. I'm gonna dig in.
It's a little fuzzier
than I was expecting.
Fuzzy?
Fuzzier than you were expecting?
Yeah.
If one of us is gonna
vomit, who's it gonna be?
Probably me, to be honest.
No?
- They're not for you?
- Yeah.
All right. We'll find out
by the end of 14 days,
we're definitely gonna
eat some gnarly stuff.
Woo! That sun is hot, boy.
I'm keeping an eye out
for any big game animals.
Holy.
There's a Cape
buffalo in our waterhole.
I come down to the
water and check this out.
Not really looking forward
to trips to the waterhole.
Definitely sits in the
back of your mind
that you're not alone out here
and to keep the animals away,
fire is essential.
This is their house.
We're in their backyard.
We are getting close
to the end of day two.
Hooray.
Yeah, I'm feeling
tired for sure.
The sun definitely
took it out of us today.
I'm gonna go fill this up.
Watch out for Cape buffalo.
No joke.
Staying hydrated is something
that we have a little
bit more control over
than a lot of the
other things here.
Okay.
I am trying to do some
of nature's sunscreen here
to just protect
my skin a little bit.
Feel like better
safe than sorry.
So this is breakfast today.
Round two.
We tried spinach.
It tastes like dirt water.
It's a rough flavor.
Hopefully, we can
get some meat here
one of these days.
Just by the end of this
trip, mark my words,
we gonna eat some meat.
We gonna eat some meat.
I'm gonna make
an arapuca bird trap.
I'm peeling the bark off
of these branches
and then I turn this
into cordage or rope
and I will use the rope
to hold together a bird trap.
I saw somebody on the show
make one of these bird traps.
It's so harsh out here.
All right.
This is the trigger mechanism.
Here comes the bird.
Voila.
Dove for dinner.
Now, I just got to figure out
a cool place
to set this thing up.
Now, we wait.
- Andrew!
- Yo.
Come up here.
The boma's on fire.
I'll be right there.
Hurry, please.
What's up?
Oh, my God.
You okay?
Yeah.
We just didn't really
think through
where our woodpile was.
That's an error on our judgment.
Yeah, maybe we should just like
make sure that our woodpiles
are farther away from...
Yeah.
The fire.
Can't believe
we almost burned it down
in the middle of the day.
Like, at night, I get it.
That was a little mistake.
I think
it's just a matter of luck
that it did not turn out
to be a big one.
Good job at saving the boma.
Yeah, no worries.
- Yo, yo, there it is.
- Where?
It's like the size
of the palm of your hand
what we believe
is a camel spider.
It's going to town
on that grasshopper.
What the
I know, right?
It's huge.
Oh, I hate it.
All right. Get up.
Get up. Get up.
What? What? What? What?
Oh, sorry.
It was right behind you.
Here's one right here.
Do you see it?
Yup.
Oh
There it is.
There it is.
- Where?
- Coming towards you.
Oh
Dude, that thing is huge.
Oh, my God.
That thing is massive.
There's a wasp.
It went back
into the woods though.
It's back.
Up the tree.
It went up the tree.
Can you get it
while it's in that crack?
It's the same thing
that went back at my face.
Don't miss the thing.
Don't...
Oh, no pressure.
All right, one, two...
oh,
There has been
a very large camel spider...
Terrorizing us all night.
Oh,
It's underneath the tree.
That...
Sorry, that was a really
dramatic reaction.
- Do you see it?
- Where did it go? No!
I think it's in that crack.
I'm killing that thing tonight.
So right now...
I'm moving the firewood
over here
instead of a pile right here.
The spider we think
lives like here.
This should give me
a good line of sight on it.
So I can hopefully
kill it tonight.
We're so energized right now.
Gosh, I can just feel the energy
pulsing through my veins
right now.
I'm progressively
getting lightheaded
when I stand up.
We got to get
some different food.
Like, I really
wanna catch something.
Let me go get the bird trap.
Well, the trap
has been triggered,
but no bird.
I got birds up here
laughing at me though.
It's hard out here.
Be grateful that you got those
chicken nuggets on a platter.
There's definitely
a lot of trial and error
with the food out here.
It's an extremely
humbling experience.
This thing is such a pain
in the ass to arm.
I'm loving the fact that
it's like overcast today.
It might not be a bad time
to just explore in general.
I mean,
it's not gonna get cooler
than it is right now.
So yeah, I'm gonna go
try to find fruit.
Okay.
I feel like me and Andrew,
we sort of complement
each other in a lot of ways.
She's super solid
about collecting water,
collecting spinach, firewood.
Having somebody to share
all the responsibilities
out here makes it
a totally different game.
I think anybody can just
kind of come out here
and scrape by
with the bare minimum
for 14 days.
But I think it's when you go
outside that box
and really try to discover more,
take in more.
I think that's the difference
between a true survivalist
and somebody that's just
out here to survive.
It's like a lot of work
to try and find other food
and we're going to start
getting more
and more depleted.
And I feel like
with us working together,
we're definitely gonna be able
to make it through this thing.
Really feel the lack of energy
and food.
There are a lot
of Cape buffalo right there.
Was gonna come try
to check out this tree
but I'm gonna go this way
and leave them be.
I've always been a fan
of the show.
I've seen a lot of episodes
and it seems like
we are living in a zoo
compared to those
other episodes.
There is so much wildlife,
so much activity all the time.
It just keeps you on your toes.
None of these trees
have fruit on them.
Yeah, I'm gonna check out
a couple more trees
and then head back to the boma.
Oh, are these jackalberries?
I think these are jackalberries,
which are edible.
Huge find today.
Huge find.
I'm gonna take these back
to the boma
and share them with Ali.
I think this is an automatic
mood booster.
Hi, honey. I'm home.
Hey, there. How did it go?
Guess what I found.
Please be fruit.
It's not a lot.
It's not a lot.
So at first I thought
they were jackalberries,
but after testing them.
Whoa.
They are definitely
velvet raisins.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
Like, just a taste
of something sweet,
something that's not
what we've been eating.
Well, get ready
because your spinach is ready.
Thank you for doing that.
Oh, yeah, of course.
Okay. It is the morning
of day five.
The sun has just come up
so it's time for morning chores.
It's hard
because we never really sleep
super well at night,
so it's like just hard
to get motivated.
Hey, Andrew.
Oh.
There is a herd
of Cape buffalo over there,
so just be cautious.
Oh, schnikes.
We're gonna stick together
this morning
to keep our eyes on.
They're snorting at us.
They're there,
our boma is there.
It's about 50 yards
in case we need to run.
Right now, they're like
forming a defensive line.
You can see all
the strong ones in the front
and the young in the back.
They do that
when they feel threatened.
- Yeah.
- I'm thinking...
Maybe we should go.
- Oh, crap.
- Holy.
We're about to get stampeded
by the Black Death.
We're out collecting firewood,
giant herd
of Cape buffalo appear.
We head back to the boma.
- Oh, crap.
- Holy.
A bunch of buffalo poop here
when we set up, so.
We could definitely tell
that they hung out.
Part of the appeal of the spot
was that there's a tree
that we can climb here
and buffalo cannot climb trees.
Get a fire going.
Maybe the smoke
will get rid of the buffalo.
Looks like they moved.
Sure beats caffeine
in the morning.
It looks like it's gonna rain.
I mean,
it's raining enough to like...
- Yeah, yeah.
- Scare me.
It definitely just soaked
all of our wood.
I feel like it's not that wet,
like...
Yeah, but if for
whatever reason this goes out,
we would have a very, very
tough time getting fire again.
We are gonna be really miserable
if we have to do a night
of rain without firewood.
Firewood at this point
is like absolutely
our most important priority.
Anybody that's ever thinking
about doing
this survival challenge,
collect more firewood
than you think you need.
Watching the show,
I saw one episode,
uh, where Gabrielle said
that her father always said...
If you're gonna build a fire,
get as much wood as you think
you need and then double it.
That is solid advice.
We got our fire going,
got our water,
the woodpile all set up.
Hopefully
there's no rain, spiders,
or big crazy animals tonight.
Oh it's like downpouring.
We have no idea what time it is
and it has been raining
all night long.
We have been trying
to keep this fire going
the best that we can
and we've just been
huddled around it.
It's gonna be
a long cold hard night
for both of us.
I bet.
Last night was so rough.
We fall asleep
and then like wake up
to raindrops
and then you're like,
"Oh
I gotta start the fire."
I might try to, like,
build a roof.
Like, I would have taken
like all those long reeds
and like put them together
and then...
- Yeah.
- Tie them up with this.
Here's the thing,
those reeds are super flammable.
I mean,
we could do it strategically
so we're not like gonna burn
our boma down.
I think
it's gonna be a lot of work.
Yeah.
But I like where your head's at.
- Right?
- Yeah.
It's like a good idea in theory.
If we have enough wood,
the fire won't go out.
Yeah.
We should collect more wood...
- Yeah, yeah.
- To keep the fire going
in the event
of another typical storm.
Maybe eventually
we'll build some sort of roof
but it's just not like the top
priority at the moment.
Trying to catch some meat
is, like,
I mean,
that's way up there for me
because that would just be
such a huge
morale booster to us.
I've seen these
monitor lizards out here.
I'm trying to look
under these, like,
little nook and crannies.
If I was a lizard, that's where
I'd be hiding out right now.
Clouds as far the eye can see,
uh, not real hopeful
catching a lizard,
not in the rain.
I can't say I blame them,
I'd rather be in the boma too,
but I'm hungry.
Go back home
and give Ali the bad news.
Just lightheaded.
I don't think
I drank enough water
before I went to bed
last night and this morning,
I'm feeling
a little bit dehydrated.
Being out here
is certainly very real,
it's the hardest thing
I've ever done.
I'm just gonna try
and keep my head
in the challenge
until it's time to leave.
Bird nest here.
There's a bird in it.
Guess what I just found.
Look at that.
How'd it go?
Wakey, wakey,
eggs and bakey.
Oh, those are really
pretty actually.
Aren't they cool?
I think they're still warm.
Hell, yeah.
About to grub out.
And by grub out, I mean,
like a tablespoon of food.
This will be the first protein
we've had, yeah.
They're so tiny.
Make sure we take
the most immediately.
It is not like yummy.
No.
Bon appetite.
That part actually
looks half decent.
Yeah?
Tasted like a yolk actually.
- Really?
- Mmm-hmm.
You may just have to pick it up.
This is gonna make me throw up.
You'll be fine.
Something.
You can almost, like, feel
like a little bit of, like,
life you get from it.
Like, the very,
very little bit of life.
The sun hasn't like come out
really in like four days.
You're feeling a little down?
I'm so... I'm...
It's starting to weigh on me.
That makes sense.
Obviously I'd like
to be thriving out here,
but if I gotta worry about wood
and being warm
all the damn time,
I guess that's this challenge.
With the rain coming and going,
I'd like to have
more of a roof right now,
but we only have so many of us
and so much time,
so the option
is just collect wood
because staying warm
means more than staying dry.
Oh, we're about to have
a real bad day.
What the.
We are so right now.
If this rain doesn't stop,
we're not gonna have fire.
The fire we have
is our lifeblood.
It's all wet,
we don't have fire,
we don't have water,
we don't have protection
from the animals,
we don't have heat.
If we don't have fire,
we really don't have anything
out here.
This is that part
where the afraid sets in.
Ooh, stiff knees.
I feel like a grandma.
It definitely makes you feel
a little old, doesn't it?
We could do some yoga later.
I've never done yoga,
so whatever.
You've never done yoga?
I know some yoga poses,
like the names of some of them.
- Like downward dog.
- Mmm-hmm.
And happy baby.
Happy baby
is a pretty funny pose.
I'll show you happy baby.
You go like this
- and then you rock...
- Oh, my God.
Back and forward.
Yo, you could just tone
that down right now.
- I'm sorry.
- Okay.
Maybe I should've shown you that
I was not expecting that.
I, like, kinda thought through
what that might look like,
but like not really.
Thank you for being you.
The storm
is just dumping buckets on us
and we are doing
everything we can
to keep this fire going.
Taking turns back and forth
trying to cover the fire,
blowing on the fire.
I think it's gonna be over soon.
I hope you're right.
Oh, golly.
I think we both
were able to stay
in a fairly good
headspace particularly
because the fire didn't go out.
If the fire goes out,
that's gonna be
a different situation.
- Woo.
- Yeah.
I'm really, really,
really proud of us.
We kept the fire going
in a torrential downpour.
That is not an easy task.
Me and my partner
are struggling.
We are starving,
we are wet, we are cold.
It takes a very
determined individual
to make it through
a challenge like this.
It started raining,
we're getting really cold
and it's happening very quickly
and it's about to be a long day.
Keeping that fire going
in a torrential downpour
is a serious business.
I don't care who you are.
It has been raining
for three plus hours now.
And our fire is basically
all but gone out,
it is absolutely freezing
right now.
In the last three hours,
the temperature has dropped
to 48 degrees.
Andrew and Ali are rapidly
losing body heat in the rain
and beginning to shiver,
signaling the onset
of hypothermia.
Man, Ali and I are freezing
our asses off
because our fire has gone out
and, like, hypothermia is the
I gotta make it out
of this alive.
Get home in one piece
without freezing to death.
Hello, basecamp?
This is basecamp, go ahead.
We need your help.
Can you get in here?
Okay, guys.
There is no way that
we can go through the night
like this without a fire,
I mean, it's hypothermia or...
And the fire
was not able to stay?
- We tried for hours.
- We tried for hours.
And it just kept raining
and raining,
so I mean, we don't wanna tap,
we don't wanna tap
but, you know,
it's the smart thing to do.
Are you guys willing
to tap 100% sure?
- Yup.
- Yeah.
We'll get you out of here.
- Come on, guys.
- All right, thanks.
It's an extremely
humbling experience.
Coming into this,
I was sure that I had it.
I still feel that way, you know.
I know what I need to fix.
Had I just created a shelter
a little bit differently,
built a better roof,
I'd be walking out on day 14.
Nine days in,
Andrew and Ali abandoned
the challenge,
dropping their PSRs to 4.5.
I came in knowing
that this was gonna suck
in a lot of ways
and be really hard.
We learned a lot
on this challenge.
If we had somehow been able
to make a roof,
that probably would have helped
a lot with the rain.
I'm devastated right now,
but, um, anybody
that wants to think
that the two of us
weren't tough as nails,
you come out here and try.
lot of Cape buffalo right there.
Right now, they're
forming a defensive line.
You can see all the
strong ones in the front
and the young in the back.
They do that when
they feel threatened.
We should go.
There's nothing easy about this.
We got hail.
My heart's racing.
If you don't
fight, you won't make it.
Why is it so hard?
This is that part
where the afraid sets in.
Getting ready to get
dropped off and do this.
You know, it all started
with me on the couch
watching the show.
And now I'm on the show.
Super excited to do this
14-day Fan Challenge.
Check it out. We
got a zebra over here.
It's my new neighbor.
Oh, there are some
very cute impala.
Buffalo Alley, South Africa,
a vast grassland teeming
with aggressive black rhinos,
lions, leopards,
territorial baboons,
and the mighty Cape buffalo
that earns the area its name.
Right here we
got a Cape buffalo.
It's like the size of the truck.
Weighing up to 2,200 pounds,
Cape buffalo are known
as the Black Death
or widowmaker,
because they kill
200 people a year
on the African continent.
Fiercely territorial,
they will trample
anything in their path,
charging without
warning at speeds
of up to 37 miles per hour.
This area is definitely
teeming with wildlife.
I hope they don't
mind the houseguest.
My name is Andrew.
I'm a telemetry
technician in the ICU.
Right now, I'm 10
hours into a 12-hour shift.
I've done the Appalachian Trail,
I've done the
Pacific Crest Trail,
and I've been a fan
of Naked And Afraid
ever since day one
and I'm super stoked
to finally get to show the
world that I can do this.
Right now I'm watching
Naked and Afraid XL.
They're in Colombia.
Take that, Colombia.
Jeff kept being
so excited about everything.
I think he's got
the right attitude.
Always excited.
I wanna hunt, I wanna forage,
I wanna build an
awesome shelter.
And by the end of this thing,
I wanna be living the highlife,
so buckle up.
As an ICU technician,
Andrew is accustomed
to reacting quickly
in life or death situations,
but in an unfamiliar
environment...
- Wow.
- His enthusiasm
may ultimately
outweigh his stamina.
He begins with a
primitive survival rating
or PSR of 5.2.
I'm Ali.
I'm currently living in
Bozeman, Montana,
and I'm a grad student
studying sustainable
food system.
As a fan, it's, uh, pretty crazy
that today's the day.
Uh, definitely a bit nervous,
a little bit nauseous
because of the nerves.
I have tested my
mental endurance
in a number of different ways.
Watching the women
on Naked and Afraid
definitely inspired me
to feel like I can do more
in the outdoors as well.
I'm a big fan of Gabrielle.
I think she's a total badass.
Thank you.
If I can channel some of that,
I'll walk away feeling proud.
Ali is an
accomplished outdoorswoman,
but remains untested
in a partnership.
She begins with a PSR of 4.8.
Ah, giraffe.
I'm definitely about to be
one of the smallest
living things
walking around out here.
Yo.
Holy there
is a lion right there.
It's just slightly terrifying.
Just got real.
It's a little intimidating,
knowing I'm gonna
be out here with those.
There's no fence, just the lion.
Holy.
This whole situation,
it's so surreal.
There are lions and big
game out here that will kill you.
I almost feel like a gladiator
going into battle
and it's about to get real.
Whoa.
All right, baby. Let's do this.
South African bush, baby.
Being naked is
something I feel like
I have been comfortable
with for quite a while.
Okay.
I sit for drawing classes
and painting classes.
Well, step one naked is done.
Now we just got to get afraid.
Feeling a little exposed
right now, not gonna lie.
Woo, that sand is hot, boy.
And watch out for thorns.
Wilderness friend.
- Hey.
- I'm Andrew.
- I'm Ali.
- Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too.
- Where are you from?
- I live in Montana now.
- What about you?
- I'm from Key West.
Cool. Sweet. Nice.
And, um, are you super excited
we finally get,
uh, get to do this?
We're out here.
We'll see. Yeah.
To be honest, I
feel like my gaze,
it just immediately
went to penis
and then I was like, oh,
there's Andrew's face.
I had to make sure I
was like, stare at the face,
stare at the face.
What kinda inspired you
to get into this crazy mess?
It always seemed like a
way to, sort of, push yourself
to a new extreme and so I wanted
to get out here and try it out.
I like to do long distance runs.
I've done some
prolonged fasting.
Nettle is great for tea.
Some of my most useful
skills will be foraging.
Some huckleberry.
And just general
plant identification.
- Hell yeah.
- Yeah.
You know, and doing a
bunch of outdoorsy stuff.
And, you know, this
is the Mount Everest
of survival challenges, right?
Working in the medical industry,
you see people
knocking on death's door
and it just makes you really
wanna live life to the fullest.
That's what inspires me
to do wild and
crazy stuff like this.
Let's check out what we
got in the bags over here.
Yeah, let's see
what's over here.
In addition to
a knife and fire starter,
Andrew and Ali
have been given a pot
to help them hydrate
in the extreme heat.
Well, I've got the map.
Let's see what we got.
We got buffalo,
elephant, lion, rhino.
Yeah. It's like being in
a zoo without the fences.
It's crazy.
Let's try to follow
this game trail
and, uh, see if we
can get some water.
- Yeah, let's do it.
- Right.
Finally got to meet my partner.
I think our personalities
mesh really well.
Honestly, the dung
feels pretty good
on your feet to walk in.
It's like soft and not as hot.
Andrew seems awesome.
He seems like really upbeat.
He obviously has a lot of
experience in the outdoors.
I was expecting it to be
a lot more like a desert, but...
It's... Yeah, it's pretty green.
Yeah.
I'm super excited about that.
During the rainy season,
temperatures in Buffalo Alley
can plummet from the high 90s
to the low 50s in a day.
While thunderclouds
release a deluge of rain,
often lasting for
six hours or longer.
Ow.
Thorn?
Yeah.
The terrain is blanketed
by needle-sharp Acacia thorns.
After dark, nocturnal
camel spiders,
many as big as
six inches in length
leave the thickets to hunt.
Yo.
Check this out.
Whoa, I didn't even
realize that was a thing.
Ali, check it out.
Is that a rhino over there?
Uh, like, let's be quiet.
Are we downwind right now?
I think it probably
knows that we're here.
- Yeah.
- I think we stay definitely...
- Over that way.
- Give it a nice wide area.
For sure.
Hopefully they're
leading us to water.
From the looks of
all the animal tracks,
we're definitely getting
closer to something.
Oh, I see water.
It looks really gross.
We're thirsty.
This looks honestly
just like poop
that's been rained on.
Let's see if there's something
that looks a little
bit less gross.
Hmm.
This looks like the most
promising water, I would say.
Yeah. I think right
where it's flowing.
Yeah.
We should look for a spot
to set up camp around here.
Maybe like a little
bit up from the water
and make sure it's
like off a game trail
- because...
- Okay.
We don't wanna be in their way.
Maybe this big tree area.
Yeah. Like, right here?
Yeah. That's just gonna
take some clearing
and then we can
start to build it up.
Maybe I can get the
fire going or something
and start boiling water and
then come back and help.
Sounds good.
I've seen a lot of
people come out here
and try to make fire and fail.
All right. Rock and roll.
It's like riding a bike to me.
So this fire is gonna
get going real quick.
And that, my friends,
is how you make fire.
Nice big fire.
Fire's roaring, water's boiling.
Sweet.
Fire is definitely
essential out here.
We wanna boil the
water that we have.
Also, there's a lot
of big game animals,
we wanna keep them away.
Looks like buffalo
tracks over here.
There is animal poop right here.
Right up at our camp.
Fresh poop at that.
Part of the appeal of this spot.
There is a tree that
we can climb here
and buffalo cannot climb trees.
We're gonna try and build
up a bit of a wall tonight.
Perhaps put thorns on it to
keep stuff out of the boma.
A boma is a circular enclosure
of branches and
thorns with a fire inside.
It is designed to
keep large animals out
but doesn't have a roof
to protect against the elements.
This might make
a good front door.
Come on, baby.
I'm already, like, super
dehydrated, I can tell.
Come on.
Once we're inside for the night,
pull this thing and
wedge it right there.
Do we wanna check out the water
and potentially
take a water break?
- Still good?
- Yeah.
Super refreshing.
That is dirty.
- Super refreshing.
- You got to watch out
for the sediment.
Feeling pretty good.
Getting close to the
end of our first day here.
Me and Andrew seem to be
working really well together.
Okay. Hell yeah.
Sweet.
I wish we
had more time in the day
to keep building
it but it is what it is,
so probably just gonna make sure
that we got a fire going
around the clock tonight.
We got our first
official fire in our boma.
There's Ali closing our door.
I have a feeling
that we might see
some on this trip.
You think?
We're at a watering hole.
- Yeah. We're
- I mean...
- And we're really close.
- Yeah.
Yo.
Don't even say that.
Hear a growl?
Hear that?
It sounded like a
grunt or something.
We've basically
been up all night
trying to keep this fire going.
But there is definitely
something large.
There is definitely
something large.
It's leaving.
There was some
animal activity last night
and we don't know
what it was but it was big.
Here, we've got a
Cape buffalo track.
Nice deep print to let you know
how big those things really are.
They call them the Black Death
because they attack
without warning,
and they're like the
size of a small truck.
And it looks like he headed,
uh, right up towards our
boma here, so yippee.
Our Cape buffalo experience
I think has definitely
made us more cautious.
We did a little bit more
home renovation this morning,
added some more thorns.
Today, our priorities
are gonna be stocking up
on firewood and
then hopefully finding
some good food sources as well.
I am collecting
spinach for us to eat.
Yay.
The wild spinach
that's out here,
it's pretty plentiful.
Seems like there's a bunch
of spinach stuff around.
Hell yeah.
Not super high calorie but food.
- Yeah.
- You know.
It's something,
something to eat.
We could boil it so
that we can sterilize it.
You got some of your
classic South African spinach,
looks delicious.
Going for it, Popeye.
Oh, yeah.
All right. I'm gonna dig in.
It's a little fuzzier
than I was expecting.
Fuzzy?
Fuzzier than you were expecting?
Yeah.
If one of us is gonna
vomit, who's it gonna be?
Probably me, to be honest.
No?
- They're not for you?
- Yeah.
All right. We'll find out
by the end of 14 days,
we're definitely gonna
eat some gnarly stuff.
Woo! That sun is hot, boy.
I'm keeping an eye out
for any big game animals.
Holy.
There's a Cape
buffalo in our waterhole.
I come down to the
water and check this out.
Not really looking forward
to trips to the waterhole.
Definitely sits in the
back of your mind
that you're not alone out here
and to keep the animals away,
fire is essential.
This is their house.
We're in their backyard.
We are getting close
to the end of day two.
Hooray.
Yeah, I'm feeling
tired for sure.
The sun definitely
took it out of us today.
I'm gonna go fill this up.
Watch out for Cape buffalo.
No joke.
Staying hydrated is something
that we have a little
bit more control over
than a lot of the
other things here.
Okay.
I am trying to do some
of nature's sunscreen here
to just protect
my skin a little bit.
Feel like better
safe than sorry.
So this is breakfast today.
Round two.
We tried spinach.
It tastes like dirt water.
It's a rough flavor.
Hopefully, we can
get some meat here
one of these days.
Just by the end of this
trip, mark my words,
we gonna eat some meat.
We gonna eat some meat.
I'm gonna make
an arapuca bird trap.
I'm peeling the bark off
of these branches
and then I turn this
into cordage or rope
and I will use the rope
to hold together a bird trap.
I saw somebody on the show
make one of these bird traps.
It's so harsh out here.
All right.
This is the trigger mechanism.
Here comes the bird.
Voila.
Dove for dinner.
Now, I just got to figure out
a cool place
to set this thing up.
Now, we wait.
- Andrew!
- Yo.
Come up here.
The boma's on fire.
I'll be right there.
Hurry, please.
What's up?
Oh, my God.
You okay?
Yeah.
We just didn't really
think through
where our woodpile was.
That's an error on our judgment.
Yeah, maybe we should just like
make sure that our woodpiles
are farther away from...
Yeah.
The fire.
Can't believe
we almost burned it down
in the middle of the day.
Like, at night, I get it.
That was a little mistake.
I think
it's just a matter of luck
that it did not turn out
to be a big one.
Good job at saving the boma.
Yeah, no worries.
- Yo, yo, there it is.
- Where?
It's like the size
of the palm of your hand
what we believe
is a camel spider.
It's going to town
on that grasshopper.
What the
I know, right?
It's huge.
Oh, I hate it.
All right. Get up.
Get up. Get up.
What? What? What? What?
Oh, sorry.
It was right behind you.
Here's one right here.
Do you see it?
Yup.
Oh
There it is.
There it is.
- Where?
- Coming towards you.
Oh
Dude, that thing is huge.
Oh, my God.
That thing is massive.
There's a wasp.
It went back
into the woods though.
It's back.
Up the tree.
It went up the tree.
Can you get it
while it's in that crack?
It's the same thing
that went back at my face.
Don't miss the thing.
Don't...
Oh, no pressure.
All right, one, two...
oh,
There has been
a very large camel spider...
Terrorizing us all night.
Oh,
It's underneath the tree.
That...
Sorry, that was a really
dramatic reaction.
- Do you see it?
- Where did it go? No!
I think it's in that crack.
I'm killing that thing tonight.
So right now...
I'm moving the firewood
over here
instead of a pile right here.
The spider we think
lives like here.
This should give me
a good line of sight on it.
So I can hopefully
kill it tonight.
We're so energized right now.
Gosh, I can just feel the energy
pulsing through my veins
right now.
I'm progressively
getting lightheaded
when I stand up.
We got to get
some different food.
Like, I really
wanna catch something.
Let me go get the bird trap.
Well, the trap
has been triggered,
but no bird.
I got birds up here
laughing at me though.
It's hard out here.
Be grateful that you got those
chicken nuggets on a platter.
There's definitely
a lot of trial and error
with the food out here.
It's an extremely
humbling experience.
This thing is such a pain
in the ass to arm.
I'm loving the fact that
it's like overcast today.
It might not be a bad time
to just explore in general.
I mean,
it's not gonna get cooler
than it is right now.
So yeah, I'm gonna go
try to find fruit.
Okay.
I feel like me and Andrew,
we sort of complement
each other in a lot of ways.
She's super solid
about collecting water,
collecting spinach, firewood.
Having somebody to share
all the responsibilities
out here makes it
a totally different game.
I think anybody can just
kind of come out here
and scrape by
with the bare minimum
for 14 days.
But I think it's when you go
outside that box
and really try to discover more,
take in more.
I think that's the difference
between a true survivalist
and somebody that's just
out here to survive.
It's like a lot of work
to try and find other food
and we're going to start
getting more
and more depleted.
And I feel like
with us working together,
we're definitely gonna be able
to make it through this thing.
Really feel the lack of energy
and food.
There are a lot
of Cape buffalo right there.
Was gonna come try
to check out this tree
but I'm gonna go this way
and leave them be.
I've always been a fan
of the show.
I've seen a lot of episodes
and it seems like
we are living in a zoo
compared to those
other episodes.
There is so much wildlife,
so much activity all the time.
It just keeps you on your toes.
None of these trees
have fruit on them.
Yeah, I'm gonna check out
a couple more trees
and then head back to the boma.
Oh, are these jackalberries?
I think these are jackalberries,
which are edible.
Huge find today.
Huge find.
I'm gonna take these back
to the boma
and share them with Ali.
I think this is an automatic
mood booster.
Hi, honey. I'm home.
Hey, there. How did it go?
Guess what I found.
Please be fruit.
It's not a lot.
It's not a lot.
So at first I thought
they were jackalberries,
but after testing them.
Whoa.
They are definitely
velvet raisins.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome.
Like, just a taste
of something sweet,
something that's not
what we've been eating.
Well, get ready
because your spinach is ready.
Thank you for doing that.
Oh, yeah, of course.
Okay. It is the morning
of day five.
The sun has just come up
so it's time for morning chores.
It's hard
because we never really sleep
super well at night,
so it's like just hard
to get motivated.
Hey, Andrew.
Oh.
There is a herd
of Cape buffalo over there,
so just be cautious.
Oh, schnikes.
We're gonna stick together
this morning
to keep our eyes on.
They're snorting at us.
They're there,
our boma is there.
It's about 50 yards
in case we need to run.
Right now, they're like
forming a defensive line.
You can see all
the strong ones in the front
and the young in the back.
They do that
when they feel threatened.
- Yeah.
- I'm thinking...
Maybe we should go.
- Oh, crap.
- Holy.
We're about to get stampeded
by the Black Death.
We're out collecting firewood,
giant herd
of Cape buffalo appear.
We head back to the boma.
- Oh, crap.
- Holy.
A bunch of buffalo poop here
when we set up, so.
We could definitely tell
that they hung out.
Part of the appeal of the spot
was that there's a tree
that we can climb here
and buffalo cannot climb trees.
Get a fire going.
Maybe the smoke
will get rid of the buffalo.
Looks like they moved.
Sure beats caffeine
in the morning.
It looks like it's gonna rain.
I mean,
it's raining enough to like...
- Yeah, yeah.
- Scare me.
It definitely just soaked
all of our wood.
I feel like it's not that wet,
like...
Yeah, but if for
whatever reason this goes out,
we would have a very, very
tough time getting fire again.
We are gonna be really miserable
if we have to do a night
of rain without firewood.
Firewood at this point
is like absolutely
our most important priority.
Anybody that's ever thinking
about doing
this survival challenge,
collect more firewood
than you think you need.
Watching the show,
I saw one episode,
uh, where Gabrielle said
that her father always said...
If you're gonna build a fire,
get as much wood as you think
you need and then double it.
That is solid advice.
We got our fire going,
got our water,
the woodpile all set up.
Hopefully
there's no rain, spiders,
or big crazy animals tonight.
Oh it's like downpouring.
We have no idea what time it is
and it has been raining
all night long.
We have been trying
to keep this fire going
the best that we can
and we've just been
huddled around it.
It's gonna be
a long cold hard night
for both of us.
I bet.
Last night was so rough.
We fall asleep
and then like wake up
to raindrops
and then you're like,
"Oh
I gotta start the fire."
I might try to, like,
build a roof.
Like, I would have taken
like all those long reeds
and like put them together
and then...
- Yeah.
- Tie them up with this.
Here's the thing,
those reeds are super flammable.
I mean,
we could do it strategically
so we're not like gonna burn
our boma down.
I think
it's gonna be a lot of work.
Yeah.
But I like where your head's at.
- Right?
- Yeah.
It's like a good idea in theory.
If we have enough wood,
the fire won't go out.
Yeah.
We should collect more wood...
- Yeah, yeah.
- To keep the fire going
in the event
of another typical storm.
Maybe eventually
we'll build some sort of roof
but it's just not like the top
priority at the moment.
Trying to catch some meat
is, like,
I mean,
that's way up there for me
because that would just be
such a huge
morale booster to us.
I've seen these
monitor lizards out here.
I'm trying to look
under these, like,
little nook and crannies.
If I was a lizard, that's where
I'd be hiding out right now.
Clouds as far the eye can see,
uh, not real hopeful
catching a lizard,
not in the rain.
I can't say I blame them,
I'd rather be in the boma too,
but I'm hungry.
Go back home
and give Ali the bad news.
Just lightheaded.
I don't think
I drank enough water
before I went to bed
last night and this morning,
I'm feeling
a little bit dehydrated.
Being out here
is certainly very real,
it's the hardest thing
I've ever done.
I'm just gonna try
and keep my head
in the challenge
until it's time to leave.
Bird nest here.
There's a bird in it.
Guess what I just found.
Look at that.
How'd it go?
Wakey, wakey,
eggs and bakey.
Oh, those are really
pretty actually.
Aren't they cool?
I think they're still warm.
Hell, yeah.
About to grub out.
And by grub out, I mean,
like a tablespoon of food.
This will be the first protein
we've had, yeah.
They're so tiny.
Make sure we take
the most immediately.
It is not like yummy.
No.
Bon appetite.
That part actually
looks half decent.
Yeah?
Tasted like a yolk actually.
- Really?
- Mmm-hmm.
You may just have to pick it up.
This is gonna make me throw up.
You'll be fine.
Something.
You can almost, like, feel
like a little bit of, like,
life you get from it.
Like, the very,
very little bit of life.
The sun hasn't like come out
really in like four days.
You're feeling a little down?
I'm so... I'm...
It's starting to weigh on me.
That makes sense.
Obviously I'd like
to be thriving out here,
but if I gotta worry about wood
and being warm
all the damn time,
I guess that's this challenge.
With the rain coming and going,
I'd like to have
more of a roof right now,
but we only have so many of us
and so much time,
so the option
is just collect wood
because staying warm
means more than staying dry.
Oh, we're about to have
a real bad day.
What the.
We are so right now.
If this rain doesn't stop,
we're not gonna have fire.
The fire we have
is our lifeblood.
It's all wet,
we don't have fire,
we don't have water,
we don't have protection
from the animals,
we don't have heat.
If we don't have fire,
we really don't have anything
out here.
This is that part
where the afraid sets in.
Ooh, stiff knees.
I feel like a grandma.
It definitely makes you feel
a little old, doesn't it?
We could do some yoga later.
I've never done yoga,
so whatever.
You've never done yoga?
I know some yoga poses,
like the names of some of them.
- Like downward dog.
- Mmm-hmm.
And happy baby.
Happy baby
is a pretty funny pose.
I'll show you happy baby.
You go like this
- and then you rock...
- Oh, my God.
Back and forward.
Yo, you could just tone
that down right now.
- I'm sorry.
- Okay.
Maybe I should've shown you that
I was not expecting that.
I, like, kinda thought through
what that might look like,
but like not really.
Thank you for being you.
The storm
is just dumping buckets on us
and we are doing
everything we can
to keep this fire going.
Taking turns back and forth
trying to cover the fire,
blowing on the fire.
I think it's gonna be over soon.
I hope you're right.
Oh, golly.
I think we both
were able to stay
in a fairly good
headspace particularly
because the fire didn't go out.
If the fire goes out,
that's gonna be
a different situation.
- Woo.
- Yeah.
I'm really, really,
really proud of us.
We kept the fire going
in a torrential downpour.
That is not an easy task.
Me and my partner
are struggling.
We are starving,
we are wet, we are cold.
It takes a very
determined individual
to make it through
a challenge like this.
It started raining,
we're getting really cold
and it's happening very quickly
and it's about to be a long day.
Keeping that fire going
in a torrential downpour
is a serious business.
I don't care who you are.
It has been raining
for three plus hours now.
And our fire is basically
all but gone out,
it is absolutely freezing
right now.
In the last three hours,
the temperature has dropped
to 48 degrees.
Andrew and Ali are rapidly
losing body heat in the rain
and beginning to shiver,
signaling the onset
of hypothermia.
Man, Ali and I are freezing
our asses off
because our fire has gone out
and, like, hypothermia is the
I gotta make it out
of this alive.
Get home in one piece
without freezing to death.
Hello, basecamp?
This is basecamp, go ahead.
We need your help.
Can you get in here?
Okay, guys.
There is no way that
we can go through the night
like this without a fire,
I mean, it's hypothermia or...
And the fire
was not able to stay?
- We tried for hours.
- We tried for hours.
And it just kept raining
and raining,
so I mean, we don't wanna tap,
we don't wanna tap
but, you know,
it's the smart thing to do.
Are you guys willing
to tap 100% sure?
- Yup.
- Yeah.
We'll get you out of here.
- Come on, guys.
- All right, thanks.
It's an extremely
humbling experience.
Coming into this,
I was sure that I had it.
I still feel that way, you know.
I know what I need to fix.
Had I just created a shelter
a little bit differently,
built a better roof,
I'd be walking out on day 14.
Nine days in,
Andrew and Ali abandoned
the challenge,
dropping their PSRs to 4.5.
I came in knowing
that this was gonna suck
in a lot of ways
and be really hard.
We learned a lot
on this challenge.
If we had somehow been able
to make a roof,
that probably would have helped
a lot with the rain.
I'm devastated right now,
but, um, anybody
that wants to think
that the two of us
weren't tough as nails,
you come out here and try.