A past contestant returns to the show and along with her partner attempts to survive the jungles of Guyana.
Amanda Kaye (aka AK) is back! When we last met this butt-kicking mom, she was getting her fanny chewed on by Amazonian mosquitoes in Season 2, Episode 1. I’ve always hoped that she’d get a second chance. She seemed pretty strong, but the relentless mosquitoes that she and her partner Tyler faced would have made any mere mortal tap out. Now she gets to seek her revenge.
AK
Age: 32 years old
Occupation: Stay-at-home mom
Current Residence: Alabama
Relationship Status: Married
Survival skills: Hunting, fire-starting, and if you remember from her last experience, she’s trained in Native American survival techniques.
I’m glad that Amanda is wearing pink toenail polish again.
Her PSR starts at 4.3 out of 10.0, which is what her PSR was when she tapped out in the Peruvian Amazon.
Jason
Age: 31 years old
Occupation: Screenwriter/Actor
Current Residence: Denver, CO
Relationship Status: Single
Survival Skills: Primitive skills, fire, fishing, trapping, making shelter
Jason is hoping to work with Mother Nature and says, “Quitting isn’t an option for me.”
He’s competing in memory of his Grandfather, who taught his about outdoorsy stuff.
Jason’s initial Primitive Survival Rating (PSR): 6.2 out of 10.0
AK has wanted to return to Naked and Afraid ever since she tapped out. Jason remembers that AK tapped out when “bugs were biting her vagina,” and hopes that she’s not a quitter this time.
Survival Item
The producers give the survivalists a flint and steel.
Jason brings a Machete.
AK brought Potassium Permanganate to help purify water. I hope that her glass bottle doesn’t break!
Some of the fun things they’ll find in Guyana include:
Caiman
Piranha
Freshwater stingrays
Although it’s the end of rainy season, heavy storms and flash floods are still possible.
A canopy dense with poisonous trees. (Are these the same toxic trees that last week, almost forced Brandon to tap out?)
Day 1
Jason and AK traverse slippery, thorn-covered forests to get to the river’s edge. Even though alongside a river was where AK and her “Va-Jay-Jay” got eaten by bugs.
“Mark my words, or kiss my ass” challenges AK to the cameras.
That night, AK’s eyes are burning. Since the narrator has just told us that Potassium Manganite can be harmful to skin and eyes, us geniuses put 2 and 2 together and blame the witches brew.
Day 2
The next morning, AK’s eyes still irritate her and she can barely open them. Perhaps heavily-bearded Jesus, Jason could conjure up a miracle and make the blind to see.
Jason heads downriver to hunt for stingrays.
AK just sits in their shelter with her eyes shut.
Jason prances around in the river and stops on a few stingrays but doesn’t catch any.
That night, she may be nearly blind, but AK has a grass skirt and a cute top.
Day 3
AK suggests that she and Jason build a shelter in a higher location. Jason thinks it’s a waste of energy. Jason doesn’t want to be in the canopy where there are a lot more creepy-crawlies.
Jason wants protein and again hunts in the water for food.
AK heads up in to the canopy and starts building shelter #2 on her own.
That night, she’s itchy all over her body. Perhaps one of the poisonous trees gave her a rash.
Day 4
AK wakes up to a horrible rash all over her body. All she can do is scratch herself. Jason hopes that she doesn’t quit.
And in fast-mo, we watch AK scratch herself all night long.
Day 5
The nest morning, her rash isn’t quite as itchy, so she mentally regroups and helps her partner. Jason catches a few crabs which proves to be meager sustenance.
Days 6-10
Jason continues to try and catch stingrays, and continues to fail.
AJ continues to build a shelter in the canopy.
Night 12
They are awoken by the loud sounds of caiman croaking or something loud and scary. it may have been one of those crazy giant guinea-pig-things that scurry through the jungle. IN his rush to peer into the darkness, Jason steps on a hot coal.
Day 13
Jason’s burn is a pretty wicked blister. He can’t barely walk on it, but he hobbles out to the river in search of an elusive stingray.
AK keeps building the upper shelter
Day 14
Jason guesses that’s hunted for stingrays 20 days, and hasn’t caught anything major.
“My partner doesn’t want to hunt with me, but she sure likes to eat.”
That night, their frustration comes to a head.
Jason yells, “Get your oily ass away from me!”
Day 15
AK and Jason aren’t talking to each other. The next morning they both recognize that hunger and fatigue are making them each crazy and cranky.
They go hunting together and AK spots a dark spot in the water. It’s a gigantic stingray! Jason spears it and AK lends a stabbing hand. Soon, the giant ray flops on the shore and Jason dispatches it with a few stabs in it’s general head area.
No one knows how to butcher a stingray, so Jason hacks away at the giant, flat, beast. AK builds a pretty awesome Grill and smoking rack and they cook the meat for a few hours to kill any pathogens and feast like kings.
Turns out that Stingray tastes pretty good. Not hamburger good, but better than poop.
Day 16
Overnight, the duo was able to smoke 25 pounds of stingray meat. That’s easily enough to last them until the end of the challenge.
Day 19
As a seemingly divine gift sent from above, the rainstorm that AK has been prepping for, arrives. Lot or fain, torrential rain. Biblical rain. They flee to the shelter that she’s built in the jungle canopy. IN their rush, they left behind their meat. Say what? I would have been wearing that meat in my bag!
Day 20
They’re still experiencing torrential rainfall and AK and Jason hang out in the upper shelter. Jason is glad that AK kept at it, when he rolled his eyes at her for building it. He humorously dubs the shelter, “a South American bus stop.”
Day 21
The rain has stopped and the water has receded and AK and Jason clamber down from their tree-top shelter to survey the damage. It’s no shock that their old shelter is destroyed and all of their meat is gone. They don’t have a lot of time before their scheduled extraction, so they whip together a raft that they can hold onto for their 5-mile float down the river.
And by “Float” I mean basically move at turtle pace. Although I’m sure a turtle could outpace them on the placid river. It’s amazing how quickly the rushing torrents return to gentle meandering. At points, the river is deep enough to swim and at other times, the water is shallow and they stub their feet on every sharp rock and stick.
After 5 hours of river fun, AK and Jason see a guy smiling and waving on the shore and they hop into the back of his sketchy truck and roll home.
Over the course of 21 days,
Jason only lost 8 lbs and his PSR raised from 6.2 to 7.1 out of 10.
In her second attempt on Naked and Afraid, AK only lost 5 pounds and her PSR skyrocketed from 4.3 to 6.8 out of 10.