Original subtitles

[ bird chirping ]

[ thunder rumbles ]

don: Straight out of the northeast.

Just came out of the northeast out of nowhere.

It's like a cold blanket

of pea soup is pulling right over us,

covering up all the blue out there.

[bleep] damn it.

[ thunder crashes ]

please stop, rain. Please stop.

[ breathing heavily ]

[ shivering ]

[bleep] die. Oh, this is how you

[ howls ] narrator: One man...

One woman, exposed and alone...

So scary.

At nature's mercy for 21 days.

Aah!

There's a bear outside my shelter.

Narrator: With no food... I'm so cold.

...No water... I'm hurting real bad.

...No clothes... There's an alligator down here.

...Do they have the skill... Fire!

...And the will to survive

[ groans ]

"naked and afraid?"

god help us all.

-- Captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

even if I was on foot out here with a rifle,

I'd still be nervous.

I'm don. I'm from ellensburg, washington.

And I'm training to be a mountain guide.

I'm terrified.

Like, this is completely different

from anything I've been to.

But I've done every single preparation I can.

-What you doing? -Studying plants.

I'm trying to memorize the shapes.

I'm doing a lot of book practice.

I was reading about these worms from the mopane tree.

Apparently, they're really nutritious

and people love eating them.

Ah!

Trying to understand an environment like this

without ever having been there

is like trying to do open heart surgery

after reading a book with no pictures

about open heart surgery.

Narrator: Don's extensive research

will help him survive in the african wild.

But with a lack of hands-on experience,

he'll need to depend on a seasoned partner

to make it the entire 21 days.

His primitive survival rating, or psr, has been set at 6.0.

I'm not scared yet.

Uh, but I am also not naked.

My name is holly. I'm 23.

I'm from fayetteville, north carolina.

And I work at a rock climbing gym.

I grew up in alaska.

I've been practicing survival skills my whole life.

I know how to do a hand drill.

I've done friction fires.

I've done snares and know how to trap.

Narrator: Holly brings years of training and physical toughness

into this challenge.

But it remains to be seen if her survival experience

in the alaskan wilderness will help her succeed

on the sweltering landscape of namibia.

She begins with a psr of 6.2.

Holly: I'm pretty confident in the challenge

and being able to last 21 days.

The only thing I'm super concerned about

is getting sun burned early off

and then being in pain, I guess, for the whole time.

Don: I'm gonna be up front with you guys.

I think we should all be naked with strangers more often.

I'm hoping this person's some special forces badass

because I sure as hell ain't.

Hey.

You must be my partner.

I always wanted to be naked on camera.

I just didn't expect it to happen this way.

Not this way? I'm don.

I'm holly. It's nice to meet you.

Holly, nice to meet you.

All right. You ready to do this challenge?

Yeah. I know, right?

We got some gear over here.

Naked... Naked.

And afraid?

Hopefully lower -- lower on that end.

Yeah.

Okay. Let's make like a tree and get the [bleep] out of here.

All right. Let's go.

Narrator: This is namibia's caprivi strip.

Holly and don are entering the heart

of africa's animal kingdom,

one of the most dangerous areas on the continent

where hungry lions lurk in the grasslands

and hostile gibbons populate the trees up above.

Here in the wettest region of namibia,

broiling heat during the day

is quickly replaced by frigid temperatures

and violent storms at night.

Even though don and holly

will benefit from an abundance of water,

they will be living in the deadly domain

of the four-ton hippopotamus,

which kills more than 2,000 humans per year.

I was doing my research, and it turns out

the herbivores of africa

are more likely to kill you than a predator.

Holly: My first impression of don is really good.

He seems really smart, really book smart.

There's no cover out here.

When that wind stops blowing,

it's like an oven.

Oh, I see water. Really?

Yeah. No way.

Holy -- yay!

I kind of want to get some water

from the water lilies down there.

You can actually drink it straight from the bulb,

and it's water.

I've heard that, too.

But I kind of doubt it's truth.

Don: Lilly straw is supposed to purify some of the water.

I think it's just a myth that does that.

What do you think?

I don't think it'll work at all to filter out germs, but...

Mm, mmm, mm.

-Tastes clean. -Yeah.

We'll find out in like a day or two

if I have the [bleep] or not.

Yeah.

Sun is going down.

Don: We're running out of time right now.

It doesn't look super good for shelter making.

I just don't know what is possible by nightfall.

I read that at nighttime, the breeze picks up.

And it gets really cold.

I can't hardly see anything is the problem. [ chuckles ]

oh!

Super fire.

Yeah.

Um, we didn't get the shelter done tonight

as you can see.

Definitely feel crappy right now.

Tell me what you feel.

Having a nauseous tummy and a horrible headache

is not my idea of fun right now.

Well, my bad.

[ growling ]

uh, not feeling super well right now.

[ retching, coughing ]

thrown up a few times.

So I think I'm super dehydrated.

And now I'm trying to drink tons of water.

And it's not working out very well

'cause I'm just gonna throw it back up.

[ retching, coughing ]

yeah, this is tough as [bleep]

and I feel like poop.

You want to get to chores and get a proper bed made?

Doesn't matter.

Night one definitely sucked.

I'm definitely not feeling well today, for sure.

Can you walk right now?

I'm dizzy.

I'm gonna go chop some more grass,

and I'll come get you.

Okay.

Don: I feel that I just work better as a team.

And I'm just one little human out here in the middle of africa

with all of these animals.

Just going lone wolf, some people can manage that.

But it's not me.

Hm, I just walked into a marula tree.

Narrator: The marula tree is indigenous

to the miombo woodlands of southern and western africa.

Giraffes, elephants, and baboons all consume the sugary fruit,

which contains eight times the vitamin-c found in oranges.

Holy crap.

Kind of mucusy-looking, but...

Mmm.

Sorry, baboons, I'm eating all your foods.

Mm. [ laughs ]

have you guys tried these?

These are so good.

I think holly will change her mind when she tries these.

She won't be down on herself.

Time to do damage control and try to keep her in the game.

There you are.

Okay. Give me your hand and don't open your eyes.

Taste this.

Ew.

What?!

That's amazing. Hold on. Let me show you another one.

How about a more sour one. This is a sweet one.

I do want to talk about options with you?

What do you mean now?

Like, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna probably drop out.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't. No, no. Don't.

Why are you gonna drop out? Why? Why?

I just -- I'm not emotionally up to it.

I know you need a partner,

but I feel like you can do all this on your --

I can't do it on my own.

I think you can.

I can't. You got this up here.

No.

I think you can.

I can't do it.

I really want holly to stay.

I think I wouldn't make it if it was just me.

That'd be pretty awful.

I don't think I have it in me.

I think I'm done.

No, no, no.

And I think you got it.

No, I don't got it.

You got all this -- I really don't got it.

No, I don't.

Please don't go.

I can't help it. No!

Please don't go.

How much longer will you stay?

I don't got it.

Don: I'm just feeling really bummed right now.

On paper, yeah, I can probably do it,

but I don't know.

Narrator: Holly, physically and mentally defeated,

informs the production crew

she is quitting on day two of the challenge.

I guess this is it.

I felt like I invested everything,

like, we were gonna make it work no matter what.

Yeah. Damn.

You got this. All right.

Holly: I think it's just like the emotional aspect of it

takes a lot out of you, I guess.

This challenge is not what I expected it to be.

Of course, I feel like I abandoned him.

He definitely was counting on me to be a strong person,

a strong teammate.

[ insects chirping ]

don: My morale is pretty low.

I just committed everything.

And I'm just so crushed that all the effort I felt

emotionally to try to convince her

and try to be a good teammate just fell apart.

I don't know how things are gonna turn out next.

[ birds chirping ]

good morning, africa.

Spent the first long night alone in the night.

Some lions were calling in the distance.

Baboons are a lot closer.

And hippos are a good distance closer, too.

I heard them splashing and snorting around.

All right. Well, I have some news for you.

Since holly quit on basically day two,

we're gonna get a new partner out here.

We're gonna just restart.

Okay. Okay?

Okay.

And then y'all will start a new 21-day challenge.

I'm really excited for a second chance.

You know, cross my fingers that the partner

I'm gonna get is really strong

and just really into getting through this as I am.

Whoo! Second rodeo!

Ow!

My name is amber.

I'm 32 years old, and I'm a u.S. Army instructor.

This is my second time around.

On my last experience in the everglades,

I started to get really sick around day nine.

Oh.

Anytime I had any type of food in me,

I would start regurgitating it severely.

It just got worse and worse.

And on day 16, it got so bad that I couldn't stand up.

If I was to even stay there the rest of the 21 days,

I probably would have died.

My last adventure and journey was traumatic.

So this is my time to completely redeem myself.

I'm ex-soldier, military.

I've been to iraq. I've been shot at. I shot back.

My partner, as long as he's motivated,

I know he has the will to go, we're great.

But if he's lazy,

I will be busting his ass with a stick.

Narrator: Amber's no-nonsense leadership

should be invaluable to the lesser-experienced don.

Her psr remains the same

from when she tapped out in the everglades at 7.4.

Oh, you must be my partner. You're naked.

Hi. Hi.

This is becoming a bit of a habit for us, I guess.

Amber. Amber?

Don. Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you. I'm excited to rock this. Are you?

Yeah, definitely. All right. Double whammy, then.

Whoo! We got to do this.

I'm excited, so...

Don: I'm just really glad to have a partner

who's, like, just came right out of the truck

super excited.

To get a second chance with a partner

who's already experienced,

it's amazing.

Cool. All right. Let's get going.

Okay, yeah, the little poach starts over here.

[ elephant trumpets ]

this is it.

Ah.

Here's the old fire ring.

Here's remnants of the old bed.

Watch out, that's the puke tree.

Holly puked like three or four times on that tree right there.

So don't step in that area.

Amber: Wow.

It's holly's old place.

So I would like to start something new with you.

So that way, we can have good juju,

good luck over there.

Definitely, okay. I understand.

Let's go. I haven't explored this way.

Let's keep going this way,

and see if we can find a campsite.

All right. Let's go farther.

The last partner, I actually slept next to

on the last challenge the continent in abject terror,

which is actually very typical of my normal dating life.

[ laughs ]

let's figure out where we want to set up camp.

I mean, we should start there.

We could use that tree right there

and make a shelter out of it.

Don: Yeah, I think amber's really strong.

I love her outgoing attitude.

She's a go-getter.

Drag that big one back.

-This one? -Amber?

Drag that big log back.

[ sighs ]

I'm gonna have to take a break for a second.

This log's kind of heavy.

That was funny,

"just go ahead and carry that log back."

it's a [bleep] log, not a stick.

I noticed I do a little bit more heavy work than him,

but that's fine.

Amber, you're about to enjoy the wonder that is the marula.

Ooh, that's good.

And your partner said, "no," the last one?

She licked it, and she said, "no."

oh, my god.

If we could have a couple a day, we'd be great.

Yeah, two a day at least. I'd prefer five a day.

I'm all about eating fruits and stuff,

but my partner is absolutely obsessed

with the marulas, which is good if that's what

his body's craving, that's fine, but they're very acidy.

So it's kind of starting to hurt my stomach, not gonna lie.

So it's pretty late in the night.

My stomach and my abdomen are rolling right now.

So I'm really hoping this is gonna be gone

because it hurts so bad.

[ sighs ]

hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

[bleep] right now. But I'm feeling pretty

ooh, what's that?

Is that you?

-That's me. Don't look at it -[bleep]

amber: That was an emergency situation.

Okay, I'll just... When you get back, you can...

I'll cover it. Bury that.

It just sucks because it's so easy

to transfer that between person to person, you know?

So you just got to be careful.

I cannot transfer dysentery to you.

No, no, no, like, fecal-oral transfer.

No, yeah, that's right. That's how you get it.

I know. I washed my hands.

I know, but leaving it around camp,

the flies can bring it around, too.

We got to be really careful about that.

The game and both of us are out, then that's the end of that.

He can kiss my [bleep] ass.

It's not about him being rude about it.

But he has to give me, like, a spiel.

Instead of saying, "why don't you just bury it?"

and I was gonna do that today,

but last night, my stomach was so shaky.

I'm feeling it again now. I'm kind of like, "eh."

and that's how you bury [bleep]

don: Forecast, I saw it before I hopped off the truck,

was that in five days from insertion day,

there would be cloudy weather moving in, chance of rain.

The only thing I'm worried about with the rain

is that, at nighttime, the breeze kicks up

and the rain comes down.

It's 60 degrees with rain and wetted out insulation,

that's a good risk of hypothermia.

That'd probably disqualify us immediately.

We'd have to tap out.

[ thunder crashes ]

last night was very cold, very windy, very rainy.

It's better just to be safe than sorry.

We got to do the palm mission.

I was, like, getting to the edge of hypothermia, you know?

I start shivering and that'd be probably...

I would rather stay here and collect wood

while you did that.

No, come on, come with me. We can both do the wood together.

No. And we can both

do the palms together.

No, you can go by yourself and collect the palms.

He wants to just keep pushing me.

And I'm like, "if I don't sit down and let my body heal,

I'm gonna be totally [bleep]"

well, listen to me...

I'm telling you right now, I'm not going.

It's not gonna be enough. We're gonna do it again.

And we're gonna die because of it.

She's probably getting a little bit irritated.

I'm asking maybe more than she's capable of doing.

But really, what I'm asking is for the both of us.

I really want your support on this.

I really just think that we need a stronger shelter.

I'm not giving you support.

I am gonna tell you to go get palms,

and I will get the wood.

Amber: My partner is very book smart.

He is incredibly knowledgeable,

which is a huge benefit out here.

But here's the real deal.

Until you come out here and experience it,

all that knowledge means nothing.

Trying to be mr. Know-it-all all the time

just makes me want to...

Amber: Look at the monkeys in our backyard.

Hello.

Don: As we're leaving camp,

we notice, like, a troupe of monkeys,

little, uh... What are they? Gibbons.

Amber: Do they attack?

Don: They'll probably bite the [bleep] out of you.

And they're just howling, making noise,

giving us the weird monkey treatment,

shaking their tails around.

Don't be picky. Just cut them.

Narrator: After chopping palm leaves for more than hour

to reinforce their shelter,

don and amber head back to camp.

Oh, look at the monkey, he's in our --

he's in our shelter, you little [bleep]

[bleep] he took the fruit!

I knew it!

I told you they'd steal our [bleep]

[bleep] damn it. Ow. Bastards!

Damn it. What do we do?

We didn't have any hardly food to begin with.

[ gasps ]

got straight-up robbed in africa.

[bleep]

they don't even eat the whole thing.

They just bite into it.

[ sighs ]

that's a huge loss right there.

I'm not gonna lie. I've never really gone hungry...

Mm. Doing this.

I'm just letting you know

that I don't know how I'm gonna react

because I've never been hungry before.

Marulas and their nuts have been our entire source of food.

There hasn't been any other.

We're gonna die.

Probably.

We're gonna [bleep] die.

Amber: Moving forward for me, the biggest concern is food.

So right now, I'm gonna teach don

how to make a spear.

You know why that's so hard and tough?

It's a thornwood.

Oh.

Don: She's done this challenge before.

And she's actually an actual veteran of the army.

Maybe she can teach me a thing or two.

Where's the pointy end? The point end's the big end?

The big end.

You want to go in the swamp?

Amber: There's definitely an abundance of food out here,

and we just have to find it.

He's the funniest spearfisher I've ever seen in my life.

He'll get it, just gonna take some time.

Don't hold your spear like a baby.

Come on.

I see one. I see one. Okay. I'm gonna try to get him.

Little tilapia.

Just go for it.

Don't hesitate.

Damn. He's too fast. I missed completely.

[ elephant trumpets ]

I have implants.

And when I laid on my boob last night,

I felt liquid come out of it.

Maybe it's just nothing.

Don't think about it too much.

It hurts.

Don: She just got over her sickness,

and now she popped her breast implant.

I have a really good, high pain tolerance.

So I can handle it, but it just hurts.

If you leave me, I don't know

what the [bleep] I'm gonna do.

I'm not gonna leave you here.

Amber: I know this kind of thing can be dangerous.

But I failed on my last challenge.

So I want to redeem myself.

I'm gonna try to stick it out as long as I can.

Damn, the rain's back in.

[ thunder rumbles ]

to help fortify our camp?

Yeah.

Let's do this.

Oh. Okay.

We got to get, like --

well, I'm gonna carry what I can,

and I'm heading back. Yeah.

So...

Bummer.

Don: Yeah, I'm just really hoping

amber would put out some more work.

She's acting really nonchalant about camp chores.

Come hand this one, put it under my arm.

Since you're only carrying one.

Can you crouch and get it?

Well, the more I bend, it pinches my boob.

He's like, "there you go, pick up your two bundles.

And I'm gonna carry one."

I wish we would've got more workload done.

Everything's gone wrong.

You can carry two now. We'll switch.

How many pounds do they make you ruck in the army?

My body weight, pretty much, and I'm used to it.

Okay. Cool. Just checking.

See, this is what I mean. You're a man, okay?

So you should be carrying the bigger load.

I've done a lot more in my life than you.

I've worked harder than you. I know you worked very hard.

You didn't boil the water. I didn't see combat --

I didn't see combat like you did.

I'm not saying that.

I didn't fight for my country.

And I never had to face challenges like you did.

You just need to stop acting like a kid.

I appreciate you don't call me a kid

and keep throwing your experience around.

I appreciate your experience. But every time --

you've been acting like a kid. What do you want me to call you?

You've been acting like a young child.

He is a hot mess at times.

See, I can see what point you're trying get across

without name calling.

You immediately went to the name calling.

And that kind of hurt, you know?

When you act like a kid, you should be called out on it.

See, look? When did I act like a kid, though?

Oh, dear jesus.

We can go through the conversations, honey,

come on.

Okay. Yeah, yeah. You have all this stuff over me.

But, you know, that negativity is really getting to me.

I was in so much pain today. My boob hurts so bad.

It's, like, pulsating.

And it feels like every time I even touch it,

it feels like a nerve's going through it.

I can handle pain. But this is a bit much.

It's like it's torn.

And it hurts bad.

And I'm in pain, and I can't do anything about it.

Yeah.

Every time I get really hurt, I get irritable, too, I guess.

Yeah. I know. I'm sorry.

I shouldn't have called you those names.

I was just so mad.

Mm-hmm.

Going into day nine. Um, severe pain on my boob.

I don't know how much longer I can take this, dude.

When I was in the everglades and I got really sick,

it was because I had all those parasites in me.

And I didn't know it

I should've listened to my intuition.

And because of me not listening to my intuition,

I almost caused myself to die.

I feel like I'm ready to figure out

what's going on with my boob and just be done with this pain.

I can't stop thinking about the pain.

It hurts.

I'm rocking right now my boob.

I think I'm gonna go.

Don: It doesn't even benefit me

to say anything mean-spirited right now.

I just want her to help me

best they can and get ready for the long haul.

I love you, okay?

Amber: This is completely destroying my redemption.

But I'm gonna be that person

with a hole in her boob that had to leave.

I'm super sad that I'm not able

to end this journey with him on day 21.

But I'd rather take care of myself now

than wait it out and just get worse.

This is something I can't tolerate anymore.

I can't be alone.

I mean, it was already crushing enough

to have holly leave me immediately.

So I have two women leaving me.

And I feel so like, what's wrong with me?

[ thunder rumbles ]

it's not much of a reinforcement.

Last night, the fire was dying down.

And it wasn't enough heat.

And it was raining so hard that we had to use body heat.

You know, it was the only way to stay warm between the two of us.

There's no way that one person could get through that

without going into hypothermia

without clothing and a limited bed system

and an open-face shelter.

When that wind and rain comes, that'll be the true test for me.

[ thunder crashes ]

last night, I just had to think and reassess why I was out here.

The biggest obstacles up to this point

have been trying to keep naked women in africa.

It has so far not worked.

I realize that I'm here because I wanted to learn

primitive skills firsthand.

And I wanted to explore and test myself.

And I still want to do that.

Four and a half hours till dark.

Damn.

I'm worried about the nighttime.

Body just knows that it's alone and it's more dangerous.

Quite late.

It's much harder to maintain this fire alone.

But the fire's the only thing that lets the hippos

and other creatures in the night

know that I'm human and not just some

lone, lost baboon who's sitting and waiting

to be eaten or pushed away out of this territory.

[ chopping ]

[ monkeys squeaking ]

I still have a tiny percentage of body fat left.

But I'm weakened.

Prime objective is to get at it and get some food.

I think I can make a fish trap.

I've only read about this in boy scout manuals.

This is my amateur attempt translating a textbook image

into a real-life concept.

I think it'll work really well.

This is a good-looking trap.

It took a lot of energy to make that fish trap.

I got to make it pay off.

[ insects chirping ]

a hippo is walking by my camp.

I hear it going [ snorts ]

I only got like an hour or two of sleep.

I had to tend the fire.

I don't want a hippo to wander into my camp

and stomp me to death while I'm sleeping.

Narrator: It's been over two weeks

since don first arrived in namibia.

So far, he's been surviving solely

on the sugars and nuts in marula fruits,

which have drastically dwindled in number.

His need for animal protein is greater than ever.

Don: I never had to face hunger.

I've never had to face starvation.

This is kind of a big thing to take on.

Now the moment of truth.

Ah, nothing.

Nothing's down there.

Oh.

I'm really close.

Not close enough.

Today, I can count my own ribs,

top of my sternum.

Oh, crap.

If my luck doesn't change, then I will just end up

barely skidding by or not making it at all.

Something building out there coming this way.

[ birds chirping ]

[ thunder rumbles ]

straight out of the northeast,

just came out of the northeast out of nowhere.

It's like a blanket,

a cold blanket of pea soup is pulling right over us,

covering up all the blue out there.

[bleep] damn it.

[ thunder crashes ]

I need to get the fire going as fast possible.

Without an extra person in there to have body heat,

that's the end of the game.

This is hypothermia conditions.

Keep my bedding as dry as possible.

This is my only insulation source.

Even now, as I'm being dripped on

and sprayed upon by the rain,

I still can't stop thinking about food.

Protection of the shelter, fire's big.

Could be bigger.

Hopefully this rain will be short.

The shelter is pretty much compromised.

And I'm being soaked.

And I think this is how it ends.

It's just over.

I can't keep up body heat on my own.

Ah.

Shelter's leaking all over me.

Ah, this is how you [bleep] die!

[ breathing heavily ]

calm down. Calm down.

[ shivering ]

[ breathing heavily, shivering ]

me having to leave for my boob

is just, like, it's really sad.

It really is 'cause, um, I know I can do it.

Freak accidents happen.

And this is what you get.

You get a big, bruised boob, and it's swollen.

And, um, it's embarrassing.

And now I'm gonna have to go have surgery, probably.

I hope don's doing good out there.

I really do. He, uh, he's got a good spirit.

[ don breathing heavily ]

narrator: Although don has been on his own

for the past nine days, freezing rain threatens

to send him into life-threatening hypothermia

three days shy of completing the challenge.

Don: Last night, just burned so much energy being cold,

definitely the hardest night by far.

I don't feel like doing anything.

But I got to eat.

Oh, light-headed.

Nothing.

All right.

I haven't had any luck spearfishing.

But it's my only chance if I want to survive.

Got blue sky breaking out.

The weather is just so related to emotion here,

more so than other places, I feel.

I'm too awestruck about how gorgeous this is.

The water is crystal clear.

The sky is just so stark.

Oh, I'm gonna -- I'm crying.

I just want to cry. It's too pretty.

This is why I'm alive.

It's to see places that haven't had

their beauty and rawness

and amazingness bled away.

This reminds me why,

you know, I'm so glad to be alive.

Every one of my senses is alert.

You know, the mud between my toes,

the cool water, the current,

the trees, and this huge sky.

This is why I'm gonna stay afterwards,

even after 21 days.

Gonna stay here for 21 more.

Oh.

Yeah, two fish!

Whoo!

Thankful for that.

Would you look at that, two beautiful fish.

Highs and lows out here.

Near-death experience at night

and now crazy existential moment in the water.

I never know what to expect.

I need every ounce of nutrition I can get out of these two fish.

The desired caramelization going here.

Ah.

I'm just gonna eat them whole, bones and all.

Mm, look at that flaky flesh.

This is the first meat I've had since I've been here.

So happy I could cry.

Mm.

[ elephant trumpets ]

this is my last day.

Walk out of here and get a proper meal

and begin rebuilding my body.

Somewhere over here, there's these small pools.

So I need to cross these pools directly

or go the long way around.

I'm just gonna go straight through

even though there could be dangerous animals in the water.

Got to stay alert for the crocs and hippos.

This mud's really thick.

But it's either through here

or I have to go all the way around.

Ah. All the cuts burn so much.

And the grass is rubbing on them.

I'm definitely nervous walking through this tall grass.

I know the animals are down here in the daytime to stay cool.

And I can't see anything.

[ growling ]

got to get the hell out of here.

Got to move.

Whoo!

Oh, crap. He's not gonna see me.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!

I'm heading to cincinnati.

I've read a lot of books about survival skills.

Coming out to africa and having to practice them in real life

was like trying to go through survival school

with no instructor

and the environment just crushing in all around.

Yeah, I can't learn that in a book.

Whoo!

I didn't expect two partners to leave me.

Nothing I could've done that could've prepared me for that.

I spent a total of 23 days out here,

but I was able to do it alone.

I pushed myself to the edge of what I could do

physically and mentally.

An opportunity like this is the reason I'm alive.

Whoo!

Another 21 days, bring it on, africa.

Narrator: Even though don spent 23 punishing days in namibia,

he only lost a total of 14 pounds.

Enduring the final two weeks on his own,

don showed remarkable resilience as he battled loneliness

and persevered in the face of life-threatening hypothermia.

As a result, his psr rises from 6.0 to 7.5,

demonstrating how a resourceful, self-motivated attitude

can get a relatively inexperienced survivalist

through the hardships of being "naked and afraid."

don: Be confident and get through

even the hardest situation.