Naked and Afraid (2013–…): Season 15, Episode 1 - Breaking the Curse - full transcript
[shanika] ouch!
Can you stop biting
for five minutes?
When I say these bugs are
relentless,
I mean, I'm out there
doing the shelter
and they're biting me on my
[bleep], on my ass, like everywhere.
They just don't give a [bleep].
Maybe they're like the fbi or
the cia of the bugs, I don't know.
[jeremy laughing]
they will hunt you
down and find you.
[dramatic music playing]
going into the
heart of the jungle,
I feel a little
cursed energy here.
There's also things
that are deadly.
[jeremy] pretty
dense terrain here.
I've got to watch out for
sticks in the eye and branches,
and there's a million things
out here that can kill you.
It's going to be
quite the adventure.
Ooh.
[narrator] at the
southernmost edge of mexico
lies the ominous
rainforest of chiapas.
For centuries, it was home to the
maya and later the chiapa indians,
who were all but decimated by the
spanish conquistadors by the 1700s.
Today, the jungle is steeped in legends
of unsettled spirits haunting the area.
[crows cawing]
[narrator] the thick and humid
undergrowth makes it an ideal environment
for deadly jaguars, coral snakes
and swarms of biting insects,
and strong winds and heavy
rains from the central highlands
can drench it up to 120 inches a
year, making it even more unforgiving.
[cesar] whoa!
- [cesar] sorry. It's all right, all right.
- [leah] ahh!
- [narrator] in fact, no previous survivalists...
- [leah] ahh!
- [man 1] it's eating me alive.
- [man 2] I can't pick the bugs anymore.
I want to tap out.
[narrator] ...Not even
naked and afraid a ll stars
have been able to last
the full 21 days here.
The nights are absolutely
[bleep] miserable.
Holy [bleep].
- [man 3] it's on fire.
- Get it off.
This place is
haunted or something.
[jeremy] I definitely think
this place is survivable.
You know, the mayans
did it for many, many years.
Is it going to be easy?
No.
[shanika] you know, I've
done a lot of things in my life,
a lot of hard things, a
lot of beautiful things.
And I've always been like
the black sheep in my family.
And they would call this
challenge crazy white people [bleep].
[laughs]
[shanika] but my
philosophy is give no [bleep].
[jeremy] all right.
If you truly want to be
alive as a human being,
you have to live as
primitively as you possibly can,
because this is what
we're designed for.
[shanika] I really love being
outside in nature naked.
It makes me really feel just
primal, powerful and, you know, like
I'm in the garden of eden.
Naked and free.
[jeremy] you know, I've done primitive
survival in the wilderness before,
but always on my own.
So, I've... I've never
had a partner before.
Different ideas that maybe aren't
my own that I have to accommodate.
[shanika] when people meet me,
they say I exude this like calm energy.
Can you feel it?
[laughs]
hey! Funny that
we meet like this!
[jeremy] yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought I was a little underdressed,
but I see you wore the same outfits, so.
[shanika laughing] I'm shanika.
Nice to meet you,
shanika. I'm jeremy.
Turn around, let
me check you out.
- Let's get this over with.
- Yeah.
All right. All right.
[both laugh]
- check me out.
- Yep.
It's a little awkward, you
know, but it is what it is.
Yeah, we both signed up
to... For this awkward nudity.
[jeremy] you got it.
So where's our,
where's our bags at?
[shanika] oh, I think
I see them over here.
I'm just going
to claim this one.
- That one?
- Yeah.
[shanika] here's my item.
Mosquito net.
I'm glad you brought that.
I brought my knife,
my cookery knife.
[shanika] that's beautiful.
[narrator] due to the
extremely wet jungle climate,
the survivalists have also
been given a fire starter.
Now, do you have a map
or do... I don't think I have.
Um, I think they
gave me the map.
You know, they know I have
superior navigational skills.
[jeremy] yes, you're
probably right. I am a guy, so...
[shanika laughs]
[shanika] all right, I would
say that's us right there, right?
[jeremy] that sounds
like us. Mmm-hmm.
So, I see there animal danger.
- [jeremy] snakes...
- [shanika] coral snakes, jaguars.
[jeremy] and then it looks like we have
food sources here and then there's water.
- [shanika] water.
- We want to get somewhere in that neighborhood.
[shanika] oh, yeah,
definitely by the water.
- All right, it looks like we're going to head that way.
- South?
- [jeremy] yep.
- [shanika] all righty.
[adventurous music playing]
[jeremy] watch
yourself, it's muddy.
[shanika] yeah. Whoa!
[jeremy] you good, shanika?
[shanika] yeah, I'm good.
Thank you for asking.
[jeremy] so, where are you from?
[shanika] I live in
atlanta right now.
But I'm from... From jamaica.
[jeremy] oh, from jamaica? Nice.
What do you do in atlanta?
[shanika] well, I do a few
things. I'm a midwife and...
[jeremy] oh, nice,
you work in medicine?
[shanika]
transformational coach.
Nice.
[shanika] yeah,
I'm not religious.
[jeremy] no, I'm not either.
[shanika] but I'm spiritual and
I say, like, nature is my church.
[jeremy] we're
like-minded on that.
What got you into
primitive survival?
[shanika] well, I started
attending primitive skills gatherings.
[jeremy] mmm-hmm.
[shanika] so then I got
really inspired because
there were no people of color.
Nature means everything for me.
Whoo!
And I really wanted to break
through that lack of diversity.
So, I want to be
that example for,
you know, black girls everywhere
to know that it's okay to be powerful
and to show up in places
where we're not fully represented.
That really made me want to like
continue my learning and journey.
[narrator] shanika has mental
fortitude and good primitive skills,
but her spiritual approach may not be
enough to conquer the mexican jungle.
She begins with a primitive
survival rating or psr of 6.5.
[shanika] what got you
into all this nature stuff?
[jeremy] I'm a big fan of like primitive
man and feel like it's good to reconnect,
and I think primitive survival
is a great way of doing it.
[shanika] yeah.
I was an outdoorsy type kid, you
know, playing outside, catching bugs.
When I was in college, I actually
bought the us military survival guide,
and I was hooked, man.
I started practicing primitive
survival skills in my backyard.
I started kind of going into the
mountains about a week at a time.
Whoo!
I'd take a knife, I'd take an enamel
cup, really, that's about it, man.
Got my shoe done.
Had to leave these bad boys in
there and run supporters through.
[jeremy] you know,
I'm a football coach,
and as a coach, I preach
mental toughness to my players.
I preach, you know,
resilience, persistence,
things that you, that you
definitely need out here.
And I'm not a guy who's going
to half-ass through something.
If we're going to build a
tree house in the backyard,
then we're going to build the taj
mahal of the [bleep] treehouses,
because that's just how I roll.
I'll pull this for cordage.
[narrator] jeremy has
competent primitive survival skills
from many days
solo in the wilderness,
but his over-eager personality
may prevent him from pacing himself.
He begins with a psr of 7.0.
[shanika] oh, you hear that?
[jeremy] yeah, we're
getting close to water.
[shanika] nice
body of water, yeah.
And I see some clouds coming in.
[shanika] so you know what that
means. Shelter, shelter, shelter.
[jeremy] soon enough.
I don't think we want
to be right on the water.
[shanika] yeah, 'cause of the
chance of flooding and all that.
[jeremy] with all the rain that
we get, yeah, I think, you know...
[shanika] it's nice to
be close to it at least.
[jeremy] oh, yeah, for sure.
That water, I don't think we
have any problems drinking that.
[shanika] ooh, hallelujah.
[jeremy laughing]
I don't know about you, but...
[jeremy] yeah, it feels nice.
Might be a clearing up here.
We've got the
bamboo right there,
- so we won't have to haul it that far.
- [shanika] yeah.
Holy [bleep], look at this.
[shanika and jeremy laughing]
[shanika] this is
nature like providing.
- [jeremy] so maybe we could just stack...
- [shanika] this is not bad.
[jeremy] ...Stack over across
it to make it more waterproof.
But yeah, I mean, we have...
This is a built-in ridge line.
- [shanika] yeah.
- [jeremy] you know what I mean?
We're going to use that tree as a ridge
line and fashion a roof pretty quickly.
[shanika] oh, that's
messed up here.
It legit looks like
an alien head.
- Look.
- [jeremy] I know I saw that.
It's like a voodoo head
looking at us. It's kind of creepy.
I'll start clearing and
looking for portage.
[jeremy] awesome.
[water flowing]
[shanika singing] we're not
walking this journey alone.
[shanika] there's a local myth
that says this place, it's cursed.
You know, invaders come to
the land and rape and pillage it.
So I want to come to the land
with a honoring and a reverence
to know that I'm
not here to do that.
I'm like saying a prayer in my
head to like connect to this landscape
so that I'm not seen
as like a foreigner here.
[jeremy] these bigger ones will
make good shelter building material.
So far, you know, with
shanika, she's a go-getter.
She's... She's working
hard, which concerns me
a little bit if she's going to
be able to hack it physically.
But regardless, she's
my partner out here.
I'm going to make sure that... That I
try to get her through to 21 days as well.
I mean, we're in it together.
[jeremy] bamboo
is strong as hell.
[shanika speaking]
[shanika] when I
harvest anything,
I'm always, you know,
giving thanks to the plants.
You know, they're
giving their life.
You might not look at it as like
human life, but, you know, it's sentient.
So I just like to give thanks.
These plants are
going to save my ass.
[jeremy] there we go, bitches.
[jeremy sighs]
[shanika] cutting all this bamboo
is really labor-intensive, so...
I know he's gung-ho about it,
but got to remember that it's
a marathon and not a sprint.
What worries me is if he like continues
at that pace and wears himself out.
Hey, how's it going?
[jeremy] I was like
paul bunyan over there.
[shanika laughs]
[jeremy] probably
not the brightest thing.
[shanika] so I'm
thinking, I know it's like
- a lot of work...
- [jeremy] I know.
- [shanika] ...To cut all the [bleep] and split it and...
- I know.
You know, we don't have to try
to get everything done right now,
- just have like a...
- [jeremy] yeah.
[shanika] ...Somewhere
that's waterproof.
And then I'm also thinking about
like a raised platform to sleep on.
[jeremy] yeah, yeah, yeah,
and we'll do that on whole ones.
- [shanika] so, have them under.
- [jeremy] yeah, yeah.
[jeremy] being off the ground
in this environment is critical,
so we're making a
platform bed out of bamboo.
[jeremy] yeah, that'll work.
It's going to be a little
bumpy there, but you know...
[shanika] survive.
- [jeremy] yeah, it's going to rain soon.
- [shanika] yep.
[jeremy] lord knows when we're
going to be able to make a fire.
Tomorrow is a new day.
[jeremy] we're just weathering the
storm literally, um, and mosquitoes,
so I can't imagine if we didn't have
this netting how many mosquitoes...
[shanika] oh, my
god, it would be hell.
[jeremy] it'd be,
yeah, unbearable.
We're just trying to stay warm.
It does get a little chilly when
you get wet out here at night, so...
I got one in my eye. Yeah.
[jeremy] last night was rough.
We got zero sleep
because it gets chilly
when you're just laying
there when it's 64 degrees out.
So, shanika and I had to definitely,
you know, use body heat to stay warm.
Priority for day two is dry tinder,
dry kindling, everything's wet.
Fire is going to be
our nemesis, man.
Just... There's just
nothing dry here.
[shanika] I know that jeremy, you
know, he seems like a hard-working guy,
but he is very pessimistic.
[jeremy] we got one dead piece of bamboo
sitting in the sunlight up off the ground.
This will be as good a shot as we got
in making it tinder, which is a nightmare.
I figure just let it sit here and
dry as best it can at 75% humidity.
[bleep] it's relentless, bugs.
[shanika singing]
[crows cawing]
[jeremy] ow, [bleep]!
Man, something is burning
the [bleep] out of my leg.
[sighs]
[shanika] what happened?
[jeremy] I have the worst
burning, like burning itch.
I hope it's not chiquitos, man,
'cause those are miserable.
I can't see them.
[narrator] the chiapan jungle
is swarming with mosquitoes,
tiny bloodsucking flies,
known as chiquitos,
and fire ants whose agonizing venomous
sting can cause anaphylactic shock
and is even fatal
for 5% of its victims.
[jeremy] oh, my god, I don't
know what kind of reaction
I'm having here right now, but
[bleep] this is going to be bad.
I won't be able to sleep, I won't
be able to do anything with this.
I don't know what
the hell to do with it.
I can't get away from it.
Oh, my god,
dude, I don't even...
If this doesn't go away, I'm
not going to be here very long.
Can't do it, man.
[crow cawing]
oh, this burning on my legs.
Just picture putting
your... Your leg in fire ants
and then just leaving your
leg in it, that's what it feels like.
[shanika] you
want to try the mud?
Give it a go. Not a bad idea.
I'm thinking, I don't care
what we need to put on.
I'll put anything on this
to get this to go away.
[shanika] yeah, you really
got to put this mud on thick
because it's so soothing.
And the mosquitoes, it's hard...
Harder for them to bite through.
[jeremy] it does feel
better, thank god.
It's taken the sensation
away almost immediately.
You're not going know
I'm a white dude after this.
[shanika laughs]
[shanika] there's a
[bleep] load of ants.
You know how to get
rid of ants, right? Ash.
[shanika] ash, yeah.
[jeremy] do you want me
to get the fire started now?
[shanika] I guess so.
Maybe you're [bleep]...
[shanika speaking]
[jeremy] I think we got enough
if we can get that burning.
Our food sources are
somewhat limited without fire,
and I think it will
help with the bugs.
So, and the cold, because
honestly, it gets cold at night,
especially when you're wet because
you can, you know, go hypothermic.
It still feels wet, like just the
humidity in the air makes it feel wet.
Oh, [bleep]. It sucks.
Phew.
It's going to be a bitch.
[bleep] man.
Had a little tiny
flame and no go.
[shanika] jeremy is
frustrated right now,
and it's like the energy that
you're bringing to something,
if you're frustrated,
you know, you're angry,
it's just going to
affect the outcome.
[jeremy] do you
want to give it a go?
[shanika] yeah, I'll try.
Oh, come on, grandfather fire.
Oh, I got it.
[jeremy] oh, [bleep].
Oh, [bleep].
This rain is such a pain
in the ass, you know.
But we've got to keep
some of the stuff dry.
[shanika] yeah, put it under...
[jeremy] something, yeah.
It's just so difficult to get
dry tinder, dry kindling,
everything's wet.
It's frustrating.
We have to dry it another day.
[jeremy] night two is...
We're going to make it.
We'll hold it together and try to
stay warm and do the best we can.
Oh, man!
So, we had another rough night last
night between the bugs and the cold.
If we're not sleeping, you
know, you just won't make it.
[shanika] we felt like it would be
best to just clear that whole area
and be able to
like let some sun in,
then keep things dry and
change this shelter situation.
[jeremy] awesome. Now, I can get
sun in here and I can dry my kindling.
Oh, I cut myself.
[shanika] you got a cut?
[jeremy] not
bad, but a little bit.
[shanika] if he wasn't going so hard,
he wouldn't have injured his hand.
He's exhausted, but I can't say like
[bleep], you need to rest, sit down.
But I'm in tune
with my own body.
I'd rather be a turtle as the
turtle always finishes the race.
Well, since you have the knife and I
can go like forage and see what I can find.
[jeremy] okay. Yeah.
[shanika] oh. Look at that.
That would be good eating.
This is ice cream bean. They're
full of carbohydrates, sugar.
You don't have to cook them. You
can just eat them right out the pod.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Ice cream bean.
[jeremy] oh, look at
you! Thanks, buddy.
You just suck off
the white fleshy part
and then spit the seeds out.
They have a nice,
pleasant, sweet taste.
[jeremy] I don't know if you can
live off them, but they're pretty good.
[shanika] clouds coming in.
Just putting all
this kindling away.
I don't want to be doing something
else and the rain comes in
all of a sudden and all
this is a wasted effort.
[jeremy] here we go.
Look at it, it's coming.
[shanika] are we
doing an a frame?
[jeremy] well, I don't think we'll
have time to a frame it today.
We'll get the roof done. We've got
some pieces here we can put on right now.
[jeremy] dude, I am gassed.
[jeremy] I don't think I've had
maybe even an hour and a half of sleep
the entire time we've been here so far.
Got to sleep, man.
It's killing us.
[jeremy] fire is the number
one priority today, for sure.
We're going to have to put the time and
this time to make sure everything's dry.
So, this is a critical
step for us right here.
If we go to a ton of effort and we
can't get it or we can't maintain it,
I'm going to be [bleep] pissed.
I mean, we'll never
know if we don't try.
[jeremy] right.
[shanika] with the lack of
rest, jeremy has hit a wall
physically, and I am
worried about him.
He seems to like frame
everything in a negative way.
He's putting negative fuel to
the fire, no pun intended, but it is.
And I'm asking grandfather
fire, please come sit with us.
- [jeremy] there you go.
- [shanika] ooh.
[jeremy] oh, a good spark, man.
- [shanika] I hope this works.
- [jeremy] yeah.
[birds chirping]
keep going. Keep going,
keep going, keep going.
Come on, kindling,
catch for us, man.
[shanika] nice long breaths.
[jeremy] man, the
fuel is not igniting.
Fuel is not catching.
I got [bleep] nothing.
Cannot get anything
to ignite. Unbelievable.
I'm done.
- [shanika] huh?
- [jeremy] done, man.
I'm not dealing with
it. I've made an effort.
I can't do it. It's... It
doesn't work for me.
I can't go on.
Twenty-five minutes sleep,
it's torture. Night is torture.
I don't know if I
can make it 21 days.
I really, I really don't. I
think, I physically might die.
- [shanika] you really want to leave on day five?
- [jeremy] I can't function,
I can't function in
this environment.
I'm out, man.
I got [bleep] nothing.
Cannot get anything to ignite.
Unbelievable.
I'm done.
[shanika] huh?
[jeremy] done, man.
I'm not dealing with it.
I've made an effort.
I can't function in
this environment.
[jeremy sighs]
[shanika] for me, I can't let outside,
like, circumstances dictate my happiness.
I'm zen as [bleep]
because I just know
that it's the potential of it going
out in this environment is likely.
What I've learned is just
more patience and trying again.
[jeremy] like, anywhere
else in the world, that's fire.
[shanika] I'm going
to try one more time.
[jeremy] you got something.
Nice job.
Did it!
We finally have gotten fire.
[shanika] thank
you, grandfather fire.
Instead of giving
up, trying again,
you know, I think the spirit of
the fire likes that persistence.
Now, we're going to put
a little shelter over the fire,
so when it rains, it
doesn't just go right out.
[jeremy] good job today,
man. You carried us.
I'm fighting right now to stay in, to
stay in the fight, if I'm being honest.
I'm struggling, man. I'm not
sleeping at all. I've got to sleep, man.
[thunder rumbling]
[shanika] it's raining again, I'm
cold, it's... The roof is dripping.
We got the fire going but...
[jeremy] we're letting it
smolder right now because
getting out in this rain and
defend it, it just doesn't make sense.
[birds chirping]
so, we lost our fire last
night during a bad rainstorm.
Really no substantial
sleep at all.
We've got to close this shelter
and there's no doubt about it.
So, we're going to enclose
this with kind of a lattice structure
and some large leaves today, to
just keep our body heat in there.
[shanika] massive
cloud right behind us.
She's a little early
today, mother rain.
[crows cawing]
[jeremy] we're going to be dry
tonight, that is my main goal.
[shanika] ouch!
Can you stop biting
for five minutes?
When I say these
bugs are relentless,
I mean, I'm out
there doing the shelter
and they're biting me on my
[bleep], up my ass, like everywhere.
They just don't give a [bleep].
Maybe they're like the
fbi or the cia of the bugs.
I don't know.
They will hunt you
down and find you.
But I'm glad we
got this wall up.
So hopefully, it holds up.
It will be more dry and
warm because I need sleep.
All right, one last thing.
[shanika speaking]
it's dead bamboo.
It's a lot lighter.
Yep, that one.
I came up with this thing called the
pee gutter by splitting bamboo in half.
I have a hate-hate relationship
with the bugs out here.
So, I was just thinking
instead of getting up at night
and coming out of the bug
tent and then going back in,
I just devised this way to be
able to pee without leaving the tent.
[jeremy speaking]
[shanika laughing]
[jeremy] you know, I got a
little sleep early last night.
It got cold again. It wasn't
as cold as it has been.
I mean, it was better,
definitely, um, but it was still cold.
I definitely reached the point where
food has started to become a priority,
but we need to find
something substantial.
We can't live on ice cream
beans the whole time.
Sunny spots, man,
that's where I'm looking.
Woo-hoo, what do we have here?
This is taro.
It's going to have some
big edible roots on this.
And we got to cook it.
Found a little taro root...
[shanika] a little.
[jeremy] ...To use.
[shanika] that's amazing.
The taro root is similar to like
a potato, but we need the fire.
It's like everything
is dependent on fire.
[jeremy] so again,
no fire, no food.
How much rain can
be in those clouds?
[shanika] think I'll have like
rain trauma now, you know.
[shanika] just another
like long, tough night.
I can't sleep, and I know
jeremy as well can't sleep.
But I'm focusing on day 21
and how I'm going to
feel once I get there.
I feel like jeremy
should try that, too.
Then, you know, it might be
a more positive experience.
[jeremy] not feeling great
today, I'm not going to lie.
Feeling weaker by the day
and just not getting a lot of sleep.
I can feel my body
breaking itself down.
Yeah, it's a rarity we get
this full sun for very long.
So, I'm going to take
advantage of it, dry the wood.
[shanika] you know,
that taro is like,
it just sounds so
amazing right now.
[jeremy] [bleep].
It's going to be
another cold night.
I just want to be warm at night
and not shiver my [bleep] ass off.
Last night was warm.
[shanika] mmm-mmm,
every night is.
[jeremy] uh...
Oh, my god!
[jeremy speaking]
so, it's the morning of day 11.
A rough night, 10 hours
of shivering, I think.
[jeremy speaking]
I just can't do
another night like that.
I do feel guilty,
but I just can't do it.
And I want to stop.
Sorry.
[jim] hey, jeremy, what's up?
[jeremy] I'm not going to, I'm not
going to do another night here, man.
I got to tap.
[jim] you sure?
[jeremy] I'm at peace
with my decision, so...
[jim] jeremy has decided he's going
to leave, so can you come get him?
[jeremy] shanika, I feel
guilty about leaving her,
but suffered as much as I could.
Couldn't do it anymore.
Be strong.
[shanika] bye.
[jeremy] this is a very, very
difficult, humbling environment.
Nobody's ever finished the
21-day challenge here, um,
and I can see why.
[narrator] chiapas
claims yet another victim.
Jeremy's psr drops
from 7.0 to 6.1.
[jeremy] I hope shanika
can make it 21 days.
It's going to be very difficult,
but, you know, if
anybody can do it, she can.
She's... She's tough.
[shanika] so, jeremy
decided to leave this morning.
He's just tired of suffering,
and I understand that.
I'm tired of suffering,
but I also don't want to like
give up and then regret it.
That can be dried.
It'd be good tinder as well.
I'm going to try to
hold as long as I can.
All the wood literally has to be
cut down to these small pieces
for them to be able to burn.
Sad to see my partner go.
But, you know, there's the
downside and then there's the upside.
Now I've got more space
in the shelter to store wood.
[shanika] so, this has given a lot of
pieces of wood that I haven't time to dry.
All right, all right, all right.
I really need to keep this
fire going all day and all night.
So I really don't want
to be out here by myself
and go hypothermic.
[shanika] with the two of us, we
had each other to keep us warm,
but with just me, I'm freezing.
[shanika] so last night was
just a night of like being up,
shivering, feeling
sorry for myself.
But I have my three
beautiful children at home
and, you know, they're
counting on me to do it.
Well, I'm cutting the taro
root in small pieces so it can fit
in this small bamboo.
I'll just put some
water in there
and I just need this taro to
boil for at least 30 minutes.
Then I can have something
substantial, give me some energy,
because right
now I don't have it.
Let's hope it's cooked through.
In the caribbean, we eat taro
root, but we call it dasheen.
I've eaten it a lot of times, so I'm
pretty confident that it's well-cooked.
Mmm.
It's not sweet, but it's
like this pleasant flavor.
Mmm.
It was so nice to have
something like warm to eat.
[shanika] a lot of rough nights,
so put some work into the shelter
to kind of provide me more warmth
where I can actually sleep.
Time is of the essence.
This needs to be done before
another rainstorm rolls in,
which is inevitable.
That should be good.
Honey, I'm home.
[shanika chuckling]
[shanika] good
morning. It's day 15.
It's like, "damn,
give me a break."
and coming in from the back.
So I'm basically
just sitting in water.
Right back where I sleep at, it's
also wet, like everywhere is wet.
Perfect storm for hypothermia.
[shanika speaking]
I have the fire going.
I've been at it for hours.
I've been literally freezing my
ass off, and this fire isn't helping.
Oh.
I can't, I can't go
through this all night.
[shanika crying]
[birds chirping]
[shanika speaking]
it's day 18.
Even though I'm so close,
that doesn't make any
easier to go through it.
I'm going to try my
best to get to day 21.
[shanika praying
in foreign language]
[shanika] I do believe
that as spiritual people,
we have the power to
change the energy of a place,
and to actually pray for the
spirits that might be trapped here.
And I'm hoping that
the energy will get lighter.
[shanika praying
in foreign language]
[shanika] I already
got the great flood.
I'm praying like
nothing else, please.
[shanika] holy [bleep].
Oh, my god!
[jeremy] ooh,
that's not a fun one.
Ooh, wow!
Ow. I'm bit on the penis,
one, two, three, four, five, six...
Nine times on the
head of the penis.
It kind of feels like toad
skin, toad skin penis disease.
Holy [bleep]. That is tore up.
Damn, no mercy, dude,
they're even going for the balls.
[shanika] oh, my god.
They're called private
parts for a reason.
[bleep]
[shanika] holy [bleep].
I see this big wall of flames.
[bleep] [bleep]
[thunderclap]
[shanika] luckily, rain
shower came in and put it out,
so that was pretty eventful.
This is what I have left.
I'm so grateful
for mother nature.
This place didn't kill me.
No, not yet.
That rain wet my shelter so much
that it didn't get consumed by the fire.
I am hoping that, that was
just a sign from this place that
shanika is okay in my book.
But I am a little worried about
extraction and having to walk out of here.
My plan is to make a little trek
and forage for some more food.
[breathing heavily]
whoa, look at that!
They look like breadfruit.
[shanika] I see this
big breadnut tree.
Look at that. The nuts,
they have a lot of protein,
which I've been
lacking and really need.
These are the superfood
of the rainforest.
Coming in here, I
really made the prayer
that mother nature provides
for me everything that I need.
And I would say, mother
nature has done that and beyond.
I just roasted my first nut.
So I'm going to enjoy this,
and then I have a lot more to go.
I'm so thankful, so grateful.
Mmm, delicious.
[shanika] if I didn't tap
into my spiritual side
and all the tools
that I have in my bag,
I wouldn't have
made it through this.
Tomorrow can't come soon enough.
[shanika] day
21 is finally here.
I can finally go.
All righty, my map.
I'm just about
here by the river.
I need to go southwest
to my extraction point.
[narrator] shanika's journey will
take her two miles up a steep hillside,
through thick jungle, where
she'll have to be wary of jaguar
and coral snakes, whose neurotoxic
venom can cause cardiac arrest.
Once at the top of the ridge,
she faces a one mile
precarious descent,
where she must
avoid steep drop-offs,
until she reaches an old bridge,
where her extraction vehicle awaits.
[shanika] oh.
My calves are already burning.
I'm thirsty, tired.
Oh. Oh, get out of my face.
I can't even see
where I'm stepping.
Hope I don't step
on anything bad.
[shanika sighs]
oh, wow!
Look at that view. Gotta
be careful going down.
It looks to get really steep
here with a lot of rocks.
Oh.
I have never pushed
myself this hard in my life,
and I'm walking out of here knowing
that no african-american women
have ever completed
this challenge,
that's what really
keeps me going.
Oh, I see the river.
Oh, my god, I think I'm
starting to hear a car.
Hey! Hey, stop!
Of course it's my ride.
[shanika sighs]
oh.
Ah.
Get me out of here.
[shanika] it's undescribable,
to be the first african-american
woman to complete
naked and afraid
21-day challenge.
This was the hardest
[bleep] I've ever done.
I can see now
why nobody that's ever
came to chiapas made it.
What I accomplished
is just monumental.
To all women of
color, if I could do this,
you can do anything
you want to do.
[narrator] shanika
lost 34 pounds.
Her psr rises from 6.5 to 7.3.
This is still a 100%
crazy white people [bleep].
Luckily, some of my best
friends are crazy white people.
Can you stop biting
for five minutes?
When I say these bugs are
relentless,
I mean, I'm out there
doing the shelter
and they're biting me on my
[bleep], on my ass, like everywhere.
They just don't give a [bleep].
Maybe they're like the fbi or
the cia of the bugs, I don't know.
[jeremy laughing]
they will hunt you
down and find you.
[dramatic music playing]
going into the
heart of the jungle,
I feel a little
cursed energy here.
There's also things
that are deadly.
[jeremy] pretty
dense terrain here.
I've got to watch out for
sticks in the eye and branches,
and there's a million things
out here that can kill you.
It's going to be
quite the adventure.
Ooh.
[narrator] at the
southernmost edge of mexico
lies the ominous
rainforest of chiapas.
For centuries, it was home to the
maya and later the chiapa indians,
who were all but decimated by the
spanish conquistadors by the 1700s.
Today, the jungle is steeped in legends
of unsettled spirits haunting the area.
[crows cawing]
[narrator] the thick and humid
undergrowth makes it an ideal environment
for deadly jaguars, coral snakes
and swarms of biting insects,
and strong winds and heavy
rains from the central highlands
can drench it up to 120 inches a
year, making it even more unforgiving.
[cesar] whoa!
- [cesar] sorry. It's all right, all right.
- [leah] ahh!
- [narrator] in fact, no previous survivalists...
- [leah] ahh!
- [man 1] it's eating me alive.
- [man 2] I can't pick the bugs anymore.
I want to tap out.
[narrator] ...Not even
naked and afraid a ll stars
have been able to last
the full 21 days here.
The nights are absolutely
[bleep] miserable.
Holy [bleep].
- [man 3] it's on fire.
- Get it off.
This place is
haunted or something.
[jeremy] I definitely think
this place is survivable.
You know, the mayans
did it for many, many years.
Is it going to be easy?
No.
[shanika] you know, I've
done a lot of things in my life,
a lot of hard things, a
lot of beautiful things.
And I've always been like
the black sheep in my family.
And they would call this
challenge crazy white people [bleep].
[laughs]
[shanika] but my
philosophy is give no [bleep].
[jeremy] all right.
If you truly want to be
alive as a human being,
you have to live as
primitively as you possibly can,
because this is what
we're designed for.
[shanika] I really love being
outside in nature naked.
It makes me really feel just
primal, powerful and, you know, like
I'm in the garden of eden.
Naked and free.
[jeremy] you know, I've done primitive
survival in the wilderness before,
but always on my own.
So, I've... I've never
had a partner before.
Different ideas that maybe aren't
my own that I have to accommodate.
[shanika] when people meet me,
they say I exude this like calm energy.
Can you feel it?
[laughs]
hey! Funny that
we meet like this!
[jeremy] yeah, yeah, yeah.
I thought I was a little underdressed,
but I see you wore the same outfits, so.
[shanika laughing] I'm shanika.
Nice to meet you,
shanika. I'm jeremy.
Turn around, let
me check you out.
- Let's get this over with.
- Yeah.
All right. All right.
[both laugh]
- check me out.
- Yep.
It's a little awkward, you
know, but it is what it is.
Yeah, we both signed up
to... For this awkward nudity.
[jeremy] you got it.
So where's our,
where's our bags at?
[shanika] oh, I think
I see them over here.
I'm just going
to claim this one.
- That one?
- Yeah.
[shanika] here's my item.
Mosquito net.
I'm glad you brought that.
I brought my knife,
my cookery knife.
[shanika] that's beautiful.
[narrator] due to the
extremely wet jungle climate,
the survivalists have also
been given a fire starter.
Now, do you have a map
or do... I don't think I have.
Um, I think they
gave me the map.
You know, they know I have
superior navigational skills.
[jeremy] yes, you're
probably right. I am a guy, so...
[shanika laughs]
[shanika] all right, I would
say that's us right there, right?
[jeremy] that sounds
like us. Mmm-hmm.
So, I see there animal danger.
- [jeremy] snakes...
- [shanika] coral snakes, jaguars.
[jeremy] and then it looks like we have
food sources here and then there's water.
- [shanika] water.
- We want to get somewhere in that neighborhood.
[shanika] oh, yeah,
definitely by the water.
- All right, it looks like we're going to head that way.
- South?
- [jeremy] yep.
- [shanika] all righty.
[adventurous music playing]
[jeremy] watch
yourself, it's muddy.
[shanika] yeah. Whoa!
[jeremy] you good, shanika?
[shanika] yeah, I'm good.
Thank you for asking.
[jeremy] so, where are you from?
[shanika] I live in
atlanta right now.
But I'm from... From jamaica.
[jeremy] oh, from jamaica? Nice.
What do you do in atlanta?
[shanika] well, I do a few
things. I'm a midwife and...
[jeremy] oh, nice,
you work in medicine?
[shanika]
transformational coach.
Nice.
[shanika] yeah,
I'm not religious.
[jeremy] no, I'm not either.
[shanika] but I'm spiritual and
I say, like, nature is my church.
[jeremy] we're
like-minded on that.
What got you into
primitive survival?
[shanika] well, I started
attending primitive skills gatherings.
[jeremy] mmm-hmm.
[shanika] so then I got
really inspired because
there were no people of color.
Nature means everything for me.
Whoo!
And I really wanted to break
through that lack of diversity.
So, I want to be
that example for,
you know, black girls everywhere
to know that it's okay to be powerful
and to show up in places
where we're not fully represented.
That really made me want to like
continue my learning and journey.
[narrator] shanika has mental
fortitude and good primitive skills,
but her spiritual approach may not be
enough to conquer the mexican jungle.
She begins with a primitive
survival rating or psr of 6.5.
[shanika] what got you
into all this nature stuff?
[jeremy] I'm a big fan of like primitive
man and feel like it's good to reconnect,
and I think primitive survival
is a great way of doing it.
[shanika] yeah.
I was an outdoorsy type kid, you
know, playing outside, catching bugs.
When I was in college, I actually
bought the us military survival guide,
and I was hooked, man.
I started practicing primitive
survival skills in my backyard.
I started kind of going into the
mountains about a week at a time.
Whoo!
I'd take a knife, I'd take an enamel
cup, really, that's about it, man.
Got my shoe done.
Had to leave these bad boys in
there and run supporters through.
[jeremy] you know,
I'm a football coach,
and as a coach, I preach
mental toughness to my players.
I preach, you know,
resilience, persistence,
things that you, that you
definitely need out here.
And I'm not a guy who's going
to half-ass through something.
If we're going to build a
tree house in the backyard,
then we're going to build the taj
mahal of the [bleep] treehouses,
because that's just how I roll.
I'll pull this for cordage.
[narrator] jeremy has
competent primitive survival skills
from many days
solo in the wilderness,
but his over-eager personality
may prevent him from pacing himself.
He begins with a psr of 7.0.
[shanika] oh, you hear that?
[jeremy] yeah, we're
getting close to water.
[shanika] nice
body of water, yeah.
And I see some clouds coming in.
[shanika] so you know what that
means. Shelter, shelter, shelter.
[jeremy] soon enough.
I don't think we want
to be right on the water.
[shanika] yeah, 'cause of the
chance of flooding and all that.
[jeremy] with all the rain that
we get, yeah, I think, you know...
[shanika] it's nice to
be close to it at least.
[jeremy] oh, yeah, for sure.
That water, I don't think we
have any problems drinking that.
[shanika] ooh, hallelujah.
[jeremy laughing]
I don't know about you, but...
[jeremy] yeah, it feels nice.
Might be a clearing up here.
We've got the
bamboo right there,
- so we won't have to haul it that far.
- [shanika] yeah.
Holy [bleep], look at this.
[shanika and jeremy laughing]
[shanika] this is
nature like providing.
- [jeremy] so maybe we could just stack...
- [shanika] this is not bad.
[jeremy] ...Stack over across
it to make it more waterproof.
But yeah, I mean, we have...
This is a built-in ridge line.
- [shanika] yeah.
- [jeremy] you know what I mean?
We're going to use that tree as a ridge
line and fashion a roof pretty quickly.
[shanika] oh, that's
messed up here.
It legit looks like
an alien head.
- Look.
- [jeremy] I know I saw that.
It's like a voodoo head
looking at us. It's kind of creepy.
I'll start clearing and
looking for portage.
[jeremy] awesome.
[water flowing]
[shanika singing] we're not
walking this journey alone.
[shanika] there's a local myth
that says this place, it's cursed.
You know, invaders come to
the land and rape and pillage it.
So I want to come to the land
with a honoring and a reverence
to know that I'm
not here to do that.
I'm like saying a prayer in my
head to like connect to this landscape
so that I'm not seen
as like a foreigner here.
[jeremy] these bigger ones will
make good shelter building material.
So far, you know, with
shanika, she's a go-getter.
She's... She's working
hard, which concerns me
a little bit if she's going to
be able to hack it physically.
But regardless, she's
my partner out here.
I'm going to make sure that... That I
try to get her through to 21 days as well.
I mean, we're in it together.
[jeremy] bamboo
is strong as hell.
[shanika speaking]
[shanika] when I
harvest anything,
I'm always, you know,
giving thanks to the plants.
You know, they're
giving their life.
You might not look at it as like
human life, but, you know, it's sentient.
So I just like to give thanks.
These plants are
going to save my ass.
[jeremy] there we go, bitches.
[jeremy sighs]
[shanika] cutting all this bamboo
is really labor-intensive, so...
I know he's gung-ho about it,
but got to remember that it's
a marathon and not a sprint.
What worries me is if he like continues
at that pace and wears himself out.
Hey, how's it going?
[jeremy] I was like
paul bunyan over there.
[shanika laughs]
[jeremy] probably
not the brightest thing.
[shanika] so I'm
thinking, I know it's like
- a lot of work...
- [jeremy] I know.
- [shanika] ...To cut all the [bleep] and split it and...
- I know.
You know, we don't have to try
to get everything done right now,
- just have like a...
- [jeremy] yeah.
[shanika] ...Somewhere
that's waterproof.
And then I'm also thinking about
like a raised platform to sleep on.
[jeremy] yeah, yeah, yeah,
and we'll do that on whole ones.
- [shanika] so, have them under.
- [jeremy] yeah, yeah.
[jeremy] being off the ground
in this environment is critical,
so we're making a
platform bed out of bamboo.
[jeremy] yeah, that'll work.
It's going to be a little
bumpy there, but you know...
[shanika] survive.
- [jeremy] yeah, it's going to rain soon.
- [shanika] yep.
[jeremy] lord knows when we're
going to be able to make a fire.
Tomorrow is a new day.
[jeremy] we're just weathering the
storm literally, um, and mosquitoes,
so I can't imagine if we didn't have
this netting how many mosquitoes...
[shanika] oh, my
god, it would be hell.
[jeremy] it'd be,
yeah, unbearable.
We're just trying to stay warm.
It does get a little chilly when
you get wet out here at night, so...
I got one in my eye. Yeah.
[jeremy] last night was rough.
We got zero sleep
because it gets chilly
when you're just laying
there when it's 64 degrees out.
So, shanika and I had to definitely,
you know, use body heat to stay warm.
Priority for day two is dry tinder,
dry kindling, everything's wet.
Fire is going to be
our nemesis, man.
Just... There's just
nothing dry here.
[shanika] I know that jeremy, you
know, he seems like a hard-working guy,
but he is very pessimistic.
[jeremy] we got one dead piece of bamboo
sitting in the sunlight up off the ground.
This will be as good a shot as we got
in making it tinder, which is a nightmare.
I figure just let it sit here and
dry as best it can at 75% humidity.
[bleep] it's relentless, bugs.
[shanika singing]
[crows cawing]
[jeremy] ow, [bleep]!
Man, something is burning
the [bleep] out of my leg.
[sighs]
[shanika] what happened?
[jeremy] I have the worst
burning, like burning itch.
I hope it's not chiquitos, man,
'cause those are miserable.
I can't see them.
[narrator] the chiapan jungle
is swarming with mosquitoes,
tiny bloodsucking flies,
known as chiquitos,
and fire ants whose agonizing venomous
sting can cause anaphylactic shock
and is even fatal
for 5% of its victims.
[jeremy] oh, my god, I don't
know what kind of reaction
I'm having here right now, but
[bleep] this is going to be bad.
I won't be able to sleep, I won't
be able to do anything with this.
I don't know what
the hell to do with it.
I can't get away from it.
Oh, my god,
dude, I don't even...
If this doesn't go away, I'm
not going to be here very long.
Can't do it, man.
[crow cawing]
oh, this burning on my legs.
Just picture putting
your... Your leg in fire ants
and then just leaving your
leg in it, that's what it feels like.
[shanika] you
want to try the mud?
Give it a go. Not a bad idea.
I'm thinking, I don't care
what we need to put on.
I'll put anything on this
to get this to go away.
[shanika] yeah, you really
got to put this mud on thick
because it's so soothing.
And the mosquitoes, it's hard...
Harder for them to bite through.
[jeremy] it does feel
better, thank god.
It's taken the sensation
away almost immediately.
You're not going know
I'm a white dude after this.
[shanika laughs]
[shanika] there's a
[bleep] load of ants.
You know how to get
rid of ants, right? Ash.
[shanika] ash, yeah.
[jeremy] do you want me
to get the fire started now?
[shanika] I guess so.
Maybe you're [bleep]...
[shanika speaking]
[jeremy] I think we got enough
if we can get that burning.
Our food sources are
somewhat limited without fire,
and I think it will
help with the bugs.
So, and the cold, because
honestly, it gets cold at night,
especially when you're wet because
you can, you know, go hypothermic.
It still feels wet, like just the
humidity in the air makes it feel wet.
Oh, [bleep]. It sucks.
Phew.
It's going to be a bitch.
[bleep] man.
Had a little tiny
flame and no go.
[shanika] jeremy is
frustrated right now,
and it's like the energy that
you're bringing to something,
if you're frustrated,
you know, you're angry,
it's just going to
affect the outcome.
[jeremy] do you
want to give it a go?
[shanika] yeah, I'll try.
Oh, come on, grandfather fire.
Oh, I got it.
[jeremy] oh, [bleep].
Oh, [bleep].
This rain is such a pain
in the ass, you know.
But we've got to keep
some of the stuff dry.
[shanika] yeah, put it under...
[jeremy] something, yeah.
It's just so difficult to get
dry tinder, dry kindling,
everything's wet.
It's frustrating.
We have to dry it another day.
[jeremy] night two is...
We're going to make it.
We'll hold it together and try to
stay warm and do the best we can.
Oh, man!
So, we had another rough night last
night between the bugs and the cold.
If we're not sleeping, you
know, you just won't make it.
[shanika] we felt like it would be
best to just clear that whole area
and be able to
like let some sun in,
then keep things dry and
change this shelter situation.
[jeremy] awesome. Now, I can get
sun in here and I can dry my kindling.
Oh, I cut myself.
[shanika] you got a cut?
[jeremy] not
bad, but a little bit.
[shanika] if he wasn't going so hard,
he wouldn't have injured his hand.
He's exhausted, but I can't say like
[bleep], you need to rest, sit down.
But I'm in tune
with my own body.
I'd rather be a turtle as the
turtle always finishes the race.
Well, since you have the knife and I
can go like forage and see what I can find.
[jeremy] okay. Yeah.
[shanika] oh. Look at that.
That would be good eating.
This is ice cream bean. They're
full of carbohydrates, sugar.
You don't have to cook them. You
can just eat them right out the pod.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Ice cream bean.
[jeremy] oh, look at
you! Thanks, buddy.
You just suck off
the white fleshy part
and then spit the seeds out.
They have a nice,
pleasant, sweet taste.
[jeremy] I don't know if you can
live off them, but they're pretty good.
[shanika] clouds coming in.
Just putting all
this kindling away.
I don't want to be doing something
else and the rain comes in
all of a sudden and all
this is a wasted effort.
[jeremy] here we go.
Look at it, it's coming.
[shanika] are we
doing an a frame?
[jeremy] well, I don't think we'll
have time to a frame it today.
We'll get the roof done. We've got
some pieces here we can put on right now.
[jeremy] dude, I am gassed.
[jeremy] I don't think I've had
maybe even an hour and a half of sleep
the entire time we've been here so far.
Got to sleep, man.
It's killing us.
[jeremy] fire is the number
one priority today, for sure.
We're going to have to put the time and
this time to make sure everything's dry.
So, this is a critical
step for us right here.
If we go to a ton of effort and we
can't get it or we can't maintain it,
I'm going to be [bleep] pissed.
I mean, we'll never
know if we don't try.
[jeremy] right.
[shanika] with the lack of
rest, jeremy has hit a wall
physically, and I am
worried about him.
He seems to like frame
everything in a negative way.
He's putting negative fuel to
the fire, no pun intended, but it is.
And I'm asking grandfather
fire, please come sit with us.
- [jeremy] there you go.
- [shanika] ooh.
[jeremy] oh, a good spark, man.
- [shanika] I hope this works.
- [jeremy] yeah.
[birds chirping]
keep going. Keep going,
keep going, keep going.
Come on, kindling,
catch for us, man.
[shanika] nice long breaths.
[jeremy] man, the
fuel is not igniting.
Fuel is not catching.
I got [bleep] nothing.
Cannot get anything
to ignite. Unbelievable.
I'm done.
- [shanika] huh?
- [jeremy] done, man.
I'm not dealing with
it. I've made an effort.
I can't do it. It's... It
doesn't work for me.
I can't go on.
Twenty-five minutes sleep,
it's torture. Night is torture.
I don't know if I
can make it 21 days.
I really, I really don't. I
think, I physically might die.
- [shanika] you really want to leave on day five?
- [jeremy] I can't function,
I can't function in
this environment.
I'm out, man.
I got [bleep] nothing.
Cannot get anything to ignite.
Unbelievable.
I'm done.
[shanika] huh?
[jeremy] done, man.
I'm not dealing with it.
I've made an effort.
I can't function in
this environment.
[jeremy sighs]
[shanika] for me, I can't let outside,
like, circumstances dictate my happiness.
I'm zen as [bleep]
because I just know
that it's the potential of it going
out in this environment is likely.
What I've learned is just
more patience and trying again.
[jeremy] like, anywhere
else in the world, that's fire.
[shanika] I'm going
to try one more time.
[jeremy] you got something.
Nice job.
Did it!
We finally have gotten fire.
[shanika] thank
you, grandfather fire.
Instead of giving
up, trying again,
you know, I think the spirit of
the fire likes that persistence.
Now, we're going to put
a little shelter over the fire,
so when it rains, it
doesn't just go right out.
[jeremy] good job today,
man. You carried us.
I'm fighting right now to stay in, to
stay in the fight, if I'm being honest.
I'm struggling, man. I'm not
sleeping at all. I've got to sleep, man.
[thunder rumbling]
[shanika] it's raining again, I'm
cold, it's... The roof is dripping.
We got the fire going but...
[jeremy] we're letting it
smolder right now because
getting out in this rain and
defend it, it just doesn't make sense.
[birds chirping]
so, we lost our fire last
night during a bad rainstorm.
Really no substantial
sleep at all.
We've got to close this shelter
and there's no doubt about it.
So, we're going to enclose
this with kind of a lattice structure
and some large leaves today, to
just keep our body heat in there.
[shanika] massive
cloud right behind us.
She's a little early
today, mother rain.
[crows cawing]
[jeremy] we're going to be dry
tonight, that is my main goal.
[shanika] ouch!
Can you stop biting
for five minutes?
When I say these
bugs are relentless,
I mean, I'm out
there doing the shelter
and they're biting me on my
[bleep], up my ass, like everywhere.
They just don't give a [bleep].
Maybe they're like the
fbi or the cia of the bugs.
I don't know.
They will hunt you
down and find you.
But I'm glad we
got this wall up.
So hopefully, it holds up.
It will be more dry and
warm because I need sleep.
All right, one last thing.
[shanika speaking]
it's dead bamboo.
It's a lot lighter.
Yep, that one.
I came up with this thing called the
pee gutter by splitting bamboo in half.
I have a hate-hate relationship
with the bugs out here.
So, I was just thinking
instead of getting up at night
and coming out of the bug
tent and then going back in,
I just devised this way to be
able to pee without leaving the tent.
[jeremy speaking]
[shanika laughing]
[jeremy] you know, I got a
little sleep early last night.
It got cold again. It wasn't
as cold as it has been.
I mean, it was better,
definitely, um, but it was still cold.
I definitely reached the point where
food has started to become a priority,
but we need to find
something substantial.
We can't live on ice cream
beans the whole time.
Sunny spots, man,
that's where I'm looking.
Woo-hoo, what do we have here?
This is taro.
It's going to have some
big edible roots on this.
And we got to cook it.
Found a little taro root...
[shanika] a little.
[jeremy] ...To use.
[shanika] that's amazing.
The taro root is similar to like
a potato, but we need the fire.
It's like everything
is dependent on fire.
[jeremy] so again,
no fire, no food.
How much rain can
be in those clouds?
[shanika] think I'll have like
rain trauma now, you know.
[shanika] just another
like long, tough night.
I can't sleep, and I know
jeremy as well can't sleep.
But I'm focusing on day 21
and how I'm going to
feel once I get there.
I feel like jeremy
should try that, too.
Then, you know, it might be
a more positive experience.
[jeremy] not feeling great
today, I'm not going to lie.
Feeling weaker by the day
and just not getting a lot of sleep.
I can feel my body
breaking itself down.
Yeah, it's a rarity we get
this full sun for very long.
So, I'm going to take
advantage of it, dry the wood.
[shanika] you know,
that taro is like,
it just sounds so
amazing right now.
[jeremy] [bleep].
It's going to be
another cold night.
I just want to be warm at night
and not shiver my [bleep] ass off.
Last night was warm.
[shanika] mmm-mmm,
every night is.
[jeremy] uh...
Oh, my god!
[jeremy speaking]
so, it's the morning of day 11.
A rough night, 10 hours
of shivering, I think.
[jeremy speaking]
I just can't do
another night like that.
I do feel guilty,
but I just can't do it.
And I want to stop.
Sorry.
[jim] hey, jeremy, what's up?
[jeremy] I'm not going to, I'm not
going to do another night here, man.
I got to tap.
[jim] you sure?
[jeremy] I'm at peace
with my decision, so...
[jim] jeremy has decided he's going
to leave, so can you come get him?
[jeremy] shanika, I feel
guilty about leaving her,
but suffered as much as I could.
Couldn't do it anymore.
Be strong.
[shanika] bye.
[jeremy] this is a very, very
difficult, humbling environment.
Nobody's ever finished the
21-day challenge here, um,
and I can see why.
[narrator] chiapas
claims yet another victim.
Jeremy's psr drops
from 7.0 to 6.1.
[jeremy] I hope shanika
can make it 21 days.
It's going to be very difficult,
but, you know, if
anybody can do it, she can.
She's... She's tough.
[shanika] so, jeremy
decided to leave this morning.
He's just tired of suffering,
and I understand that.
I'm tired of suffering,
but I also don't want to like
give up and then regret it.
That can be dried.
It'd be good tinder as well.
I'm going to try to
hold as long as I can.
All the wood literally has to be
cut down to these small pieces
for them to be able to burn.
Sad to see my partner go.
But, you know, there's the
downside and then there's the upside.
Now I've got more space
in the shelter to store wood.
[shanika] so, this has given a lot of
pieces of wood that I haven't time to dry.
All right, all right, all right.
I really need to keep this
fire going all day and all night.
So I really don't want
to be out here by myself
and go hypothermic.
[shanika] with the two of us, we
had each other to keep us warm,
but with just me, I'm freezing.
[shanika] so last night was
just a night of like being up,
shivering, feeling
sorry for myself.
But I have my three
beautiful children at home
and, you know, they're
counting on me to do it.
Well, I'm cutting the taro
root in small pieces so it can fit
in this small bamboo.
I'll just put some
water in there
and I just need this taro to
boil for at least 30 minutes.
Then I can have something
substantial, give me some energy,
because right
now I don't have it.
Let's hope it's cooked through.
In the caribbean, we eat taro
root, but we call it dasheen.
I've eaten it a lot of times, so I'm
pretty confident that it's well-cooked.
Mmm.
It's not sweet, but it's
like this pleasant flavor.
Mmm.
It was so nice to have
something like warm to eat.
[shanika] a lot of rough nights,
so put some work into the shelter
to kind of provide me more warmth
where I can actually sleep.
Time is of the essence.
This needs to be done before
another rainstorm rolls in,
which is inevitable.
That should be good.
Honey, I'm home.
[shanika chuckling]
[shanika] good
morning. It's day 15.
It's like, "damn,
give me a break."
and coming in from the back.
So I'm basically
just sitting in water.
Right back where I sleep at, it's
also wet, like everywhere is wet.
Perfect storm for hypothermia.
[shanika speaking]
I have the fire going.
I've been at it for hours.
I've been literally freezing my
ass off, and this fire isn't helping.
Oh.
I can't, I can't go
through this all night.
[shanika crying]
[birds chirping]
[shanika speaking]
it's day 18.
Even though I'm so close,
that doesn't make any
easier to go through it.
I'm going to try my
best to get to day 21.
[shanika praying
in foreign language]
[shanika] I do believe
that as spiritual people,
we have the power to
change the energy of a place,
and to actually pray for the
spirits that might be trapped here.
And I'm hoping that
the energy will get lighter.
[shanika praying
in foreign language]
[shanika] I already
got the great flood.
I'm praying like
nothing else, please.
[shanika] holy [bleep].
Oh, my god!
[jeremy] ooh,
that's not a fun one.
Ooh, wow!
Ow. I'm bit on the penis,
one, two, three, four, five, six...
Nine times on the
head of the penis.
It kind of feels like toad
skin, toad skin penis disease.
Holy [bleep]. That is tore up.
Damn, no mercy, dude,
they're even going for the balls.
[shanika] oh, my god.
They're called private
parts for a reason.
[bleep]
[shanika] holy [bleep].
I see this big wall of flames.
[bleep] [bleep]
[thunderclap]
[shanika] luckily, rain
shower came in and put it out,
so that was pretty eventful.
This is what I have left.
I'm so grateful
for mother nature.
This place didn't kill me.
No, not yet.
That rain wet my shelter so much
that it didn't get consumed by the fire.
I am hoping that, that was
just a sign from this place that
shanika is okay in my book.
But I am a little worried about
extraction and having to walk out of here.
My plan is to make a little trek
and forage for some more food.
[breathing heavily]
whoa, look at that!
They look like breadfruit.
[shanika] I see this
big breadnut tree.
Look at that. The nuts,
they have a lot of protein,
which I've been
lacking and really need.
These are the superfood
of the rainforest.
Coming in here, I
really made the prayer
that mother nature provides
for me everything that I need.
And I would say, mother
nature has done that and beyond.
I just roasted my first nut.
So I'm going to enjoy this,
and then I have a lot more to go.
I'm so thankful, so grateful.
Mmm, delicious.
[shanika] if I didn't tap
into my spiritual side
and all the tools
that I have in my bag,
I wouldn't have
made it through this.
Tomorrow can't come soon enough.
[shanika] day
21 is finally here.
I can finally go.
All righty, my map.
I'm just about
here by the river.
I need to go southwest
to my extraction point.
[narrator] shanika's journey will
take her two miles up a steep hillside,
through thick jungle, where
she'll have to be wary of jaguar
and coral snakes, whose neurotoxic
venom can cause cardiac arrest.
Once at the top of the ridge,
she faces a one mile
precarious descent,
where she must
avoid steep drop-offs,
until she reaches an old bridge,
where her extraction vehicle awaits.
[shanika] oh.
My calves are already burning.
I'm thirsty, tired.
Oh. Oh, get out of my face.
I can't even see
where I'm stepping.
Hope I don't step
on anything bad.
[shanika sighs]
oh, wow!
Look at that view. Gotta
be careful going down.
It looks to get really steep
here with a lot of rocks.
Oh.
I have never pushed
myself this hard in my life,
and I'm walking out of here knowing
that no african-american women
have ever completed
this challenge,
that's what really
keeps me going.
Oh, I see the river.
Oh, my god, I think I'm
starting to hear a car.
Hey! Hey, stop!
Of course it's my ride.
[shanika sighs]
oh.
Ah.
Get me out of here.
[shanika] it's undescribable,
to be the first african-american
woman to complete
naked and afraid
21-day challenge.
This was the hardest
[bleep] I've ever done.
I can see now
why nobody that's ever
came to chiapas made it.
What I accomplished
is just monumental.
To all women of
color, if I could do this,
you can do anything
you want to do.
[narrator] shanika
lost 34 pounds.
Her psr rises from 6.5 to 7.3.
This is still a 100%
crazy white people [bleep].
Luckily, some of my best
friends are crazy white people.