Original subtitles

Hello, okay, okay, that's too close.

Back off there, buddy.

That's Archie.

That's about all I got in life -- me and Archie.

I'm not here to impress anybody.

At the end of the night, when I go to sleep, I say,

all I can think of is, did I give my 100%?

I love you, too.

Thank you for the kisses.

Thank you for the kisses.

I am having some breakfast.

I'm doing some last-minute reading.

And it's time to be naked and afraid.

Not afraid, just naked.

♪

[ Birds calling ]

Bulent: It's a really dense jungle.

Everything and anything you can imagine

that might eat you, cut you,

they're there.

Narrator: High in the Sierra Nevada de Santa marta mountain range

near casa loma, Colombia,

a remote rainforest rises off the Caribbean coast.

It is a dense jungle where powerful, big cats

stalk their prey.

And over 300 species of snakes slither

along the jungle floor.

I'm definitely feeling almost like

something's watching me.

Narrator: In these tropical woodlands,

the air is thick with suffocating humidity

and legends of evil spirits roaming the rainforest

protecting the jungle from unwanted visitors.

Cat: Driving up into the mountains,

it's getting a lot steeper.

The terrain's a little bit less forgiving.

It's really getting real.

I definitely consider myself an adrenaline junkie.

And I'm super into mountaineering.

I've climbed some serious freaking peaks,

including mount Kilimanjaro, mount hood,

and south sister.

Yeah, I do crossfit, what about it?

Let's see if I can pull up where I'm going on the map.

Colombia, magdalena region.

Pretty crazy.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to use my skill set

and take this thing head on.

Last year I was arrested for dwi.

It was very out of character for me.

I lost my job, lost my way.

It definitely took a toll on my confidence.

I was looking for something like this,

a chance to find myself again,

and it came at the perfect time.

I'm coming here not to just prove to myself,

but to prove to my family and friends

that I'm still cat and I will succeed.

Most people, when they see roses, they stop and smell 'em.

Me, I got a mission to accomplish.

I don't got time for roses.

I was born in turkey.

When I turned 20, I immigrated to the United States,

joined the United States army.

Now I'm a U.S. customs and border protection officer.

The world that I came from, you either survived

or you died.

Because my parents were poor, we knew

if we went home, there was no food.

That's how the hunting and gathering started.

I'm no hippie.

I can't go to nature and hug trees.

We cut the trees, we burn the trees.

We kill the deer, we eat the deer.

Because survival is not a game.

All my life, I chased death.

My mission is to come here to cheat the death,

face the death, and conquer it.

It starts now.

Ugh!

- We got to get to water. - Almost there.

[ Bear growls ]

- Hey! - Hey!

Man: I got a bad feeling about this.

- [ Shrieks ] - Whoo!

Man #2: Holy hell.

[ Snake hisses ]

- We got this. - Yeah!

Get me out!

-- Captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

captions paid for by discovery communications

just another day in the woods.

I'm hoping that my partner will see me as an equal

and not try to belittle me.

I'm definitely open to making a life-long friend,

but hope leads to disappointment,

so I'm not holding my breath.

Narrator: Bulent brings a military mind-set

to the challenge.

But his gruff social skills could be a lot

for a partner to handle.

He starts with a psr of 6.7.

Cat's climbing experience will help her

in the rough mountain terrain.

And after being knocked off her game,

her determination to succeed in this challenge

could be her strongest asset.

She begins with a psr of 6.5.

Howdy, partner.

Hi, I'm cat.

I'm bulent, nice to meet you.

Sorry. What was that? Bulent.

Bulent, nice to meet you.

I'm glad to see one of us is packing.

Thank you.

We're gonna finish it, all the way.

Hell yeah. Awesome.

I guess we grab our bag.

Narrator: Cat and bulent have been given a fire starter.

Awesome.

And they each brought a personal item.

A mosquito net and a machete.

We got a map.

Alright, so where are we going?

Okay, we are here in the mountains.

We probably cross the river,

where there's the fruit trees.

Right, yeah, and it looks like there's gonna be

some food for us down here.

Some fish, shrimp.

So I'd say making camp somewhere around here.

Alright, we got a plan.

Yeah. So let's get it going.

Awesome. Awesome.

Go, lead the way.

- Ladies first. - Ladies first.

Narrator: Cat and bulent are entering big-cat territory.

Dominated by the deadly jaguar,

whose muscular legs make it one of the fastest

on the planet.

And whose excellent night vision gives it

a great advantage while hunting under the cover of darkness.

[ Birds chirping ]

Oh.

Yeah, most of the trails that I hike on

aren't this dense.

It's just hard to see.

Yeah.

I remember doing some research.

I came across myths and legends about spirits

live in this jungle, and they protect the jungle

from anything that would potentially harm it...

Which is a little bit spooky.

I don't believe in that crap.

♪

[ Animal noises ]

[Bleep]

You okay? An ant got me.

Oh, lord, they're everywhere.

Narrator: The jungle floor is crawling with leaf cutter ants,

also known as flesh razors because of the way

they can effortlessly cut through human skin.

As many ants there is,

you would think there's no forest left.

Yeah.

Look, they come in millions.

♪

Cat: Very hot out.

I am sweating.

I'm dripping.

Super -- super humid.

Oh, wow.

You can see the water now.

Oh, yes, water.

- Holy [bleep] - wow.

Bulent: Oh.

What do you think?

Well, it looks like the only option, really,

is to jump.

You can't go that way.

You can't go up there either.

Way too steep.

Can't go backwards.

We definitely have to get down there.

That's, I think, our best option.

Because there's no way in hell

we're building shelter on this cliff.

This is our safest path, believe it or not.

Oh, yeah.

It sounds deep.

Yep, yep, a nice big, long jump.

Alright, one, two, three.

Whoo!

♪

That was awesome.

Cat: Bul and I are definitely both alphas.

Neither one of us had a doubt jumping off that cliff,

and that makes me pumped.

Alright, so it looks like we've got a nice place

for shelter.

We will be protected from the rain

with all the trees.

Yeah, we know we have this for a water source.

We can't drink it

until we find something to boil it in.

I think we're going to have to get something built

before it starts to get dark.

Definitely.

Timber!

Boom.

Timber!

Aw, that was nice.

My partner is awesome.

Very hard-working girl.

Good partner to have.

♪

Cat: We're building a frame-type shelter

because we're trying to build a shelter quickly.

And they're super fast.

We got to go, go, go.

I'm already feeling the funny alkaline taste in my mouth.

Dehydration is coming.

I would use that probably as, like, the middle frame.

Yeah.

Humidity will make you sweat without cooling you off.

Oh, nice.

This is when you overheat.

Timber.

We got beautiful bamboo.

Wow.

Yeah.

Oh.

Narrator: Intense activity in the heat

can affect core body temperature.

It can rise by as much as three degrees fahrenheit

and lead to heat exhaustion.

Good job, man.

That's definitely going to be able to cover us.

Sweet. I hope so.

♪

Tonight is gonna be long and hard.

It's definitely going to be rough.

We're both feeling really dehydrated.

It's getting late, and we don't have time to make

something to boil water in.

I've been starting fires since before Jesus,

and I can start a fire in 30 seconds.

That's a signal from gods that we are on the right path.

♪

♪

[ Both groaning ]

The humidity is just intense.

It was way past 90 degrees today

and at least 80% humidity.

[ Groans ]

Oh, god.

How you doin', dude?

I'm having stomach cramps.

[ Groaning ]

[Bleep]

[ Coughs ]

Oh, my god.

Oh, no! [ Retching ]

♪

[ Groaning ]

[Bleep]

♪

Cat: Last night bulent got very ill.

He started vomiting.

It could be the heat, the humidity is super high.

He's probably super dehydrated, so water should be

our number-one priority right now.

I'll see if I can get some water,

but if we drink the river water without purifying it,

we could get sick and I don't want to do that.

[ Birds chirping ]

Bulent: Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

Dehydration is serious.

The stomach cramps are unreal.

Oh.

♪

Cat: I've got this piece of bamboo

we can carry water in to boil in it.

Nicely done.

We can try this.

See these notches? As long as there's no break.

Holes in between, it's good.

Yeah, we should be able to fill this up with water.

I put some rocks under the coal.

Once we get the hole done, I think they'll be hot enough

to drop it in the water, it'll boil it,

and we can drink it right away.

That's what we want to see. Nice.

Nicely done.

Good teamwork, good teamwork.

Whoo!

Hopefully that holds.

Bulent: The coals of the fire are about 2,000, 3,000 degrees.

You put the rocks in there,

heat exchange will boil the water in there and sanitize it.

The first sip of the water.

♪

Ahh, it's so good.

It actually tastes like dirt, but it tastes so good.

Dirt never tasted better.

Hopefully this will give me some relief.

♪

♪

[ Owls hooting ]

♪

Ugh! Oh!

Ah, damn it. Ow!

[Bleep]

Ow!

Damn it!

[ Both yelling ]

♪

♪

Seriously, that was a horrible night.

Ants everywhere, biting you nonstop.

We both got... Eaten by ants.

Our feet just look like freaking sausages.

Bulent: My feet are getting swollen.

My feet are getting dead.

Believe it or not, the freaking ants bite through

the mosquito net.

I swear that night was at least three days long.

♪

Cat: How are you feeling?

I'm okay, just slow.

Yeah, slow.

We definitely need to eat.

That will make a huge difference.

I'm gonna walk down the river.

I'm gonna go see if I can find food

or just plants that can help

with skin irritation and bugs.

That's great.

I'll go up the river to see if there's more resources.

[ Animal noises ]

What the [bleep]?

♪

[ Jaguar growling ]

Thorns everywhere.

God, my legs are on fire.

Right now I'm looking for a specific fruit.

The jagua, it helps with skin inflammation

and acts as an antiseptic.

And you can eat it, but it doesn't taste good.

So really what I'm hoping is that I'll find it

so we can treat both mine and bulent's inflamed feet.

That's it, and there's a lot of it.

This is gonna be hard to get to it though

because it's a super tall tree.

I might have to just look at the ground.

Oh, there it is.

Yes, it's exactly what I freaking need.

Now I just need more of it.

No sign of any fruit tree yet.

How could you have this much vegetation

and not one fruit tree?

Alright, let's keep going.

Holy [bleep]

This might be an armadillo hole.

[ Monkeys howling ]

[ Howling continues ]

[Bleep]

What the hell?

[ Howling ]

Ow, ow, ow!

[Bleep] Ants, ow!

Got to get in there. Got to get in there.

You got to get out of here now, now, now!

Ow!

Ow! Ow!

♪

♪

Cat: Any luck?

No.

My lower back is killing me right now.

And the ants up there are the size of cockroaches.

I was eaten to hell.

Everywhere you could imagine, I got bit.

My feet are hurting so much, super swollen,

like super itchy.

Cat: Well, I think this will help.

It's supposed to help with inflammation and stuff,

so we can cut it open, see...

Maybe it will help the swelling in our feet.

Narrator: The juice of the jagua fruit

contains a powerful antioxidant that can

reduce inflammation and pain from bug bites

and decrease the swelling of joints

caused by humid, unsanitary conditions.

Thank you.

Jagua is one of those things where

there's no instant relief.

You kind of rub it on you and see what happens.

Only problem with this is that it turns your skin purple,

so if we cover ourselves with this,

we're gonna look like smurfs tomorrow.

♪

♪

Bulent: My feet are a lot better.

I covered myself in it.

I think it helped with swelling, too,

because my feet aren't nearly as swollen.

It did help, thank you.

I think this works.

Yep.

So I need to get off my feet right now

so they won't go back up swollen.

Yeah, especially after yesterday.

My partner was vigilant enough to find something

that helped a lot.

I was extremely grateful for that.

Day five, feeling okay.

I have to recover from earlier crash.

My feet are better, but my back is hurting.

So the plan is to rest and then go hunting

for some kind of animal we can kill.

[ Thunder rumbling ]

Crap.

What the [bleep]

Really?

[ Raining falling, thunder crashing ]

Oh, lord!

Cat: It's gonna [bleep] suck.

[ Thunder crashes ]

Oh, my god.

Cat: It's raining pretty hard.

Wow, oh, god.

Oh, my god.

What is that?

[ Yelling ]

♪

Cat: What is that?

[ Yelling ]

A huge tree came down.

Bulent: Oh, lord!

It is 3 feet from us, wow.

This came right through our shelter.

And show where I'm at.

Yeah.

Cat: This is the tree right here,

literally right on top of our shelter.

Bulent: Look, it goes straight into the shelter right there.

That land on one of us,

it would have done quite a bit of damage.

Everything's destroyed.

This is a complete loss.

We just need to figure out a plan for our shelter.

Yeah, mother nature don't want us here.

Cat: Everywhere you look, there's dead trees.

So we're going to move to higher ground.

Down the river, 100 feet up.

We need to assess and make sure that

this is even a safe place to stay.

Cat: I think this is a better spot.

This tree is alive.

It doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

We'll make the fire here.

Yeah, I think that'll be good.

I always try to be a step ahead of anything

that's going to come.

But this is one of those things you just can't prepare for.

The only thing you can do is be thankful

that you're still alive.

15 more days, alright.

Cool.

♪

I don't think I have gone this long without food ever.

And now my lower back literally in pain 8 out of 10.

Cat: We got to find something today.

We'll be able to figure something out,

especially if there's two of us.

I don't know how much we'll find on the ground,

but as long as we find the tree...

Yesterday when I was kind of on my trek for food,

I saw some mango trees further up the mountain.

You ready to go, man?

Bulent: Yeah, that climb is gonna be brutal.

Think about the end goal, what we get at the top.

I'm a leader, but also a good leader

always knows when to step back and let somebody else

take the leadership position.

You lead the way, I'll follow.

Okay, sounds good.

♪

Are those bird feathers? Look at that!

Probably he got eaten.

I'm wondering if something killed it and ate it here.

What do you think got it?

It's definitely a big bird.

Look at that.

So it has to be a big cat.

Holy [bleep]

I believe that's where I came down.

Bulent: It's a very dense jungle.

It comes with all kinds of carnivorous animals.

There are pumas, jaguars.

There is way too many of them,

and they're all deadly.

Let me... Not die.

Going up the mountain seems like an easy task,

but when you have the other factors of not eating anything,

your muscles don't have enough sugar

to complete the task that the brain is asking for.

It becomes super challenging.

You can't defend yourself.

That's a bad, bad position to be.

Every step is agony.

Oh, got some mangoes on there.

Oh, yeah.

I see three right here.

Oh, my back.

Bulent is so much in pain.

He's trying his best to help us succeed as a team.

Cat: Nice, got one at least.

Yes, you got two.

Sweet.

Oh [bleep] my back.

Oh, baby, that's a good one.

Man, I'm running out of room in my bag.

Oh.

[ Rustling ]

[ Growling ]

Do you hear that?

Yeah.

♪

We got to get out of here now.

[ Growling ]

♪

[ Sighs ]

This is life-changing right here.

I think we got enough stuff

for at least five, six days.

♪

So good.

Narrator: Mangoes contain over 20 different

vitamins and minerals, and their high sugar content

will give cat and bulent a much needed energy boost.

That's definitely one of the best mangoes I ever had.

It was definitely tiring, but so worth it.

♪

♪

My back is hurting.

The climb was definitely a success,

but I am beat.

It has taken a super toll on my body.

[ Groans ]

My lower back is really bad.

♪

♪

[ Bulent groaning ]

Lower back pain shooting down my legs.

It's getting unbearable.

It's gonna be a miserable night.

♪

Every step is a knife that goes from my lower back

all the way to my toes.

Right now it's just getting by,

trying to survive so not to die.

[ Groans ]

Cat: Yeah, he's looking pretty bad.

He's been complaining about tightness

and just a lot of pain.

It's day 11 right now,

so I don't know if he's gonna be able

to last the rest of the challenge.

[ Moans, groans ]

[ Groaning ]

♪

♪

[ Whimpering ]

[ Sighs ]

He's looking pretty bad.

It's day 11 right now,

so I don't know if he's gonna be able

to last the rest of the challenge.

Narrator: Concerned for bulent's safety,

the producers call in the medics.

[ Groans ]

The doctor will check your back out.

You just say, where do you feel more pain, okay?

Okay.

Yeah, right there.

1 through 10, how much?

10.

[ Groans ]

- Feel pain? - Mm-hmm.

Narrator: The agony in bulent's back is being caused

by a pinched nerve rendering him

helpless and extremely vulnerable

in a dangerous, demanding environment.

[ Bulent groans ]

Narrator: Continuing on his survival challenge

could jeopardize his and his partner's safety.

Bulent: It just shoots down the legs.

I can't do this not with this much pain now,

I don't want to be here.

♪

I can't move.

I need to go home before it gets out of hand.

I'm sorry.

No, no, don't apologize. It's not your fault.

[ Groans ]

I'm sorry, dude, I'm sorry you're hurting so bad.

I wish you weren't.

Thank you.

Bulent: I went to war.

I defended this country in any kind

of law enforcement you can imagine.

[ Groans ]

And this is by far the most difficult thing

that I've done in my life.

Narrator: Bulent's early departure

after only 11 days drops his psr from 6.7 to 6.3.

I feel bad leaving cat alone,

but she's a really hard worker and she'll be good.

She'll be okay.

Cat: Bulent was a good partner.

I'm sad to see him go, but now that he's gone,

it's a big game changer.

Now it's just me. It's just one woman in the jungle.

I've got 10 days left.

I'm gonna tough it out. I'm gonna tough it out.

That's what I'm gonna do.

♪

It's night one of me in the shelter by myself.

This is about the time when the jungle starts to come alive.

[ Insects chirping, animal noises ]

You hear the crickets, the frogs, the birds.

It's just me and the jungle spirits.

You know, if a large cat wanders into my camp,

I'll be here alone.

Hunger is definitely an issue,

so I'm really focusing on food today.

I need to find another food source.

There's shrimp in the rivers here.

They like to kind of hang out in the dry leaves,

so I might see if I can find any in here.

Oh, there's big ones.

They're fast.

[Bleep]

Oh.

God, they're fast.

The shrimp are not super big, but, you know,

if you get enough of them, at least you have something.

I mean, even if it's little -- a little meal, it's a meal.

Stay in there.

I have my shrimp and I have some mango,

so I'll make myself a nice little meal.

So the shrimp are teeny, tiny, but it'll do.

Even though it's small, it's something.

It's a awesome success.

Jungle ceviche.

Pretty good. Thank you, river.

♪

[ Growls softly ]

It'd be great to get some more protein in me,

so I'll see if I can work on a fish trap.

I'm trying to use the current to kind of draw the fish in

and I'm just kind of trying to corral 'em.

Fish gets in there, I'll probably block off the entrance

and hopefully I can just grab it.

Hopefully the river will provide me with some good luck.

[ Thunder rumbling ]

♪

Definitely the hardest part of being out here by yourself

is not being able to talk to anyone.

[ Thunder crashes ]

I'm getting very homesick, very lonely, very hungry.

[ Thunder crashes ]

I'm just lonely.

♪

I'm pretty frustrated right now.

Fish trap, it's just not doing anything,

it's not catching anything.

[ Sighs ]

There's no one word that can describe

what I'm feeling right now.

I'm just tired.

But the reason why I came out here,

it was really for the, um, emotional transformation.

Last year I lost my job, lost my way,

and it kind of threw me off my path.

I definitely saw myself withdraw from my friends and family

and it was really rough on me.

I've been through a lot

and 21 days in the wilderness is really hard,

but it's so important for me

to push through and still come out of it.

♪

[ Insects chirping ]

♪

[ Jaguar growls ]

[ Branches snapping ]

[ Growling continues ]

Hey.

[ Growling continues ]

♪

What [bleep]

Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

There are currently flies flying up my crotch

and there's ants in my ass crack.

It's really not...

Fun.

I am making clothing to protect me from the bugs.

Every time I squat to do anything,

flies, gnats, you name it are crawling up my hoo-ha,

so I developed underwear, it's more like a thong.

It's not the most comfortable.

The problem with this is any sudden movement,

it's gonna break right apart,

but it's definitely more comfortable

than bugs being in your crotch.

It should be naked and itchy, not naked and afraid.

[ Fly buzzing ]

[ Insects chirping ]

♪

[ Jaguar growls ]

What [bleep]

Whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

[ Jaguar snarling ]

Oh, my god, this freaking jungle.

Really, really, really tough night.

Something big came through,

it scared the [bleep] out of me,

but, um, I'm alive

and I'm just ready to go home.

Day 21, it's my last day here, so I want to do a tribute,

not just to the river,

but to all of the plants and animals here.

So thank you to whatever spirits are out there,

whoever's watching me, whoever's listening.

Please look after me, help me through my journey

and I will forever be thankful.

I'm definitely thinking about the treacherous terrain ahead.

It's slippery, wet.

I'm run-down and I'm tired,

and I don't have a partner if I fall or if I lose grip.

Let's see.

Narrator: Cat faces a grueling journey

a mile downstream through the slippery rocky riverbed,

battling strong currents and venomous water snakes

that can swim up to 10 miles per hour.

She will then need to hike a perilous mile and a quarter

up a steep slope avoiding deadly jaguars

as she searches for her extraction point.

Cat: I haven't been up this side of the river yet,

so I'm not really sure what to expect.

Definitely gonna have to swim here.

Looks like a good home for snakes.

I'm really gonna have to be careful about this

and watch where I'm swimming.

♪

Ow! [Bleep]

[ Groans ]

[Bleep] Snake.

♪

I just came up on a waterfall up ahead,

a check mark of where I have to turn in.

I'm gonna have to just pop right in here

to cross over and then I'll start heading up the mountain.

♪

I'm definitely a risk-taker in my daily life,

but in a situation like this, where I haven't been sleeping,

you have to be careful.

[ Sighs ]

Nothing really to catch me if I fall.

[ Sighs ]

[ Moans ]

[ Sighs ]

Whew!

♪

Right now I've got a whole lot of ground to go,

but I'm definitely hungry, I'm definitely tired,

I'm definitely thirsty, but I'm not letting it get to me.

[ Birds chirping ]

♪

Okay.

♪

Oh, a road.

Whoo! This is it!

Hell yeah.

This is pretty surreal right now.

Oh, my god!

[ Sighs ]

Yes!

[ Taps on truck ]

Go!

Whoo!

Finishing this challenge means everything to me.

Coming off a really rough year last year,

I came out here to really regain my trust of who I am

and how strong I am and what I'm capable of.

Whenever I do face a challenge,

I'll be able to come back to this moment

and remember how strong I was when I faced adversity.

Hell yeah!

See you later, mountains!

Narrator: Cat lost a total of 19 pounds.

Her psr rises from 6.5 to 7.2.

I just got back to my room.

I looked in the mirror for the first time and whew!

I'm lookin' rough, man, that is for sure.

This is the best I've felt in a long time.

I feel like a new person.

I look like [bleep] but I feel like a new person.