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We're Going To Trade You For Food Now

As hard as it is to say, it was even harder watching Charla and Mirna leave in first place. I mean it was just really strange. But that they did, after they arrived first in Maputo, Mozambique.

The first clue had them flying some 1400 miles to Dar Es Salaam, the largest city in the African nation of Tanzania. Once there, they must travel ten miles by taxi to a ferry terminal, to pull a number for onr of four traditional boats called dhows, to sail for the island of Zanzibar.

At the Maputo airport, Charla and Mirna found it almost empty, except for an agent, who was unfortunately subject to the berating that most agents suffer from those two. They found that the earliest flight departed at 8:30am on LAM. However, they couldn't buy tickets until 5:00am. The cousins went to the hotel, as did Dustin and Kandice.

But it was the ever-surprising Teri and Ian who grabbed a spot in line, even though Teri didn't really want to do so. The next morning, they were the first to get the news that the flight was fully booked. I guess it's good that they stayed overnight on the cold hard floor of the airport!

Teri and Ian, along with all of the teams other than Charla and Mirna, put their names on standby, the diminutive one and her lanky counterpart found a 7:00am flight to Johannesburg that connected to Dar Es Salaam. The connection was fully booked, but they decided to take the risk of flying through the larger airport.

The know-it-all team of Joe and Bill called the chance risky, and Kandice remarked that if they flew there, there might not be any flights out. I think this was meant to comfort them, in case they somehow were beaten to the next stop. Sensing some foreshadowing? Me too.

Everyone left in Maputo rapidly figured this out, when they didn't get flights on the 8:30am flight, and the next best option would be a flight at 9:45am. Everyone had to go to Johannesburg, and Ian offered up the best line of the season by saying "Now Mirna and Schmirna look like geniuses". The guy is hilarious.

Speaking of the two-who-shall-not-be-named, they were at that very moment landing in Johannesburg, and they met an airport worker who helped them get on the connection that they needed, so before any other team even left Maputo, they were on the connection. Talk about a lead!

Back in Maputo, Eric and Danielle, Uchenna and Joyce and Oswald and Danny performed some trickery of their own by heading upstairs to talk to the offices and getting on the waitlist for the connecting flight. Meanwhile, the other two teams hung out in line at the counter.

Landing in Johannesburg, the teams ran to the gates and found enough space for four teams - those who went to the offices. That left Joe and Bill and Teri and Ian out in the cold. But just as the flight was about to leave, Eric and Danielle were actually removed from the flight, even though Eric apparently offered to pay someone else to give up their seat for $50 (there were no takers).

In Johannesburg, the three teams took their turns getting on the next flight - not leaving until the next morning at 9:45am. Eric and Danielle, having been removed from their flight, made it onto priority standby, while the other two teams were just on the regular standby list.

In Dar Es Salaam with a lead of about a week (or so it seemed), Charla and Mirna found the ferry terminal and rode the first dhow to Zanzibar. Because of "stormy weather", the dhow wouldn't leave until the next morning at 5:30am. That allowed the next three teams to catch up, and Oswald and Danny grabbed a spot on the first dhow with Charla and Mirna. Dustin and Kandice rode the second dhow with Uchenna and Joyce, not leaving until three hours later.

The next morning, the dhows finally left, and the teams in Johannesburg finally found that... only one team would make the 9:45am flight. Eric and Danielle were the lucky team, since they were on "priority standby", so they boarded the flight. The last two teams did manage to get on a flight at 12:00pm. Talk about a layover!

Once they arrived in Zanzibar, teams encountered a Detour, where they had to choose between Solve It and Schlep It.

In Solve It, teams had to make their way one third of a mile to the hotel known as Beyt al Chai where they would put together a 62-piece puzzle that recreates an image from a style of local artwork known as Tinga Tinga. In Schlep It, teams made their way one mile to the Kijangwani Lumber Yard. Once there, they had to choose a local handcart and load two 50-pound logs into their cart. The uniquely shaped logs are highly sought after for use in the construction of the native dhow. Once loaded, teams had to travel more than a mile to deliver the logs to a shipyard.

Both of the teams in the lead chose to Solve It, but Charla and Mirna panicked a bit, while Oswald and Danny calmly went about solving the puzzle, giving them the lead - at least for the moment.

The next clue required teams to travel fifteen miles to the village of Kikungwi, home to the Massai tribe, on the island of Zanzibar.

Though Oswald and Danny left the Detour first, they decided to get a bite to eat, since they hadn't eaten. That gave Charla and Mirna a chance to pass them and arrive first in Kikungwi, where they found a Roadblock.

In this Roadblock, one team member had to learn how to use a traditional wooden weapon, called a Rungu, used by members of the Maasai Tribe by throwing it 65 feet to destroy a clay target in order to retrieve their next clue from inside.

Mirna wasn't very good, which gave Danny a chance to catch up, but that only gave Mirna the motivation she needed, and she quickly destroyed her target, allowing the cousins to get the next clue first.

Inside was the instruction to drive another 15 miles to the Old Fort, an 18th-century fortress built by Omani tradesmen. Charla and Mirna easilyi arrived in first place, and they won a pair of catamarans for doing so. Two in a row. How about that?

• Charla and Mirna grab their second first-place finish in a row. Unbelievable.
• Oswald and Danny are still my choice for the win, but hardly a surprise.
• Uchenna and Joyce shrug off the penalty, but likely won't be here for long.
• Dustin and Kandice are plodding along, but watch for them to make a move.
• Eric and Danielle could go either way, so keep your eyes on them.
• Joe and Bill are too much hot air to make a serious run at it.

Teri and Ian, even after all that "down time" in the airport, couldn't put the puzzle together faster than Joe and Bill, so they were the last team to arrive, and were thus eliminated. Uchenna and Joyce easily avoided elimination, since two teams hadn't even left the prior destination when they arrived at the mat.

I still like Oswald and Danny, and have to say I'm surprised at Charla and Mirna, but I don't think they will be able to keep up this run of first-place finishes. Also keep on eye on Dustin and Kandice. They've been in the middle of the pack for a while now, surely they'll move up soon.

Frankly, I think the "stormy weather" may have been a manipulation of the producers, but that is just conjecture. If it hadn't happened, Charla and Mirna would have had a massive, perhaps insurmountable, lead. Prior seasons have shown teams near the end get left behind by days. It wouldn't do to have it happen this early, and while I don't think they'd try to rig the race, you just have to wonder.