Jaunted

Last week, Dave and Mary avoided elimination thanks to the Cho brothers giving them the Fast Forward. This week, they're the first to leave the outskirts of Kuwait City for Mauritius, which Mary says, "I don't even know where it is." DuKa doesn't know where it is either, but no worries: We do! The teams come up with plenty of ways to pronounce the name of the country--Mori-ishy-us, More-a-tius, Meridias, More-reach-us--but it's Tyler and James who get bonus points this week for nailing it: More-ish-us.

Before hitting the airport, Mary opines on her alliance:. "We're the six pack: We're not losers," she says. We're disappointed she didn't go with Karma Chameleons. At any rate, sounds like things are getting awfully formal for this team of six, which only means things will come crashing down tragically. In fact, James realizes that "The Six Pack alliance is built on a house of cards." The deck, however eager we are to see it fall apart, was stacked in the Six Pack's favor at the airport: Team Kentucky wouldn't help Rob and Kimberly but Lyn and Karlyn got plenty of their assistance. DuKa find a ticket window, but since they don't want to fly through London like everyone else, they head out, saying about the ticket agents "These guys are not the brightest bulbs." The much-hyped fight between DuKa and Lyn and Karlyn turns out to be disappointing, but the verbal brawl did stick with DuKa: "They were in your grill!" Do we really have to say "Oh, snap!" again?

Despite DuKa's insistence that they're the smartest blondes in the airport, everyone gets on the same flight for Mauritius. Once in Africa, Tyler and James are the first team to find their car. They find a model ship that leads them to Grand Baie, where they'll have to swim out to a schooner. While Tyler and James stop to get directions, the other teams move in front of them and hit the water. (On the way: awesome gratuitous shot of DuKa's bikini'd bottoms!) No one has much trouble with the swim, but Mary does say, "This ain't much fun." Funny, because before she jumped in Mary was saying tossing your kids into water is a "rite of passage" where she's from. How nice.

On board the schooner, teams get their clue which sends them back across Mauritius to Case Noyale where they get their next clue. It's for this week's detour: Salt or Sea. On the way, Tyler and James have trouble: "We didn't really go the wrong way, we just missed our turn." Rob has a problem getting his car into gear and inexplicably gets super-upset at Kimberly. He actually jumps out of the driver's seat, holding up traffic on the narrow road. "You don't calm me down, you rev me up," Rob tells Kimberly, after she gets in his face about not knowing how to drive a stick shift. Do Rob and Kimberly need a little time for themselves? You know, just so they can "release some stress?" While they're fighting, DuKa manage to crash into a bus, another tidbit we were looking forward to this week. Turns out, it's little more than a fender-bender and the Barbies don't get hauled off by local g-men. Damn.

The Salt or Sea detour involves either a search through a salt pile for a clue or a treasure hunt for a sail on a nearby island. Most teams pick the needle-in-a-haystack salt search, which, as it turns out, is a futile effort. Haven't these teams ever watched Amazing Race? Never choose the needle-in-a-haystack type searches. Even though the Six Pack teams don't want to split up to go try the other challenge, only Dave and Mary elect to stay at the salt pile, digging. Dave's mining genes die hard, and he "ain't a quitter." But, turns out he is because after more digging Mary convinces him to go sail hunting. They're the last team to get to the island, and remain in the back of the pack as teams drive to the pit stop at Chateau bel Ombre.

Unlike in the past few weeks, there isn't much trouble getting to the checkpoint. Team Six Pack leapfrog each other on the way, putting their usually-strong alliance to the test. At the Chateau, it's Dave and Mary who show up last. But wait! Phil comes with the "non-elimination," and they'll compete next week. It's the second time Team Kentucky has been "marked for elimination."

Best Bit of American Diplomacy:
Alabama and DuKa getting into it in front of a ticket agent. And James drinking the DuKa Kool Aid to get in on the sass, too, saying "You're trippin'...it's like idiot banter!".

The Scoreboard:
DuKa comes in first and win a pair of motorscooters. Phil let's them know the scooters have room for two, which leads DuKa to invite Phil on a date. The Kiwi heartthrob has nothing to say but "umm." Way to go with the safe, wife-friendly answer, P, thought it looked like a bit of reality editing, didn't it? Wonder what Phil really said. We know these reality hosts have a habit of hooking up with the contestants. As the last team to arrive at the pit stop, Dave and Mary are spared elimination (again!) but have to come in first next week or face a 30-minute penalty. The Cho brothers are under big-time scrutiny, from James, Tyler and us for their Six Pack intentions--playing nice or setting themselves up for an easy win? Godwin says, "A bitter and cynical person might think we're keeping them around because they're quote-unquote weaker than the other teams." Oh. Well, paint us bitter and cynical, boys!

Coming Next Week:
We find out if Mary can predict the future after saying "We've got an alliance to go to the final three." And one team gets forced to work with DuKa in the race's first Intersection.

Where: Mauritius

Tags: Amazing-Race-10 / Amazing Race Maps / Mauritius

by pbb