by Ashley Thompson

The 12 Naked and Afraid veterans are in the middle of the South African bush and SA is in the middle of a drought, the worst in 50 years. They've already accomplished 21 days, but can they make it 40? What are they afraid of, the South African predators or each other?They will start in 4 groups of 3 and each group is given a pot, a blade and a survival tool. Each group is given and XLR since it is a group effort.

West - Jake, Clarence and Stacey. They're plan is to descend a gorge with blood thirsty ticks. The only water they can find has elephant feces in it, so who's to say it's not just a big puddle of elephant pee? Nonetheless the trio must try and boil it out and drink what they can. Their XLR is 7.4.

South - all-male group at the Pondo Ravine that is heavily trafficked by elephant herds. Does all-male mean alpha-male? This group has Steven, Angel and Ryan. Their plan is to make the most of their thorny situation and use those thorns as a fence around their camp. Their expert level XLR is 8.3.

South East - Phaedra, Alyssa and Tawny are in the Swati Valley. It's an oasis of water and prey... but that also means predators. Step one, step on a big thorn and bleed significantly. Not a great way to get a shelter built. Their collective XLR is 7.5.

East - Carrie, Darrin and Kim are at Tsonga Basin. This area has a rocky floor that the sun heats up and beats up. Darren is pumped that his female company is military experienced but we all know him as being kind of a lone-wolf. But hopefully this wolf doesn't get eaten by the lions meeting the group at the neighborhood watering hole. Their XLR is 6.7 but drops to 4.3.

One thing each group has in common is the sounds of lions at night. Since most predators can see 6 times better than humans, it doesn't seem that morning will come soon enough for the survivalists. The West Gorge group are focusing on rehydrating. But Clarence can't stomach the water that is what was once in an elephant's stomach. The Tsonga group is also worried about water, but they have to walk across scorching rocks to get to it. Day is essential for the Swati Valley girls because they need to build their shelter, which causes Phaedra to exhibit symptoms of heat exhaustion. The symptoms don't get better with nightfall and now Alyssa is also feeling sick. Tawny may be facing the challenge alone. Come day 3 all of the Valley girls are still hanging in but they're realizing that a larger group may be more conducive to survival. The alpha-males disagree, they want to stay a threesome for as long as possible. Could it be that they just don't want to share their meals? Because it does look like they might end up the best fed because they have made spears, knives and nets already.

Now that everyone is for the most part settled and hydrated, it's time to focus on food. Unfortunately for Clarence, he can only catch crab and he is allergic to shell fish. To return the favor of a good meal, his teammates decide to go clubbing. Aka, clubbing the small pond to catch a fish for Clarence. However, when they bring him the food, he says that he will not be eating because it wastes the water in his body by digesting. His plan is to go an extended period of time without food or water, and he will just lay around to keep from sweating.

Speaking of food... to keep from being tick food, Carrie is slathering on ash from the fire so that the ticks won't want to climb on her. It would seem that she can't disconnect from her surroundings and the fear of ticks is overwhelming her. Add that to the fact that the lions keep her awake at night, and it's just too much. Carrie doesn't feel mentally up to the challenge and decides to tap out. First one down. But it doesn't take long before Clarence decides to leave because he just can't handle the water situation. And his teammate can't handle his bad survival skills. It's not completely clear if he actually taps out but he's not a happy camper.

Photo by: Discovery Channel