Amazing Race Fodder

Amazing Race: On the Road to Marrakech...

Things get ugly this week on TAR. Teams left, as usual, in the order that they arrived. Upon opening the clue, they find they must fly over 3000 miles to Quarzazate, Morocco. (Or as one reader corrected, Ouarzazate) Once there they must drive 4 miles to the Kasbah district and find a shop called Antiquettes Du Sud. They will then enter and choose one of four good luck charms, one of which will bring good luck at the Pit Stop. Dustin & Kandice seem to be thrilled, because one of them did a paper on Morocco in college. I am not sure how, in their little world, this will help them accomplish the tasks, but I don't think either of them went to college on an academic scholarship.

Once at the airport, them teams search for the quickest flight to Casablanca. I wonder if it is like the movie, but then again I have never seen the movie, so I suppose I wouldn't know. Dustin & Kandice manage to get to the airport ahead of Tyler & James, probably due to James' fabulous map reading skills. They book themselves on a flight through Milan, Italy. They will have a tight connection, but are unconcerned about making the second flight. Tyler & James arrive to find that the seats on that flight are all sold out. Tyler & James and Rob & Kimberly book flights through Paris to Casablanca. They do find out that there is only one flight going to Morocco from Casablanca, so all they will at least be caught up with Dustin & Kandice at that point. When Lyn & Karlyn get to the airport, they get tickets on the same flight with Rob & Kimberly, but they were not able to get the early connecting flight to Casablanca. Lyn & Karlyn make good use of their 3-hour layover by purchasing a map of Morocco and familiarizing themselves with the area. Smart move.

Dustin & Kandice upon late arrival in Milan, miss their connecting flight to Casablanca. Tee Hee. They are quite upset with the ticketing agent that will not get them on the flight, but this is one time they cannot bat their eyelashes through a problem. Ha Ha. Well, they do manage to get a flight out that gets them to the airport in time to catch the flight to Morocco. This was very disheartening to the other groups, as they were hoping to have a big edge.

Dustin & Kandice manage to get out of the airport first and hire a taxi to take them to their destination. Tyler, James, Rob & Kimberly see them trying to sneak off and follow them and their taxi. Lyn & Karlyn see them all taking off and remark, "Well, from the map that we looked at, we think we need to go the other way". Funny enough, they are correct. The taxi driver does not know where he is going and stops a bit down the road to ask for directions. So, they abandon the taxi driver and try to find it on their own. Lyn & Karlyn find the antique shop first and got their clue.

This clue sends the teams on a drive 6 miles to Atlas Studios, a famous studio back lot that has filmed movies like Cleopatra and Gladiator (one of the finest movies ever). They must then find the clue box that holds their next task. But wait; there is a YIELD ahead. A Yield is a big sign that is put up in the middle of the race path. Each team must check in here and say whether or not they choose to yield another team. If they choose to yield a team, they take out the team's picture and stick it on the yield sign, along with a small picture of themselves, so that their treachery is known. A team that is yielded is stuck waiting in that exact spot for a timer to run out before they can go on. Lyn & Karlyn actually arrive first at the Studio, but they find out that the studio does not open until the morning. The other three teams find people to drive with them and get them to the antique shop and then to the studio.

It is a foot race once the gates open to the clue box. Dustin & Kandice choose to yield Lyn & Karlyn. Which is what Lyn & Karlyn would have done had they arrived first, so I am not certain why they were so surprised. I can understand why they were upset, but not why they were surprised. This clue was ROAD BLOCK. One team member had to dress up in gladiator garb and race on horse-drawn chariots to gather two flags that matched the color of the plumes on their horse. Needless to say, Kimberly was not the one to do this roadblock, as she had such a fantastic time on the horse in Mongolia. James is the only one that misses a flag on the first try. They also showed a quite impressive clip of a chariot breaking up and people flying. At first you are lead to believe it may be one of the teams wiping out, but no, it was just movie magic. When Lyn & Karlyn are finally able to go on, they do quite well, and are only behind by a short time.

The new clue they receive sends them 22 miles to the town of Idelssan and must locate the Cafe Pirgola, where they will find their next clue. Rob & Kimberly kind of team up with Dustin & Kandice to get to Idelssan. Tyler & James hire a cab to follow and relish passing the other two teams. Who naturally, follow them. Rob & Kimberly, who have had the worst luck with cars this whole race, are still having trouble. They get a flat tire on the way to Idelssan. Rob is unable to get the jack out of the car and have to wait for a Good Samaritan to help them out. Which, of course, puts them in last place. At the cafe, the clue they find is a DETOUR.

In this DETOUR, teams must choose between Throw It or Grind It. In Throw It, teams must travel 4 miles to a pottery shop where they must use a local wheel to throw two pots. In Grind It, teams travel 4 miles to the North Africa Horse and Olive Farm. Here they must choose an olive mill, use it to grind 77 pounds of olives and then fill it into pressing sleeves. In each option, there are only three workstations, so it is first come, first served. Tyler & James want to throw pots until they realize that throwing pots means making pots and not throwing them at things. Duh! Lyn & Karlyn arrive third and choose Grind it as Karlyn was an art major and knows that throwing pottery is not easy. They however, arrive at the horse and olive farm along side with Tyler & James. Yes, being able to read a map and follow directions can really help you in TAR. Dustin & Kandice pass right by their turn and go miles out of their way. So much so, that Rob & Kimberly arrive at the horse and olive farm ahead of them. Remember there are only 3 workstations at each task; so they must now wait for another team to finish before they can even begin. Remember Karma, everyone?

Tyler & James finish the task first and get the next clue. This clue sends them teams to the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. IT is 25 miles down the famed Road to Marrakech, which had a marked boulder on it to tell them where to turn and get to a nomadic Berber camp where they will find Phil. Tyler & James and Lyn & Karlyn manage to get away first and get on the road. The order of arrival is as follows:

1. Tyler & James
2. Lyn & Karlyn
3. Rob & Kimberly
4. Dustin & Kandice

I was so excited! Dustin & Kandice out of the race finally BUT NO! It happens to be a non-elimination round. WHAT?!?!? I couldn't believe it. The only good news is that they are now marked for elimination and must come in first or suffer a 30 minute penalty. Well, we shall see next week what happens. BTW, Tyler & James had the lucky good luck charm and won some fancy sprint phone that can watch live television and get email and bake cakes and rescue kittens from trees or something like that with a full free one year contract. It will be interesting to see what happens next week.

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Posted by Wendy on November 27, 2006 8:37 AM
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