And sure teams read clues but in many case they don't read the entire thing. According to all the producers of the various versions of the race, everything you need to know is in the clue. Everything. And if you read the clue completely, your chances of winning the race are much better than those who don't. Which is what happened to Tyler and Laura. They were first out in Amsterdam and were told to head to Peru. I won't go into details cause I didn't take notes. They were also told that flights were reserved for them. So they headed to the travel agent and took those flights. And went and got drunk for Laura's birthday. And that's fine, nothing like a good party while racing. Gord and I support that kind of thing on a regular basis.
But another rule of the race, don't know the number, is that you never just accept the flight reserved by the producers as the best flight. If you've watched the race long enough, you know that. It was also noted on the clue, but Tyler and Laura didn't read that part. So Hayley and Blair, followed by Jenny and Jelani got an earlier flight, leaving the other three teams 12 hours behind. That's normally a huge lead but as the first two teams arrive in Peru and shoot some fireworks, they are told to come back at 7. So the 12 hour lead is gone but 7 is still an hour before the second plane lands. Don't forget customs, etc.
But the first two teams get stuck in a couple of bad cabs and only Team JJ figure it out and turn around. Doc & Nurse take a long time and Blair breaks another rule (although an informal one) of not listening to his partner, especially a partner like Hayley. Loads of folks get on Hayley for being naggy and she can be at times. But you'd think that Blair would actually listen to her once and awhile especially considering the she's been right more times than he has. Still, the shoeshine dude is found and off to the sugar farm where it's a Roadblock: one team member has to cut do a row of sugar cane with a machete. I know Gord thinks I should do this and yeah, I can handle it. He's much bigger than me but in truth, I'm the more physical one. Still, we're both from Edmonton, known for machetes as noted on the twitter hashtag #machetesomethingYEG. And there are obvious jokes made about Hayley having a machete. Like we didn't see that coming.
Chop, chop, machete away. Second group of teams arrive. Tyler and Laura make the same mistake thinking the shoeshine place is far away, even though they've found the Speed-bump. Again, rule about not reading the clue about getting a morning shine. So they grab a cab. But before they do, they tell the Hairdressers what they are going to do. So the Hairdressers follow them. Which is another major breakage of an Amazing Race rule: never listen to or follow another team. Especially if you haven't completely read the clue and checked the area yourself. Matt and Ashley have done this before, especially in Africa when they were leading the race, heading in the proper direction but freaked out when another team stopped for some reason. Mike and Rochelle do the right things, don't get caught up in other teams mayhem and find the shoeshine place. Off to cut cane.
Cane is cut by the first teams then it's off to someplace else (again, no notes) for a fitbit commercial. After the commercial, it's a Detour: Mama and Papa. In Mama, you have to travel around a village and get a bunch of ingredients for Mama so she can make her moonshine. When she does, you'll get a drink. In Papa, you have to travel to a potato farm, sort a pile of potatoes into four heavy bags, take them back into town and then bring them to a vendor...who will... nevermind Now it's time for a Gord and Wayne rule: in any Detour, always choose the task that ends with a drink. Always.
First two teams split on the Detour. JJ takes Papa, Doc and Nurse take Mama. And with Blair's fine command of the Spanish language, they are quickly done. And finish first winning a whole pile a fitbit stuff plus a phone and laptop. I'll take the laptop please cause one reason why it has taken me a long time to post this thing, besides my wife's birthday and swimming with the kid today, is that the other members of my family use my laptop, the good one, to watch Netflix or do homework. I sure could use a new one for myself.
Anyway, JJ sweat with the potatoes, screw up once but then finish, coming in second. Truckstop and Tyler and Laura do the fitbit stuff at the same time and both decide to take on Mama. But bad cab again for T and L takes them to Papa. They decide to do it anyway, but the ease of Mama allows Truckstop to finish ahead of them. While T and L are sorting potatoes, Matt and Ashley arrive after their Speed bump and fitbit bit. They are looking for Mama and freaking out cause they can't find it. They see T and L and Tyler quietly says: "You're at the potato market." And that's all he needed to say. Cause the Hairdressers will listen and follow another team before thinking for themselves. And because of that, they mistakenly head to Papa and they are done. Phil eliminates them at the mat.
Next week, still in South America it seems. Four teams left. Only one more to be eliminated and it's finale time. As per usual in this season, I really have no favs, don't care who wins or who gets eliminated. I'm really hoping Amazing Race Canada, which is racing as we speak, is a lot better than this season.