The Amazing Race Recap: Petrohue, Chile
I'm Sorry I'm Wearing A Bathing Suit. It Is Very Weird, I Know
Rob and Amber, after another first place finish in Valley of the Dead, Chile departed with instructions to drive to San Pedro de Atacama, and find the church that bears its name. At the church, Rob and Amber opened the next clue to find instructions to fly more than 800 miles to the town of Puerto Montt, and then drive another 30 miles to a fishery in the town of Metri.
Joe and Bill arrived at the town in third place, but had to pull over to ask directions to the church. Eric and Danielle took this opportunity to listen in on the directions, and jump a place in line. Joe and Bill were not happy, to say the least.
The teams started assembling in the airport in Calama, but Rob and Amber took a different approach. They found an all-night travel agent and bought tickets on a flight that would land them in Puerto Montt at 12:55pm. Nice. I don't know that I would have thought to look for a 24-hour travel agent in the US, much less an out-of-the way place like it seemed that the racers were in at the time.
Not wanting to be fourth, Uchenna and Joyce looked for a hotel to book their tickets online, and the offered to book tickets for Joe and Bill, Eric and Danielle and Oswald and Danny - who all wrote down their credit card information. Unfortunately, only Joe and Bill wrote down the security code on the back of the card, so only those two teams were able to get on the same flight with Rob and Amber. The others were stuck on a later flight. They were scheduled an hour later.
Eric did manage to wrangle seats on the earlier flight, however, when he noticed that the other teams were on an earlier flight, and there were still seats left. Teri and Ian and Charla and Mirna also tried to get on the flight, but were unable to do so, but they could attempt to get on a standby list when they connected in Santiago.
Once in Santiago, Teri and Ian handily beat Charla and Mirna in a footrace to the counter, but neither managed to get on the flight.
In Puerto Montt, the lead teams raced for the next clue, but Rob and Amber ended up in fourth place, and the other three ended up at the fishery, for a Roadblock. In the Roadblock, one team member had to choose a breeding tank (an 1800 gallon tank!), jump in and catch and transfer enough fish to reveal the clue on the bottom of the tank. Catching the fish was harder than it looked.
Uchenna was the first one done, revealing the clue: "Find the sign for La Maquina along the river. Just before you enter Petrohue, search for you next clue."
Joe wasn't far behind, but he didn't notice the part that said "Petrohue", and simply wrote down part of the clue, and took off.
Eric and Danielle and Rob and Amber arrived at the river first, to find a Detour, where the teams had to choose between Vertical Limit and River Wild.
In Vertical Limit, teams had to walk 200 yards to a cliff where both team members needed to complete a 40-foot rock climb. Each team member would grab one half of their clue at the top of the climb. In River Wild, teams had to backtrack two miles to the banks of Rio Petrohue where they would complete a two and a half mile white water rafting course through category three and four rapids.
Both teams took the river. Dustin and Kandice then showed up at the river, having missed the clue box, and took the river as well, hoping they would spot it along the way. After them, Eric and Danielle and Uchenne and Joyce suited up to take the river too.
Rob and Amber finished the course first, and discovered that they needed to drive three-and-a-half miles to the next Pit Stop at Playa Petrohue, a beach made of black volcanic sand. They made it in first place, and each won a full home gym complete with an elliptical trainer and exercise bike.
Behind them, Dustin and Kandice received their clue to the Pit Stop and tried to figure out what happened. Meanwhile, Uchenna and Joyce and Eric and Danielle finished second and third, respectively, and then Dustin and Kandice, who had trouble starting their car, stepped on the mat, only to find that they missed a clue, and could not check in. They went back, found the detour clue, and came back to check in as the fourth team.
- Rob and Amber are looking very strong, and seem like the team to beat. Threepeat!
- Uchenna and Joyce are still at the top, but I'm not sure for how long.
- Eric and Danielle just don't have what it takes.
- Dustin and Kandice may surprise you if they keep hanging around.
- Oswald and Danny are the dark horses because no one is watching.
- Teri and Ian seem like they are fading this time around.
- Joe and Bill just don't have it, they are trying too hard.
- Charla and Mirna really get on my nerves, but you never can tell.
David and Mary were eliminated after arriving last. No surprise there.
How about Rob and Amber turning in their third first place finish in a row? There's no way that they can keep that up for long, but you have to be impressed. Though Oswald and Danny fell a few spots, I still like them for the win.
