Original subtitles

[ alligator growling ]

[ bird calls ]

[ growling continues ]

-- captions by vitac -- www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by discovery communications

ryan: There's one. That's right by our shelter.

[bleep] watch yourself.

Amber: Ryan!

Aah!

Narrator: One man and one woman

put their survival skills to the ultimate test.

They have no water, no food, and no clothes.

Oh, my gosh.

Their challenge is to work together

and not only survive, but thrive for 21 days

in the sweltering swamps of the florida everglades...

Bring the machete!

All right, so it's the day before I have to leave.

I'm really excited.

I am a little nervous about a couple things,

but I really think I'm ready for this.

These are the best supporters I have --

my little man, eason, and my little mini-me, leila.

You guys excited about mommy going bye-bye?

Mm-hmm.

Kick some butt, mom.

Here goes nothin'.

Very, very excited.

It's been a whirlwind of emotions

these -- this last week.

I've been training mentally and physically

my entire life for a situation like this one.

Whoo!

Next stop, the everglades.

Narrator: Covering more than 2,000 sq

the everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness

in the united states.

In this mysterious, otherworldly environment,

where the elusive florida panther stalks its prey,

civilization disappears,

leaving behind primitive wetlands

teeming with north america's only poisonous water snake.

But the real rulers of these deadly swamps

are the ferocious alligators,

some reaching 15 feet in length,

that can quickly transform a tranquil, misty marsh

into a killing zone.

There's a lot of creepy-crawlers out here.

Everything seems to move.

My name is amber hargrove. I'm from fountain, colorado.

I am a u.S. Army instructor...

We're definitely gonna need this

to get through where we're going.

...A mother of two children, and a married, happy wife.

The army really helped me become a great survivalist.

I've been training for this, just like I did in the military.

I've had several hands-on training with alligators.

Man: You got it. You don't got it.

And with that, if I do come in contact

with an alligator out here,

I will be ready to rock 'n' roll.

Whoo!

Ryan: I'm feelin' pretty comfortable

but once I get out there,

there's gonna be, uh, many challenges.

My name's ryan holt. Uh, I'm from maine.

And for a living, I'm a wildcrafter,

and I collect wild medicines.

I was in the united states marine corps for eight years.

After having been to afghanistan and iraq,

multiple deployments on the front lines,

I left the marines a damaged and lost soul.

I was suffering with ptsd.

So I took to the appalachian trail,

which is a 2,200-mile hike from georgia to maine.

And it literally saved my life.

I'm taking on this challenge

as the ultimate test for my skills and knowledge

so I can open up my own wilderness survival school

and take out veterans who are suffering from ptsd

using nature as a healing tool.

Let's get naked.

Being naked is not the scariest part of this adventure

for 21 days.

It's meeting my partner.

If he has great survival skills, I'll be really excited.

But I will have a hard time if he's very hardheaded

because I'm used to being in charge and being the leader.

All right.

Here goes nothin'.

What concerns me most

about not knowing who my partner's gonna be,

they might have, uh, a negative attitude.

They might have some really bad energy

where we just don't connect,

and, um, we just can't work together really well.

That's one of my bigger concerns in this challenge.

[ sloshing ]

[ laughs ]

oh, hey. You're naked!

I misplaced my fig leaf this morning.

Hey.

Amber. I'm ryan.

Ryan, nice to meet you.

It's a pleasure to meet you, amber.

You ready to rock this? Yeah, I'm ready.

All right. I'm excited.

Me too. Double five.

Narrator: Amber and ryan are beginning their 21-day challenge

in the middle of florida's hurricane season,

when intense, heavy rains cause water levels to rapidly rise.

In this mostly flat environment,

ryan and amber's best chance for survival

will be to trek through the deadly swamp

and set up camp at the highest elevation they can find.

Amber: We're in this area, remotely.

Ryan: We're gonna need to find some high ground,

so it looks like we're gonna have to head

a little bit northeast,

up to this area.

Amber: Let's head northeast.

All right.

Oh, wow. Look at this bone.

Oh, my gosh.

That's a big-ass bone.

I think there's another --

oh, there's more of it. All that way.

Oh, my gosh. There's the body, right there.

Ryan: One of my primary worries

about surviving here in the everglades

are the various types of predators.

Um, 12-foot alligators,

they could definitely do some damage and tear me apart.

I was definitely concerned about snakes.

One of the first and foremost venomous...

[ creature snarling ]

oh, my god.

[ snarling continues ]

[bleep]

that we just heard was a florida panther,

something that I did not expect to encounter down here,

as they're pretty elusive and endangered.

I can add that to one my biggest concerns.

There's another palm fruit. Oh, yeah. What a find.

I just found this glass bottle.

It's a pretty good vessel,

somethin' to hold water for later.

Once we get some pretty high ground straight ahead,

the highest ground we've seen yet,

it might be worth checkin' out for -- for a base camp.

Oh, my god. We're surrounded by bodies of water,

which is a big no-no for making a house.

My concerns is worried about the gators crossing

because we're on two bodies of water.

It makes me tremendously nervous.

Ryan: I think we should just walk this ridge,

see how far that water goes.

This one goes a ways. Okay.

But this is definitely the highest point,

if it's gonna rain. Okay.

Ryan: Flooding can be a huge problem out here,

so being in an elevated position is extremely important.

This is a giant tree here.

It's... All right.

If you want to set up our shelter here...

Shelter's gonna be right up against this tree,

and a california king-size bed.

Deal. Deal.

I'll get the base of the fire right there,

right next to our shelter.

All right. I'm gonna cut this stuff down

and at least clear the -- clear the grounds.

[ thunder rumbling ]

amber: We're just a little bit concerned

about the thunder right now

because if we don't have our shelter built in time,

we're gonna be completely rained on.

Biggest priority is trying to get the fire protected

and our shelter built because without the fire

we're gonna be eaten alive by the bugs out here.

This is really fine plant fibers.

All it takes is a small spark to get that going.

That's pretty badass.

Soon as the breeze hit us, I knew it.

I was like, "it's comin' down.

We need to get this shelter up, like, now."

it's comin' down.

I can't believe how much it's raining right now.

This is insane.

Pretty good water.

Put your mouth right there. You ready?

Wow, that collects it really fast in this rain.

[ thunder rumbling, rain pouring ]

ryan: So this is night number one.

And this rain storm came on pretty strong and pretty fast.

[ thunder crashes ]

amber: Holy [bleep]

amber: I've got, like, huge welts on my body.

I have so many mosquito bites on my vagina. It hurts so bad.

Oh [bleep] he's a big one.

[bleep] damn!

Ryan: Last night, we got soaked.

Along with big storms comes rising waters.

Now we got an 8-foot gator as our neighbor.

Amber: She's comin' out of the water.

Oh, yeah. She's lettin' us know she's here.

The gator keeps swimming closer and closer to us.

Like, she knows -- you can see she's lookin' at us.

They have poor vision, but far away, they can see.

But just up-close, they don't have good vision

'cause they're cross-eyed.

So they can see us right now perfectly,

just fine, movin' around.

Narrator: Before they began their journey,

a panel of experts gave amber and ryan

a primitive survival rating, or psr.

Ryan's marine experience and expert hunting abilities

have set his initial rating at 7.9.

Amber's army training

and extensive preparation for surviving in the everglades

place her just a notch below, at 7.8.

During the next three weeks, their psrs will be re-evaluated

based on how well they accomplish their goal

of thriving in the florida swamps.

I say we go get one.

Might as well. It's worth a shot.

One what? One gator.

I'm not scared of alligators

because I have had the training that prepares me for it.

Knowing there's at least a half a dozen alligators out there,

ranging from maybe 12 feet to 3 feet,

I'm just not walkin' out there. I'm sorry.

Like, I don't want you to walk out there.

I live for that stuff. That's fun to me.

I'm from northern maine.

We don't have gators for 2,000 miles. I'm no

maybe in 10 days, when I still haven't had anything to eat,

I may feel a little differently.

But, at the moment,

I don't see any reason to harvest an alligator.

Maybe we can find some snakes or some spotted gar.

That would be ideal.

Amber: I am so excited that there's alligators out here.

We're gonna have to get one.

If we don't, I am gonna be so disappointed.

Oh, don't move.

Whatever it was, it moved quickly.

It's getting a little bit deeper.

Guess I have to turn around.

[ mosquitos buzzing ]

oh, my god! These [bleep] mosquitoes.

We're bein' attacked by mosquitoes right now,

like, severely bad.

And, um, I'm just hopin' these bastards will go away.

They're biting me.

Narrator: Mosquitoes are attracted to the lactic acid

in ryan and amber's sweat.

The tiny insects can sense the chemical

from up to 100 feet away.

This sucks.

[ sighs ]

last night was pretty traumatic for me

because I've got, like, huge welts on my body.

For some reason, they're biting me more than my partner.

So I created my own grass skirt so that I could cover my vagina

so that the mosquitoes don't eat me alive.

But no matter what I do...

They just don't want to leave me alone.

You're, like, dousing in sweat.

Ryan: It's day 3.

We still haven't had anything to eat.

So I'm gonna go out on a solo hunt.

Amber and I are in desperate need of some protein.

We're feelin' the hunger.

So I'm gonna head out into the swamp today

and see what I can find.

Fingers crossed I'm gonna come back with some food.

[bleep]

this could be deadly.

Deep water is where the alligators like to lurk.

You need to stay alert.

I'm always looking around,

looking for things that could be a danger.

[bleep] that.

What to do?

That's a fish right there.

Aah.

Aah! [bleep]

whoo!

Amber: Oh!

Whoo-hoo!

Oh, my god!

Look what we got for dinner!

Oh, my god.

[ gasps ] he looks amazing.

I've never seen a catfish look like that before.

He's very -- got really spiky gills.

That was so perfect. I can't believe it.

[ birds calling ]

there's tons of meat back there.

Ryan: Right?

[ laughs ] it's amazing.

I got catfish eyeballs for dessert.

Ew. Catfish eyeballs,

the only natural saline in nature.

So it has salt that your body needs in survival situations.

I hear they taste like salt water.

[ giggles ] it is salty.

Narrator: Having gotten past the first 72 hours

successfully acclimating to their environment,

amber and ryan are hit by another massive storm,

forcing them to hunker down and wait it out.

[ thunder crashes ]

holy [bleep]

it's five days since their last meal.

With a break in the weather,

ryan gets his first opportunity since he caught the catfish

to venture into the swamp in search of more protein.

Ryan: The level of the water, it's up about another foot.

And all those little islands with cypress trees,

they're all submerged. They're all underwater.

Well, the good news is the higher waters

will bring in more wildlife,

making this an even more target-rich environment.

I'm not gonna be able to take another night

bein' attacked by 150 mosquitoes.

So today I'm gonna weave this big blanket,

so we can just lay over all of us, so it will cover everything.

That way, we're enclosed in it.

Hopefully it works.

Ooh, hang on.

Oh [bleep] yeah.

He's a big one.

Water moccasin.

Just came up on it.

If I hadn't been paying attention,

I would've gotten bit.

I'd been out of here.

Damn.

Amber! Bring the machete!

Ooh, hang on.

Just came up on it.

If I hadn't been paying attention,

I would've gotten bit.

I'd been out of here.

Damn.

Amber! Bring the machete!

Amber: Are you okay, ryan?

It's not gettin' away.

Boy, this is a fat snake.

So proud of you.

There you go. Oh, my god.

That looks amazing.

Oh, my god. I'm so hungry.

From the moment I had the idea to even be out here

and accept this challenge,

I told myself that I'm gonna thrive.

I'm not gonna hang on by a thread,

come day 21, and crawl out of here.

Wait, it might be eggs. Let's not break 'em.

We can eat 'em.

Amber: Ryan is such a good hunter,

so it's, like, natural to him to go out there and get anything.

But with him, I'm able to teach him things, too,

like it's okay to eat snake eggs or how to actually skin a snake.

We can save the skin. Make you a penis cover with it.

We could.

I don't know if that'll fit.

Oh, there's no judging here. Okay?

[ laughs ]

snake eggs, just like I said.

There's five of 'em. Oh, yeah?

Huge. So we can eat those, too.

Nice. Those are so proteinable.

Ryan: I've never had a snake egg in my life,

and we're gonna try this out.

It's like boiling an egg.

We found shells from apple snails.

You can stick 'em right on the fire.

And using the shell as a vessel, you can boil water with that.

No.

So this is ryan's first attempt

at eating snake eggs, boiled snake eggs.

Poached egg, hard-boiled.

Mmm.

Oh, my gosh.

Told you they were good.

Tastes like solid egg whites.

Mm-hmm.

That's amazing.

Ryan: Not too long after we woke up, gators started growling.

Narrator: In breeding season, the everglades alligators

are at their most aggressive and dangerous.

Their frequent bellowing is to attract a mate

and threaten intruders.

[ alligators growling ]

we're hearing ones down by our camp.

We're hearing ones up this creek,

ones over here, which we've never heard before

or knew that they were there.

And this one's on the opposite side

from where we have been seeing them.

[ alligator growling ]

there's one. There's right by our shelter.

[ growling continues ]

so there's been a bunch of gator calls this morning,

hissing at each other.

It sounds almost like a mating call.

It's kind of weird. At the end of the day, I mean,

they're just beautiful creatures,

but really good meat.

Amber: Why don't we go together and go hunt a gator?

We could try that.

That would be kind of exciting, wouldn't it?

[ laughs ] yeah.

Ryan: I'm finally just gonna have to side with amber

and go on a gator hunt together.

She definitely shouldn't go alone.

Maybe we can just get a smaller one,

and that'll give us enough meat to last a few days.

Are you ready to get goin' for alligator huntin'?

Yeah.

Game on.

She's hungry, and so am I.

But I have a small amount of fear.

Gators out here are definitely a reason to be fearful

'cause the only ones I've seen out there are monsters.

I saw this trail right here going through these weeds.

It looked wide enough to be a gator, and I looked over.

There's a gator nest right in here.

They like to make their nests

in the middle of these sawgrass.

Oh, I see it.

Right?

All right. I'll go over there.

Yeah? Let's go.

I'm not.

Why don't you want to go?

I'm not stupid.

I don't, like, not think things through.

You haven't found a gator yet.

Yeah, 'cause I'm not goin' in there.

You should come with me as my battle buddy.

No.

To be in the middle of the swamp,

where you can't see, entering a gator nest

with a half a dozen gators that we know of,

it just...

Hello?

Amber: My partner doesn't want to come play with me.

Ooh.

I've been through some pretty sketchy areas around here,

and that's one place I'm not going.

It's exciting, hunting gators.

You get that adrenaline.

I got to train with them, so I know how to react around 'em.

If a gator comes up next to you,

just stand still like a tree, and they won't touch you.

There's a gator right there.

It's about an 8-foot alligator.

Oh [bleep]

oh, my god.

[bleep]

there's a gator right there.

It's about an 8-foot alligator.

Amber, stay there.

Look to the right. You'll see a gator.

Oh, my gosh.

It's moving away from us.

I don't see anything in here.

Amber: I was hopin' to go in there

and least see a small one or medium-sized one,

but my partner doesn't want to come play with me.

I'm done playin'.

We're on a gator hunt.

You have to go to places like that to catch a gator.

There is no exceptions.

There is an exception. It's called thinking.

It's called you being a [bleep]

you need to, like, get over your fear of gators.

I don't -- I'm not scared of gators.

Whatever. The point is, you're my battle buddy,

and you're supposed to go with me if I need you to go with me.

Not if my life is on the line in a situation like this.

Your life would not be on the line.

You're overreacting. It's fine.

We don't have to go in there now.

We can keep forging on.

No. This is over.

Let's do this. Let's go find a gator.

We could do much more together.

Amber: I don't think that he really

if we're going into the gator lair,

yeah, it's 'cause we're going to catch a [bleep] gator.

He's just bull [bleep] and he's a pansy.

Yesterday was supposed to be really exciting.

Didn't go as planned.

I called my partner a [bleep]

when I shouldn't have called him that.

I'm sorry for yellin' at you.

It's all right.

It was wrong of me to not pay attention to you,

and I should have.

I really just didn't mean that.

I think you just really wanted a gator.

I'm hungry.

If a gator's on land, no problem.

But let's not put ourselves in inherent danger.

Okay, deal.

We need to get protein in us today, or I'm gonna die.

Feel like I'm dying.

Narrator: In their first two weeks,

amber and ryan have consumed more calories

than most who have survived the "naked and afraid" challenge...

...But they are way below their daily target of 2,000 calories

as they continue to burn through their reserves.

Ooh.

There's definitely a hole up here.

When you get 'em like this, they swim deeper into the hole,

and they expand all their fins,

all the sharp parts of their fins.

So they're hangin' on extremely tight.

Aah!

Catfish.

Makes more sense to be living on fish

instead of putting ourselves in dangerous situations.

And if we're just eatin' fish,

everybody's happy except for the fish.

Amber: Oh, my gosh. Look at that.

Ooh.

That's insane.

That's, like...

Mmm, it just fell right off the entire side.

It's huge. It's like two steaks.

Oh, my god. My stomach.

[ retching ]

ryan: You still feelin' nauseous?

My stomach's churning.

Well, I hope you feel better soon.

I hope it passes quick, and it's not a debilitating thing.

You got a long way to go.

I'll be okay.

Ryan: Amber is not feeling very well.

We've ingested all the same stuff, the water, the catfish.

[ retching ]

she gettin' sick?

Cameraman: Yep.

[ moans ]

[ sniffles ]

[ moans ]

[ sniffles ]

well, that sucks 'cause that was my dinner.

[ sighs ]

that was gross.

How you feelin'? Better that it came up?

Uh, a little bit. Yeah.

[ bird calling ]

how you feelin'?

Like [bleep] yeah?

The pain is, like, all over my abdominal area

and my intestines, like, really bad.

It's just getting worse.

I thought I'd be okay,

[bleep] hurts. But it really

ryan: Amber is in a lot of pain right now, and

she sees it as a sign of weakness,

so it's got to be pretty serious.

Like, this is torture.

It's, like, really torture.

Got to call the medic.

Robert: Where's the pain at?

My intestines.

My body aches so bad, and I don't know

if it's just from the water or the catfish.

This is absolutely miserable.

[ monitor beeps ]

robert: Until further exam from a doctor,

once you get her inside a facility,

they can do some more testing to find out if it's dysentery

or some other bacterial disease.

Amber: I just feel like death is on my stomach right now.

I just don't want to put myself through this pain.

I'm ready to go.

Narrator: With amber's intestinal condition worsening,

she is advised to receive additional medical attention,

forcing her to tap out on day 16.

Dang, it hurts. Thank you.

Her intestines, her stomach was just twisting and turning.

And she was sick, and she was crying.

I can only imagine how much it must have sucked.

Oh, god.

This experience has been amazing,

but this is just too much for my body to handle.

I'm in pain.

Ryan: I'm gonna miss amber.

I feel bad about her leaving.

And being solo for the rest of this challenge

is definitely going to be, you know, a little bit different.

It's gonna be, uh, a challenge.

[ groaning ]

today I'd like to make a backpack,

as well as a woven basket.

And that way, I'll be able to carry a lot more vegetation

when I go foraging

or when I capture a bunch of crawdads by hand.

I'll have someplace to put them.

To sustain my life for the next three days,

I'm gonna need protein.

As I'm nearing the extraction day on day 21,

I'm gonna need that energy.

But no catfish come back to that hole in --

all day yesterday.

Nothin' today.

The only thing that seems to be left around here is alligators,

so I got to put my hesitations aside

and just get out there and get myself an alligator.

I'm gonna be making

one of the giant, like, boomsticks with a noose on it.

Here, I've got my 12-foot boomstick.

Um, I've also got my vine, natural vine,

that was completely woven.

And that's gonna be the noose at one end.

And I'm gonna pull it from the other end

once that's around the gator's neck.

[ splashing ]

I just heard this intense splashing around over there.

My heart's racin' right now.

It's runnin' a thousand miles a minute.

Try to maintain a very calm presence.

Stay there.

Whoo!

Alligator boomstick-noose.

He ain't goin' anywhere with this thing on him.

Really tight.

Oh, we're gonna go ahead and take care of this one now.

[bleep] [bleep]

[bleep] [bleep]

[bleep]

narrator: Before ryan began his 21-day survival test

in the florida everglades, he and his partner

were each given a primitive survival rating, or psr.

After almost two and half weeks,

amber succumbed to food poisoning

and was forced to tap out.

This will have a considerable effect on her final psr score.

Ryan's final rating will be determined

by how well he fares in his quest

to not only survive, but thrive on his own,

battling the elements

and the dangerous creatures of the swamps.

Whoo!

Alligator boomstick-noose.

Really tight.

Oh, we're gonna go ahead and take care of this one now,

with this dull-ass machete.

[bleep] [bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

[bleep]

all right.

It wasn't very clean, but it was quick.

Remember when amber called me a [bleep]

and said I was scared of alligators?

Hah!

I should, uh, make a smoker of sorts

before I start processing this gator.

I need this protein.

I need this energy to get me through the next several days,

all the way to extraction.

So none of this meat's going to waste.

Thunderstorms are nearby, and it definitely worries me.

I need to make this work right the first time.

Just got to hold about 90% of the smoke in.

That's my goal.

[ thunder crashes ]

oh [bleep]

so we get a fire going here

and then move the fire into the smoker.

[ thunder rumbling ]

here it is.

This is really just unbelievable.

This is like an oven. It's not getting wet, either.

So I'm about to try my first piece of gator.

Amber, I wish you were here to enjoy this bite.

This one's for you.

Mmm.

I've been really tryin' to come up with the perfect sign

to hang on my shelter before I head off to extraction,

the perfect word that would sum up my experiences

out here in the everglades.

This is great.

Holy cow.

I made it this far, but it's not over yet.

I still got to get to extraction.

I have no idea how far I've got to go,

and I don't know the terrain that I'll be goin' through.

I'm pretty sure it's not gonna be that dry.

Narrator: The recent storm has raised water levels.

Ryan's trek through the swamps to extraction

will be wet and treacherous,

with a greater amount of alligators

and water moccasins to contend with.

If he can navigate to where the swamps give way

to this open area in the marshy grasslands,

he will be rescued by airboat.

Can't wait to get out of here.

There's a lot in there that could hurt me.

I'm gonna miss having amber here.

Another set of eyes and ears would really help.

You can't see underneath the lily pads,

and it's definitely water moccasin territory.

Not knowing how many --

there could be hundreds of 'em in there.

I can't see.

This is so sketchy.

Whoa. What was that?

Oh, my god.

Five feet away from me, a giant gator.

That's her, right there.

Yeah, this is definitely an area I want to avoid.

This is the alligator flag ponds.

Goin' that way.

Whew.

Definitely something I don't want to run into

on extraction day.

That could have been very dangerous.

You got to stay aware of your entire surroundings,

everything at your feet, everything at eye level,

everything in the distance, everything.

It could be extremely easy to get turned around

because everything looks the same.

I could easily get lost if I don't maintain my bearings.

I think I see a lighter spot in the landscape up ahead.

I'm gonna move that way.

This has got to be it.

Now what?

[ vehicle approaches ]

oh, my god.

Over here!

This challenge was huge for me.

It is one of the most profound experiences

I've ever had in my entire life.

Whoo-hoo!

Yes!

Been through some rough times in these past few years,

and I was more lost than I've ever been.

So to come out here and have nature continue to heal me,

I'm just so grateful for the entire experience.

Whoo!

Wanting to be a teacher and guide people

and take people out on wilderness expeditions,

I couldn't ask for a better experience

to really build that up.

Aye-aye-aye-aye-aye!

It's, uh, huge to prove to myself

that I really came out here to the everglades

and thrived for 21 days.

Narrator: Attempting to survive

in the oppressive conditions of the florida everglades

has had a profound effect on the survivalists,

both mentally and physically.

In spite of their successes, over the course of 16 days,

amber lost 14 pounds.

And in three weeks, ryan lost a total of 28 pounds.

Based on their performance, their psrs were re-evaluated.

Because amber had to be medically evacuated,

her rating drops from a 7.8 to a 7.4.

Ryan excelled on his own

and successfully completed the challenge,

raising his psr from 7.9 to 8.3.

All right. I'm back in colorado.

I'm gonna get to see my kids for the first time.

Mommy, yay!

Mommy, I love you!

Mommy!

Oh, my god.

This is how you have your first meal.

I'm headed straight back to my land

and get this project off the ground,

building a wilderness retreat.

I'm gonna call it the human nature hostel.

The ideas and the vision's already implanted.

It's well under way, just got a few more steps to take.

Narrator: In the end,

amber and ryan put themselves to the ultimate test

and discovered just what it takes

to survive and thrive...

I'm so happy. I could cry right now.