15x08 - Beauty and the Beasties

[bunniefuu]

[Candice chuckling] This long
grass in makin' me a little nervous.

I'm not lookin' forward to
walkin' through here naked.

It is definitely going to
pose a problem for hunting.

There could be lions, leopards,

All kinds a stuff in there that could
see me, and I can't really see them.

[Joe chuckling] As I'm staring
into miles of long, tall grass,

I'm, like, seeing why the
lion's mane is the way it is.

Like, it just would blend
in, so perfectly with this,

which is majestic
and terrifying.

All right, this must be my spot.

Time to get naked.

[Joe] You know, with the threat
of lions looming everywhere,

it gets me thinking about walking
around naked and barefooted,

but that's what this challenge is
about, having that extreme vulnerability.

All right, let's do this.

[engine starting]

All right, Africa, be
gentle, it's my first time.

It's getting thicker as
I move through this.

I literally can't see anything.

I'm so scared.

I gotta kinda stop lookin' down,

I think maybe I'm a little
worried for puff adders.

But, uh, you know, you gotta
keep your head on a swivel out here.

[Candice] I just wanna
meet my partner.

Surely, we've got to be
getting close to him by now.

I don't wanna be
alone out here anymore.

- Oh, [bleep], yikes.
- [lions roaring]

[Joe] You hear that?

That's probably a lion.

[whispering] This
is crazy, hide.

[Joe] Adventure awaits.

[narrator] Joe and Candice
enter the Luangwa Valley.

Home to Zambia's
largest population of lions,

that can consume a quarter of
their body weight in a single meal.

Here, low water tributaries lure
dense concentrations of game,

like koodoo and warthogs,
but also deadly crocodiles,

Baboons and herds of elephants.

[lion growling]

A lotta people will say this is the Olympics
of survival, and I understand that now.

I'm definitely glad
I'm not doin' it alone.

Ah, thank goodness I am outta
this grass and it's opening up again.

I can see.

All right, where is he?

Or she? Where's my partner?
Please, let me find them soon.

I hope my partner is somebody
that's open-minded to me.

I don't want someone to take a
glance at me, and then assume that,

you know, they're gonna have to do
everything, 'cause that is not the case.

- Hello there! Hi!
- [Candice] Hey!

- [Joe] It's a pleasure to finally meet you.
- Yes!

- You as well!
- [Joe] Yes, all right, goin' in for the hug.

- Just go in' for it, just get it over with.
- Quit playing and just...

- It's nice to meet you.
- Yeah, you too.

- I'm Candice.
- I'm Joe.

How was your walk in?

Like, mine was God awful, going
through the grass, I was terrified.

[sarcastically] Yeah, this is just
any other Wednesday for me.

- [laughing] No, um... Yeah.
- Oh, you run around naked quite often?

No, actually no,
I'm pretty reserved,

So this is... Getting naked and
doing this was the hardest part for me.

- This is terrifying for me, too, yeah.
- Oh, right on.

We have very similar outfits.

- Yeah, these are... These are very form fitting.
- This is the newer version.

- Yeah, yours is, like, established and strong.
- Yeah.

Yeah, oh, for sure,
that is one of my assets.

I've got, like, some kind of
supermodel for my partner.

When my wife sees my partner,
I can already feel the side eye.

What are your skills?

Beat boxing,

- break dancing, yeah.
- Nice, okay, so you'll entertain me.

- That's it, yeah. That's basically all I got.
- Perfect.

- Okay, perfect.
- No, I mean,

I've been, like, training
for this my whole life.

Eagle Scout, plus 20
years military service, so...

- Oh good, what branch?
- Uh, Air Force.

Nice.

[Joe] I joined the
Air National Guard,

and while I was in basic
training, 9/11 happened.

And so, I went in with this
intent, to get some college money,

and that event definitely
changed the trajectory of my life.

When I went to Afghanistan,
I came back with PTSD.

So, for me engaging
in the outdoors

became a survival technique
for my own mental sanity.

...And voila! We have fire.

And this challenge is something that
really allows me to continue healing,

and I'm confident I'm gonna survive
out here and make it the full 21 days.

- I think that's awesome.
- Yeah, it's cool.

- What about you?
- All right, well I, um, I grew up hunting, fishing,

- so, um, that's kind of my playground.
- [Joe] Nice.

[Candice] People usually
don't believe that I'm outdoorsy.

Yep, those will do.

I'm a lot tougher and stronger
than most people think.

Growing up, I was
outdoors a lot with my dad,

Camping, fishing, sh**ting g*ns.

My first big hunt
was a mountain lion.

I've k*lled elk. I've gone bear hunting.
I've k*lled a few deer with my bow.

It drives me crazy
when people doubt me.

Did you actually catch that
fish, or are you just posing with it?

That's how you do
it, boys, right there.

It drives me nuts. I hate it.

I think it's important for women
to know how strong we can be.

We can do anything
that a man can do.

- [Joe] So, luckily I'm...
- I think we'll be a good team.

- I'm actually very happy with you.
- I think so, good.

All right, well the
day's gettin' on us,

- so why don't we see what we got.
- Let's go.

Okay.

[narrator] In order to last in
the deadly African wilderness,

Joe and Candice have
each selected a survival item.

- [Joe] All right, I got, uh, our cutting item.
- Perfect.

- And I brought a recurve bow.
- Right on.

[narrator] They've also received a
pot for hydration, and a fire starter.

- This is gonna save, uh, our day...
- Oh, nice!

...'cause keepin' that
fire goin's gonna be,

- uh, pretty important to, uh, gettin' to 21 days.
- Yes, it will.

- Yeah, we're gonna make it there, for sure.
- For sure.

Okay, and I actually
think I have the map.

- [Joe] Oh, yeah?
- Let's see where we're goin'.

- That's us.
- [Joe] You are here.

- We've got a little bit a water resources.
- Okay, we got

a tributary to the
Luangwa there.

I say we try to go
somewhere in this area,

- what do you think?
- I think that's the right move, yeah.

We gotta just watch each
other's backs, 'cause we know...

- [Candice] Agreed.
- ...that there's a lot of, uh, dangers out there.

Well, we've got
a long ways to go.

- Should we get after it?
- All right, let's get started.

- Fo sho!
- [Candice] All right, grab my bow.

[narrator] Candice has a lifetime
of experience hunting large game,

but has never applied her
skills in extreme conditions.

She begins with a primitive
survival rating, or PSR of 6.6.

- Ready?
- Let's do it.

[narrator] Joe's military
training is a major plus,

but past trauma could complicate
his mental approach to the challenge.

He starts with a PSR of 6.7.

[Candice] The thought
of being surrounded

- by giant predators is not nice.
- [Joe] Nope.

[Candice] Who's doing
the hunting, them or us?

Well, for now, them, but, uh,

- but since you're locked and loaded with that bow...
- But not for long.

I just met my partner, Candice, and,
I mean, this is like best partner ever.

She's a hunter.

It's nice to have a pretty
good partner all wrapped up

with a pretty little
bow and arrow.

I think we're gonna complement
each other, like, super well.

So do I, which is exactly
what I've been praying for.

Oh, me too.

He seems like he's
very masculine, strong.

You know, I'll be the
hunter, can provide for us,

and he will make sure that we're safe
at night and... And secure in our shelter.

You know, I think between the
two of us, we're gonna do great.

[Joe] Yeah, I think so, too.

[Candice] Ow! Hold
on, I got a thorn.

- [Joe] You doin' all right?
- Yeah.

- [Joe] Oh yeah, it is a acacia town.
- Ugh.

Hate these thorns already.

[snorting]

[Joe] You hear that?

[grunting]

[Joe] Look at him
go. That is awesome.

[Candice] The elephants aren't as
cute and friendly as they are on TV,

- [chuckling] so I think we should be a little cautious.
- [Joe] Oh, yeah.

[Candice] Just keep movin'.

[elephant trumpeting]

- [Candice] Oh! Scared me.
- It's gettin' serious, now.

[Candice] I
actually think I see...

- That is water in front of us, yes!
- [Joe] Yes, water? Oh.

[Candice] I'm so
excited. We made it, Joe.

- [Joe] And it's got some depth, too.
- Oh, my God!

- This is beautiful!
- [Joe] It's not flowing too fast.

You know, and let's also
be aware that this, uh,

- where prey and predator all come together, so...
- [Candice exhaling] Yes.

Just slowly, make sure we
don't got any crocs hiding out.

[Joe] This tributary is clear.

- Clear enough to see the bottom.
- [Candice] Yeah, clearish.

- [Joe chuckling]
- Just no crocodile.

- [Joe] Okay, I'm gonna...
- This is our home! Give me a high five.

- Big ten. Big ten.
- Boom!

- All right, so...
- All right, we're... We're... I wanna go explore,

- I don't know, what do you wanna do first?
- [Joe] Ah, well,

- I'm startin' to see the, uh, the dropping of the sun, here.
- [Candice] Yes.

[Joe] I think there's
our boma, right there.

There's a whole
acacia back behind it.

Right? And then,
all we have to do

- is secure there's a door.
- [Candice] Is just make a door.

- Yeah, it'll keep us safe. I like it.
- [Joe] Yeah.

Awesome.

We're gonna try to use this spot,
'cause the sun's setting on us quickly.

All right, smackety-smack-smack,

- it's busy time.
- All right, let's get after it.

[straining]

- [Joe] Well, it's no Zambeezy, but it looks to be easy.
- [laughing]

- Here we go with the jokes, that was pretty good.
- [Joe] Yeah.

It's pretty epic.

We stumbled upon, like, a nearly perfect
boma already constructed by nature.

What we're gonna do is clear out the
growth that's coming up the middle here.

And then, what we're gonna do is actually
create an addition to this wonderful structure.

And put some acacia, that's gonna be on
the rocks outside, to keep ourselves safe,

and that's where we're
gonna have our fire.

Create a big heat wall that's
gonna keep us really warm tonight.

[straining]

Ooh.

[Joe] Nice haul a rocks, there.

[Candice] Yeah,
gettin' my workout in.

- [Joe] You're the rock star.
- [laughing]

[Joe] The acacia spikes
keeps the animals away.

[singing] Just don't
get me in the ba*ls.

I don't know if this is true or not,
but I'm gonna start spreading it,

that acacia is known
as the devil's Lego.

So, if you haven't heard
that before, you just did now.

Try and get me now, leopard!

[Candice] I think it's
gonna start getting dark.

- I'm gonna go get the firewood.
- [Joe] That's a good idea.

[Candice] I'm nervous for all the nocturnal
predators that are gonna be out here.

The fire would give us everything
we need as far as protection.

[baboons shrieking]

- Hey, Joe?
- Yo.

[Candice] We have
baboons downstream.

- [Joe] Baboon! There's three.
- There's three of 'em.

[Joe] This is a very wild situation.
These things can be dangerous animals.

It's about to get very real.

It's makin' me a little nervous,

we don't have our fire
started, I'm gonna be honest.

[baboons shrieking]

Oh, sh**t. Six, eight...

[Joe] Oh, that's a baboon.
That was a baboon.

[Candice] Everywhere that
you look there's baboons.

We have about 20 baboons.

I am a little
nervous about that.

Come!

[Joe softly] There are
hundreds of baboons right here,

and it's too dangerous.

[Candice] I'm a little nervous.

If I don't make fire, I think
it's gonna be a problem.

It's very scary.

sh**t! Don't go out on me!

[baboons shrieking]

[Candice] Oh, sh**t.

[Joe] Look at all of 'em.

They're hundreds of
baboons through here.

[Candice] Come on.

[Joe] That is so dangerous.

Joe! Whoo! We have fire.

[Joe] Yeah! Good job.

[Candice] I think it will
keep the baboons away.

It's the best
feeling in the world.

[shouting] Get out of my home!

[Joe speaking]

[Joe shouting] Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

I don't need ya in
my neighborhood.

...And they quickly retreated,

which is great because I didn't
want to have to hear them all night.

I think out here,
fire is essential.

It's not just
warmth, it's safety.

Ooh, that's bubblin'.

- We are gonna dine on boiling water...
- [Candice] Oh, boiling water.

...pathogen free.

This was a solid day.

[Candice] To have shelter, fire
and water all in day one, kickin' butt.

[whispering] Oh, that is good.

- [Candice] It's good, right?
- That is so refreshing.

[Candice speaking]

- [laughing]
- [Joe] Ah, you have no idea...

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] I mean, I gotta tell
ya, that'll be so badass.

[leaves rustling]

[Candice speaking]

[growling]

[Joe speaking]

[Candice whispering]

[Joe] No?

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] I know, it's
dark out there.

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] Yeah.

- [Candice] What is outside of our shelter?
- I don't know.

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] Oh, no.

[Candice] I can't see anything.

- It's gone, whatever it was.
- [Joe] I hope, yeah.

[grunting]

[Candice whispering]

[Joe chuckling] I know.

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] Sleep is essential to
proper cognitive function,

and we got basically, net zero.

[Candice] Think I'm
gonna work on my bed.

- [Joe] Yeah, you wanna go get tall grass?
- Yeah.

All right.

- [Joe] I'll just cut, and then you have some cordage to wrap?
- Yeah.

- [Joe] Again, high grass, so head on a swivel.
- Yes, please.

[Joe] Take as much grass bedding as
you think you need, and then quadruple it.

- [Candice laughing]
- That's my line.

- [Candice] Thank you.
- Oh, yeah.

- I'm gettin' tired, Joe.
- Are you?

Yeah.

You know, they talk
about water and food,

and all these, like, days
and essentials, so that, uh...

I don't... I don't know
what the number is

for when you slip into complete
madness for not having sleep, but...

[Candice chuckling] 30
minutes a night's not gonna do it.

[Joe] No, it's not.

[breathing heavily] Okay.

- Okay.
- Not bad.

- Yeah, it takes... It takes a little...
- It's actually

- pretty comfortable.
- Takes a little getting used to, but yeah.

[Joe] So, what's
our next major deal?

Tomorrow morning, right at sunrise
I really just wanna, like, sit water.

- Huh?
- Just for like an hour, maybe.

- Sit what?
- Sit water.

- Sip?
- Sit.

- Sit water.
- Sit water.

- And so, explain to me.
- Sit.

- Sit water is when you just build a blind...
- Oh.

- ...somewhere right next to water.
- That's a cool term.

- Yeah, that's...
- That's a cool term.

- I've never heard that term.
- It's called sit water, yeah.

So, then you just literally sit, and wait
for the animals to come in and get water,

and get 'em.

- You know what I like to do?
- What?

Sit couch.

[Candice] I can't wait to get out
and hunt. I need some real food.

[Joe] If you don't get a
k*ll tomorrow, that's okay.

[Candice] That's
so sweet, thank you.

But I am certain that if one gets within
striking distance, uh, it's goin' in our bellies.

It's different when
you go out for sport,

'cause you know when you
come home you're still gonna eat.

Whereas, when you go out
'cause your life depends on it.

It's makin' me a little
nervous. It's a lotta pressure.

I slept better,
but I'm exhausted.

Keeping your fire
up, it's just non-stop.

Good luck.

[Candice] I wanna go downstream just
because we haven't walked through there.

So, there's no
scent, um, as of yet.

[birds singing]

[Candice] Hopefully,
I can be the provider.

I know he's counting on me for food, so I
just wanna make sure I don't let him down.

[birds singing]

[Joe humming] Mmm-mmm, yeah.

People think hunter-gatherer
means hunter-man, gatherer-woman,

but she definitely... Definitely
destroyed my [bleep] stereotypes...

of women, which
is good, I need that.

When you've spent an
entire career in the military,

everybody needs a healthy dose of realizing
you don't know jack and/or diddly about...

anybody based on their
external appearance.

[snorting]

[Candice whispering]

[snorting]

[barking]

[barking]

[Candice whispering]

[leaves rustling]

[Candice whispering]

I missed a bush
buck, which sucks.

I'm disappointed to
let my partner down.

I know he was counting on me.

[Joe] Don't worry about it.

We're still learning
this environment.

I know a big k*ll would
totally lift both our spirits,

but, uh, we have quite
a road ahead of us.

- I slaved over a hot campfire for that delicacy.
- I know.

[Joe] Dude, I'm, like, super stoked
for you. I hope you get that buck.

[Candice speaking]

- [Joe] Have you ever fasted before?
- Yeah.

- Have you?
- [Joe] Yeah.

[Candice] Yeah.

[Joe speaking]

[Candice] Mmm-hmm.

[Joe speaking]

You know, tomorrow is day four,

It's a psychological wall that
I see in previous challenges.

Did you ever notice day four?

[Candice speaking]

Nah, it's when our
body goes into ketosis,

and it squeezes all the things
the kidneys have filtered in.

So, we get a nice boost of
whatever is sittin' in there,

and it's not always good things.

People get emotional around
that time, and people get like...

You know, people, like, moms
get really lonely for their kids again?

- [Candice] [bleep]
- That's it!

So, we gotta get ahead a that
curve, and be, like, all right day four.

- Let's watch each other.
- [Candice speaking]

- Okay, okay.
- [Joe] Yeah, it's... It's gonna be both of us.

- Yep.
- [Candice] Well, I'm glad you told me that.

[baboons shrieking]

[Joe speaking softly]

[Candice whispering]

- It's not your fault, yeah.
- [Candice whispering]

We didn't get much sleep at all.

You know, an hour or two every
night for sleep is not gonna do it.

I'm just happy that the night's over,
and we can only go up from here,

hopefully.

See it crossing?

He's right in the middle of
the river, crossing to the right.

- See his brown body?
- [Joe] Yeah, I see.

It's extremely far, but
we need some protein.

[sniffling and exhaling]

[Joe] There she is.

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] You okay?

[Candice speaking]

[Joe] Don't do it. Don't
go down that road.

I've maybe only had five hours of
sleep the entire time that I've been here.

I'm sleep deprived.

Feeling weak, emotionally weak.

[Joe] I told you that
this... This is the hurdle.

I told you your kidneys are
[bleep] squeezin' right now,

and they're lettin'
out all kinds a [bleep].

You know you can finish this.

I knew today was gonna be tough.

So, I'm hoping that I can convince
her to stay a few more days,

and that she can get to
where this becomes normal.

Can you give me one more day?

You know, just
do one more night.

[Candice speaking]

[grunting]

[Candice whispering]

[bellowing]

[grunting]

[Candice whispering]

[growling]

[Joe] Hmm?

[Candice speaking]

[Joe speaking]

[Candice speaking]

[Joe speaking]

[Candice speaking]

[lion grunting]

[Candice speaking]

I can't do this.

- [Joe] I know you can do it.
- I've been trying.

I tried to just push through, and
be happy, and be strong for him,

but last night was
really my breaking point.

I don't know, I... I wanna
tap out and go home.

Please don't. I'm in a
little bit a shock right now.

I don't wanna do this alone.

Man, that's [bleep].

- Sorry.
- [Joe] It's okay.

I know you're gonna finish
the challenge, I know you are.

[Kat] Think about the
reason you came here.

You're this tough, badass chick,

and everyday people are
saying "You can't do that."

"There's no way you can hunt, there's no
way you can do this," and you're doing it.

We know how much
you're capable of.

And we've seen a sliver of it,
which almost makes it worse,

because we know that there's
so much more inside you.

I... I... I wanna tap.

- You just wanna go.
- [Joe] I'm askin' for once, please.

- [Candice] I don't want to.
- [Joe] Please, one day.

It's enough. I just
wanna go home.

[Kat] Okay.

[mouthing] Okay.

All right.

- So, kick a*s. Go!
- I will.

The hardest part for me
is gonna be leaving him,

And I... I don't
wanna leave him.

I know it's gonna be a struggle
for him to stay here by himself.

It sucks.

I mean, that's it.
It sucks. I dunno.

She's [bleep] tough. She's
tougher than this, I know it.

[Candice] I wanted to come
out here and show everybody

that I am the badass that
my dad raised me to be.

But there's predators
hunting you 24 hours a day,

you hear stuff all night long when you're
trying to sleep, you gotta maintain your fire.

You know, without sleep my
mind's not functioning right,

my body's not functioning
right... Thank you.

...so I just... I think
it's best if I go home.

[narrator] Although
skilled as a hunter,

the African nights proved
to be too much for Candice.

Her PSR drops
from a 6.6 to a 5.6.

[exhaling] [bleep]!

[sobbing]

[crying] It seemed
so outta nowhere.

This is what ketosis
looks like. I told her that.

When your body is
just trying to flood you

with all the things that are,
like, stuck in your system.

[sobbing]

[Joe speaking softly]

Some of the friends that I've made in
w*r are some of the best friends I have.

And that's what I
counted... I don't...

They're very separate, this
and w*r, but you bond hard.

Like, I trained really [bleep]
hard, and I know I can do it.

I know I can do it with a
partner, I know I can do it alone.

Heat retention's gonna become
a very important part of my night.

Trying to create
a smaller space.

I know that the man
I'll be at 21 after...

suffering through this...

will be the man I wanna be.

[farting]

[leaves rustling]

[branches breaking]

[elephants grunting]

[elephants grunting]

I'm not in charge of the
sun rising and setting.

The days on the
calendar are gonna go by.

What I do with that time while here,
that's what's gonna make the difference.

I was gone for almost a year in
Afghanistan. That was really dark time...

but I worked through it.

There's a saying we have in
the military about deployments,

you know, the days are
long, and the weeks are fast.

To me, survival is
about staying busy.

Getting action paralysis is
something that, you know,

I'm trained in the
military not to do.

Like, you have to do something.
You have to do something.

But without someone there to kinda
bounce energy off or bounce ideas off of,

it... It becomes difficult
just for me to assess.

What's most important
for me to survive.

I wanna be alive
at the end a this.

If I don't have that
fire going at night,

you know, the animals come
a-knocking if you're not burning.

So, I decided to start working
off of a three "W" concept.

That is, wood...

water...

and what's next.

And what are my larger goals?

Give me a second
to get some breaths.

Every time I stand up... You
know, it's a bit of a head rush, so...

What's next? A meal.

[snorting]

I've done fasting, but I've never
gone seven days without food.

Aw [bleep], man!

I really want those warthogs.

It's hard, man. All I gotta do
is keep strivin' and survivin'.

[softly] This is first of
hopefully many blind hunts.

[softly] I'm up on
a giant termite hill.

[softly] There's about five trails that
junction right around this termite hill,

[softly] so, I'm just
gonna sit patiently.

This is where I
saw Candice sitting,

so I'm just monkey
see, monkey do.

Now, we play the waiting game.

The animals here
are really finely tuned.

You know, they're used to
being hunted by lions, so the ones

that have survived this far are...
They're skittish, they're super skittish.

Today, I'll mud up a little bit.

To cover yourself in mud
tampers down my scent,

which is really
important right now.

The blind is solid
coverage, but, you know,

I can give myself away
just from my odors.

I'm always tryin' to get
an advantage out here.

So, doin' the old school military
camo with the darks on the high spots,

with the lights
in the low spots.

[bleep] just don't
stand up so fast, man.

I am not feelin'
lucky right now.

I've seen the animals walking back and
forth here. I know that they're active here.

Gotta stop beatin' myself up.

I'm here alone, it's harder.

This is about survival, and I drank
enough water, and I kept myself warm.

There's no other challenge requirements,
other than can you stay in it?

Can your will stay in this?

There's a bush buck.

[Joe] Careful, it gets
really rocky up here.

[Candice] Ouch! My feet hurt.

[Joe] I have a solution
that might help us.

I had this idea to try
and make some stilts...

- [Candice] Wow!
- ...to get you off the ground,

so you're not steppin'
on all this stuff.

[Candice chuckling] Oh, okay.

- So now, the idea... Step on that.
- St... St... Step right there.

- And then, uh, try and take...
- Thank you. I really appreciate this.

[Joe] So, If it's...

[Candice] He makes me
this stilt that is larger than me,

And probably weighs 20 pounds.

I'm tryin' to, like, tiptoe and make
this thing work to make him feel good

because it was just
the sweetest gesture.

- [Joe] Is it workin'?
- [chuckling] I mean, this is much better,

but I think I'm just gonna hold it,
'cause it's making me go extremely slow.

- [Joe] That's okay.
- [chuckling] But I'm grateful.

[Joe] There's a bush buck.

A water buck came in
about 200 yards in front a me.

Too far to sh**t with an arrow.

The wind was kickin' around,

and they picked up my scent when
they got about 25 feet before me,

and scattered and ran.

That sucks.

All these things are against us,
and these animals are super skittish.

I haven't had a
meal for 16 days,

but I keep givin' it my
best effort each day,

and that's all I can do is just
keep tryin' and... And do my best.

Everyone has a plan in a fight
until you get punched in the face,

and this place is a
punch in the face.

This is becoming an
endurance competition,

and not even of survival skills,

and, you know, body fat, and stuff
like that, just my mental fortitude.

Just stay focused, stay on task,

And stay completing what's
important to stay competing.

All right, got water, got wood.

I am literally just livin'
off of my fat right now.

[grunting]

Oh, that [bleep] lion's close.

[shouting] Roar!

Shut up.

People are tryin' to sleep.

My last sunrise here.

I really wanna get moving, and
get some distance under my belt.

There's lots a cloud cover,
There's lots a cloud cover,

but things can change here,
and the sun can heat up real quick.

I'm exhausted.

I haven't eaten for three weeks.

I'm kind of worried that
I'm gonna run outta energy,

and have to just kinda
hobble through this.

But, uh, I am gonna
complete this challenge.

I have a feeling this
fire played a crucial role

in my being able
to walk outta here.

I coulda been lion
dinner last night.

Lookin' at my map, I'm
roughly here at this bend.

And then, this is
where I needed to go,

So I'm gonna follow the
river until I gotta go inland.

Heard the lion
over here last night,

but there's no saying he
didn't quietly move over there.

So, I gotta keep my eyes
and my wits about me.

[narrator] To make it
to his extraction point,

Joe must hike four miles
through established lion territory,

before finally turning uphill for a one
mile climb out of the Luangwa Valley.

Acacia forests, littered
with piercing thorns

and thick debris conceal
additional threats, like puff adders,

Which are responsible for the
most snakebite fatalities in Africa.

[Joe] Okay,
walkin' outta Africa.

[singing] Up in the
mornin' with the risin' sun,

[singing] gonna walk all
day, 'til the walkin's done.

I'm seein' some big antelope style
prints, like water buck, wild koodoo.

With animal tracks
here and scat,

it's quite possible this is a space
the lion likes to hang out, too.

And he's top a the food
chain, so it makes sense.

So, I gotta really, really
keep my... My head about me.

Got some sleep last night,

but, you know, I feel like the morning
energy window is just dwindling.

I can already feel the
exhaustion, heavy breathing.

Holy moly, gettin' light-headed!

Well, gettin' off the river,
and headin' into the tree line.

If you wanna get outta
the Luangwa Valley,

you gotta go up, that's
the point a the valley.

Come on, Joe, focus.

You can do this, you've
climbed a thousand hills.

My energy is waning.
I'm really, really hungry...

[exhaling] Come on.

...but being in the military, you
have to accomplish a mission.

I really just wanna
get this done.

[straining]

[bleep], man.

Thorn right in the [bleep] foot!

No more thorns
in my feet, please.

This has been a long
journey of a lot of emotions,

and it would be nice
to wrap it up by now.

[loudly] Yes!

[shouting] Oh, yes!

[shouting] Fo sho!
This has gotta be a road.

Oh!

I have never wanted a sport utility
vehicle to pop out of nowhere ever before.

Zebra patterned,
just how I like it!

Come on, baby!

Come on down!

[straining]

[shouting] Whoo!

And this is how
you ride in style.

I'm proud, I'm very
proud of myself.

I mean, 16 days solo is no joke.

It's a phenomenal feeling to have
completed something so arduous.

To learn that you
can push yourself.

You can learn, and you can
grow, and you can learn on the fly,

[chuckling] and it's
pretty incredible right now.

I set this as a goal.
I achieved this goal.

You know, I didn't get
lucky with the big score,

but not a day went by
where I just laid in the boma.

You know, I always did
somethin' on my task list.

It was the lynchpin that held
together the completion of my 21 days.

[narrator] Over the course of


His PSR rises from 6.7 to 7.8.

There's no taking it back.

No one can ever take away the
fact that I walked outta here on day 21.

That's how you do it!
That's Zambian style!

Does anybody have
a bag a Cheetos?

I feel like I earned a
bag a Cheetos, at least.