The race ran through here (vol.3)

[Cont’d...]

El Nido - this municipality is located in the northernmost tip of the westernmost province of our country (Palawan). From Manila, it takes about an hour to get there by plane. The term “El Nido” comes from the Spanish term meaning “the nest”. Got its name because of the edible nests that are abundant in the area (These nests are actually the main ingredient in Nido soup). This wonderful place was where we left the teams competing for one million dollars in the fifth season of the Amazing Race.

Last time we left them, Chip & Kim, and Brandon & Nicole, were running neck and neck with each other for first and second place. Linda & Karen meanwhile, have gotten a slim lead over Colin & Christie in the battle to avoid elimination owing to their luck in picking the island with the correct Philippine flag.

The two frontrunning teams arrived at Lagen wall at almost the same time, and immediately set off to work. Chip struggled in trying to pull himself up using the ascender. Brandon found it to be easy though as he quickly pulled ahead of Chip. Brandon was like a house on fire, as he did not let up even once on his ascent to the top of the cliff, much to the delight of a waiting Nicole. This was in contrast to Chip, who had a hard time doing this task, blaming it on ‘being tired’. By the time Brandon reached the top, Chip was just about halfway up. And as Brandon was going down back to his partner after being given the clue at the top, Chip, perhaps in a friendly gesture called out “Hi, B-dog”. Seeing Chip struggle heavily, Brandon returned that gesture with a sort of an encouragement by saying “Keep Going Chipper”.

Opening their clue, Brandon & Nicole found out that they had to take a two-person kayak and paddle their way to the other side of the cliff towards the pit stop of this leg of the race (Lagen island).

Chip was still not through with his climb by the time the moms arrived at the cliff, with Karen herself ready to start climbing. At this point, Kim started to wonder where Colin & Christie could be, and kept on looking towards the horizon for any sign of a boat going towards them.

Karen started to climb and like Chip, found the task to be too demanding as she too struggled in pulling herself up. Seeing their partners have a hard time, Linda and Kim were praying that the boat carrying Colin & Christie would not be arriving any moment soon to give their teammates more time to accomplish this roadblock.

By the time Chip completed his climb, Kim spotted Colin & Christie’s boat on the horizon moving speedily towards them. Karen was still a long way from the top and had to rest as she felt she could go on no further.

Brandon and Nicole meanwhile, having completed the roadblock ages ago, were uncontested as they stepped onto the mat in first place, claiming the leg victory. They were greeted with “Mabuhay,” (Our standard greeting),“Welcome to Palawan”. Host Phil Keoghan upon congratulating them, happily informed them that this leg win comes with free trip to sunny Caribbean which they would be able to enjoy after the race.

As Chip was rappelling down with his clue to a waiting Kim, Colin & Christie were getting nearer and nearer to the cliff. Seeing a resting Karen, Colin got excited, saying “She’s resting, I’m gonna pass her”. And sure enough, once Colin was within jumping distance from land, he wasted no time and hurried towards the ascender, pleading with his guides to rush him up. At this time, Christie was egging him on, with her award-deserving (hehehe), “You can do it, Colin. There’s no one else I’d rather be here with right now”.

Chip & Kim quickly took off in a Kayak and paddled their way to a second place finish in the leg, assuring their spot in the three-team sprint to the finish line in the next leg.

The race to avoid elimination was heating up as Colin used his athleticism to his advantage, resting only once and only for a short bit of time as he managed to catch up with Karen. Upon seeing her rival closing out the gap between them, Karen willed herself for one more push to climb to the top, but in the end had to give up due to fatigue, shouting “Linda, I’m sorry” to her partner below. Christie was of course very happy to see her partner reach the top first and go down with their clue.

Colin & Christie were already on their kayak on the way to the mat for a third-place finish by the time Karen reached the top, with Linda shouting “you’re kids are gonna be so proud of you”. Knowing that they were about to be eliminated, they were very sad, but Linda was still keeping her and her teammate’s spirit up, saying that they gave it all, and even told Karen to just relax and not paddle anymore since she was obviously tired from the very hard climb she just went through.

Stepping onto the mat in last place Phil sadly informed the moms that they were eliminated from the race. As Karen was putting the blame on herself, Linda refused to take that saying that she (Linda) wouldn’t even have been able to climb that wall.

And so, three teams remained standing after the twin legs here in the Philippines. They are: Dating couple Brandon & Nicole, Married parents Chip & Kim, and Dating couple Colin & Christie.

[FIN]

P.S. The three remaining teams took the same charter flight out of El Nido to Manila, and from there took the same flight out of the Philippines towards their next destination (Calgary, Canada), meaning they were all again back to square one for the final leg of the race.