Week Six

Kichanga Tribe

Binny noticed something was going on last week. Everybody told him that they were going to vote Hackett off, when really they were planning on voting Binny out. Everyone was shocked however when Hackett was a no-show and Binny was saved. Now Binny knew he had two options. The first was to convince everybody he was useful, and the second was just to not lose any more immunity challenges. So Binny set out to talk to all the people in his tribe and tell them that he was one of the best all around contestants in the game. He had people skills, problem solving as well as a lot of athleticism. He was a complete package and his team needed to know that. The rest of the tribe at first really didn’t have much to think about. If they lost, all they would have to do is vote Binny out and that is it. Though with not really any real problem-solving challenges yet, one must be coming up very soon, and maybe Binny did have a place in the tribe. Kyle, who had pretty good relations with everyone in the tribe talked to the camp guys who had attempted to betray Binny and he made some good progress, especially with Scott. Elliott spent some time today with Beckie too, trying to figure out some way of keeping the most athletic girl in the game a little while longer. Lauren began to seriously talk with Tyler, because she was getting worried that they wouldn’t want her skills anymore.

Margani Tribe

After the elimination of Cam, everybody in Margani was part of the main alliance. So if they lost, who would be voted out? This was the question that had to be addressed. Jill had been in an alliance with Chelsea and Greg from the start. Matt Hinton and Steve had also been together from very early. Jones had been swayed from James and Dirks by Jill at the first vote, and had been voting with her since. Dirks was the most recent addition to the alliance. Nobody wanted to eliminate him because he was quite the competitor. Everybody brought something to the table. Jones, Steve and Greg were all very good at strategizing, and while Jones and Steve were a little more athletic and teamwork oriented than Greg, Greg had qualities in all the attributes as well. Jill and Chelsea were both very good at problem-solving, while Jill was better at teamwork and Chelsea was faster. With Cam being voted out, Margani was not very strong, but what strength they had came from Hinton, Jones and Steve. Matt Hinton was another one of those guys who had strengths all around. It would be tough to decide, but Margani needed to make smaller alliances within itself.

Hartolo Tribe

German and Graham were pretty annoyed that they had to vote out Clements rather than someone who was poor at problem-solving. Hartolo already had the worst problem-solving average and now it was way worse. Millar, Pitman and Tyla were the three worst in the tribe at problem-solving but they were all in the alliance. So they were safe last week. Like Margani, Hartolo had voted out the three people not in the alliance, and now it was down to voting out one of their friends. If the challenge had anything to do with problem-solving, Hartolo would lose by a long shot, so they had to hope that it did not.

Breema Tribe

Fournie had been utterly surprised that she had been voted out last week. She had thought that it was going to be Mandy, but somehow Mandy was still around. It was now time for Breema to actually make some alliances. Nathalie had basically been calling the shots up to this point and her main wingman was Jord. They also had the support of Barry and Trotman who liked their four person alliance. Micah had also had a lot of communication with Nathalie and had been voting with her for a while. Mandy had not really been focused too much on making alliances, but she had begun to realize how important they were. Silas didn’t know at all what was going on. He trusted that he should be safe because he was so important in every challenge, but he needed some concrete evidence that he was safe.

Immunity Challenge

This weeks immunity challenge is a long distance race. It will be held in the shallow waters just off a beach, with the contestants wading through thigh-deep water. All seven members of each tribe will be carabeenered together, and the first two tribes to cross the finish line (3 km away) will win immunity. Here is the kicker. Each person of the tribe will have to carry a 50 lb bag on their shoulders. That means each tribe is responsible for carrying 350 lb of weight from the start to the finish. If someone cannot carry their weight or falls, they are eliminated, must unhinge him/herself from the tribe and go to the beach. SOMEONE MUST CARRY THEIR BAG. That is why teamwork is so important. If someone can’t go further, they must tell someone to take some of their weight so that they don’t fall. If any of the bags fall in the water, that tribe must not move forward until someone is carrying the fallen bag..

The attribute weightings are as follows:
Speed: 30%
Strength: 30%
Problem-Solving: 0%
Strategy: 0%
Teamwork: 40%

Note: if no team crosses the finish line, the two tribes to get the farthest win immunity.

Alright, let us start the challenge.

All the tribes start off, with Kichanga taking and early lead and Hartolo falling a little behind. All the contestants are still in the game, moving forward, until Chelsea falls, followed closely by Lauren and Nathalie. Their weight is taken on by their tribe mates.

I will skip to Half way done… here's who's left:

Kinchanga: 1st
Scott: 100 lbs
Tyler: 50 lbs
Beckie: 50 lbs
Elliott: 100 lbs
Kyle: 50 lbs

Breema: 2nd
Jord: 50 lbs
Micah: 50 lbs
Silas: 50 lbs
Barry: 100 lbs
Trotman: 100 lbs

Hartolo: 3rd
Pitman: 100 lbs
Cowin: 100 lbs
Millar: 50 lbs
German: 100 lbs

Margani: 4th
Jones: 100 lbs
Steve: 50 lbs
Dirks: 100 lbs
Hinton: 100 lbs

So all four tribes are closing in on the finish line, when Hinton falls, and pulls Dirks down, and Jones and Steve are left with all the weight. In first place, Kichanga begins to slow down. Beckie can’t go any further, and Kyle’s knees really start to hurt and he has to stop as well. In Breema, Jord has to stop, and in Hartolo Millar can’t keep up.

With all the weight on Scott, Tyler and Elliott, Kichanga can’t stay in the lead and Hartolo passes them with Cowin carrying 150 and Pitman and German each carrying 100. Soon the slow-moving but steady Breema also passes with Micah, Barry, Trotman and Silas each carrying pretty even amounts. Margani just can’t keep up, with all the weight on Steve and Jones they stop unable to go further. Kichanga, runs furiously, but in their haste falls as well, eliminating their team.

That means that Hartolo and Breema win Immunity! It also means that Kichanga and Margani must go to Tribal Council this week.

Keys to Victory (defeat):

Hartolo: There is just not enough you can say about the strength of Cowin, Pitman and German. The three of them kept the team going and took care of business. It was a tough challenge so Tyla and Cait just could not keep up. Graham also just did not have the bulk for all that weight. But the team persevered and is still in it.

Breema: The teamwork and athleticism of Barry, Trotman, Micah, Silas and Jord did it for Breema. All five guys carried the weight and did a great job to keep a steady pace going and stay encouraged and in constant communication. Their teamwork is very good, and will only get better with time.

(Kichanga): While their speed and strength is above average, their teamwork is still abysmal. Again, Scott, Tyler and Beckie did a good job with their all around attributes. Elliott had the physical attributes, but just not enough teamwork. Binny had really average scores in the three attributes used, which doesn’t fairly show how amazing he is in the other two. This was just not the right challenge for Lauren who could just not keep up in that water. Kyle was able to keep up, but with his bad knee in the water, his speed was just not enough.

(Margani): Nothing seems to work for Margani. Their highest averages lay in strategy and problem-solving, so an athletic challenge is not good for them. Again, Dirks did well, but not good enough. Hinton and Jones were strong enough, and Steve had good enough teamwork, but overall it was not enough to compete with the other tribes. Greg, like Graham in Hartolo does not have the size and Chelsea and Jill do not have the athleticism for a challenge like this.

So here are all the people who have to vote:

Kichanga:
Scott
Kyle
Beckie
Tyler
Lauren
Binny
Elliott

Margani:
Hinton
Steve
Jill
Jones
Chelsea
Greg
Dirks

Please vote by Wednesday night at 11:59! Last week I got some votes in the morning after; you guys were lucky I was out until the morning.