Original subtitles

I'm pretty sure an elephant walked through here and tripped this.

That looks so much like elephant footprint.

Trap's sprung. Also an elephant.

Well, the bait's still there. I'm gonna reset it.

Yeah, it did look like that elephant was all over my grill.

Biggest creature out here.

Taking a piss.

He'll break everything.

Holy.

He's right there.

So, the trick is, just wait until there's space.

Just give him lots of space.

All good.

Oh, my god.

It's so dry, my lips are already chapped.

Definitely loving africa though.

Look at that. Warthogs. So excited.

I'm ready to survive 21 days in africa.

God, it's cool. Ooh, what's the white thing?

That's an animal. Is that an animal?

I think that's an animal.

I'm thrilled. I'm so grateful to be here right now.

There's no rocks. Just a bunch of spiky things.

And a lot of poisonous things. Animals all over the place.

It just screams africa.

Sankuyo, botswana. A hot and dry region,

On the outskirts of the okavango delta.

Teeming with fearless cape buffalo, zebra,

And thousands of herds of elephants.

There's so many elephants.

I can definitely tell by all the trees that have fallen down.

I'm monica. I'm from monterrey, mexico.

And I'm a software engineer in the silicon valley.

My name's elijah. I'm from western north carolina.

I'm an artist and adventure guide.

I have spent the majority of my professional career

Working in wilderness therapy with at-risk youth.

I'm gonna go and climb through there.

I've guided rock climbing. I've guided earth skills and primitive skills.

I can build a fire with a hand drill, a bow drill.

Give me a fire contest. I'm probably gonna win it.

I often enjoy putting myself in situations that are challenging,

Where I have to struggle and be creative.

I really love highlining.

Highlining is like slacklining.

But also really high up in the air, often on really long distances.

We have to be like laser, razor-focused.

Growing up in mexico, I was not really into outdoors,

Until I joined the boy scouts.

We would go out on the weekends in camps.

Uh, build our own shelter, create fire.

I have done rock-climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering.

In rock-climbing,

You have control over where you are gonna put your next hand.

Or where you are gonna put your next foot.

I like to feel that I have control.

Also, you need a partner that you trust a lot, in case you fall.

Everyone back home thinks this is a crazy adventure.

But they really respect my reasons for doing this challenge.

I got diagnosed with asperger's around 19 years old.

Asperger's is a high-functioning form of autism,

Where some of my senses are affected.

My hearing and my smell.

I also struggle socially.

I have a hard time communicating.

And I don't always show my feelings with my facial expressions or words.

Being diagnosed changed my life.

It led people that I love understand that I have a disability.

And we can both work together to make our relationship work.

I've been hiding all my life.

I have asperger's. I'm gay. I'm an immigrant.

I check all the boxes for minorities and I'm tired of hiding who I am.

I wanna make myself so proud.

I will make it 21 days.

As a computer engineer,

Monica is used to complex, analytical problem solving.

But will her asperger's help or hinder her survival experience?

She begins with a primitive survival rating or psr of 6.1.

I'm here because I love a good challenge.

This is type two fun.

It might not be fun in the moment,

But it will be fun to talk about it afterwards.

As a wilderness guide,

Elijah has extensive primitive survival experience.

But will his take-charge personality clash with his partner?

It's a little cold in the morning!

He begins with a psr of 7.0.

I'm ready to be out here. Ready to get naked.

I don't get bothered if another person sees me naked.

We all have a butt.

This is about to be real real.

That's me.

Here we go.

- Hello, human. - Hey, partner. How are you doing?

I'm good.

- Another human crazy enough to do this. - Yeah.

- High five? - Very excited. Yeah.

Knocks?

Yeah, let's do it.

Great. Knocks again. Snail?

- What's your name? - Monica. How about you?

- Elijah. - Nice to meet you.

- Good to meet you. - Yeah. Where are you from?

North carolina. You?

- From mexico. - Cool.

I'm gonna go to mexico in December

-And go climb there, and I'll go... -oh, my god. I climb.

Just call me when you get there.

Awesome, dude!

Well, you seem like a really good partner. So I'm excited.

- Same. - Yeah.

- You have, uh, substance. - Yeah.

Your eyes, you know.

- We're gonna finish this together. - Yeah, man.

Let's do it.

- Should we see what surprise we have? - Let's do it.

Monica and elijah have each brought a personal item.

A machete and a slack line.

This line I normally use for slacklining.

But since it's made of strong synthetic fibers,

We can use it for a whole bunch of things.

- Absolutely. Let's make traps. - Yeah.

A pot has been given to the survivalist to store water

And fend off dehydration in the harsh conditions.

How's your fire making skills?

I'm good with wind but how about you?

- Boss. - Yeah?

- We're gonna fire them across. - Oh, yeah.

- You got the map? - I got the map.

Lions, elephants, hyenas, leopards, cobras!

Water, water, water, water.

Food source.

Whoo-hoo, yeah.

- Awesome. - So, we gotta go north.

- Which should be that way? - Yeah, it's that way.

Camera.

Twenty-one days of survivaling.

Let's do this.

- Stoked. - Oh, yeah.

Whoa. Okay.

It's so spiky out here.

The scrubby grasslands of sankuyo are scattered

With sharp acacia trees

Whose thorns easily pierce skin.

- How're you doing? - Ow!

Shoes are a mega priority.

A lot of attention is on making sure my feet aren't getting stabbed.

With shoes, more attention can be focused on looking around and observing.

Kind of looks like mexico, but we're in africa.

I was thinking that.

- It's like mega hot and mega dry. - Yeah.

In the dry season, the sun is relentless

With daytime temperatures close to 90 degrees.

At night, they can drop as much as 40 degrees.

Without rain, water becomes scarce,

Driving all animals to the same water holes.

Among them, africa's apex predator, the lion...

That can run up to 50 miles per hour.

And spotted hyena.

Natural born killers. That are known for running down prey till exhaustion.

And eating them alive.

There's a buffalo here.

We are getting this.

Super lucky. I mean, just boom, instant rawhide.

Now, we are gonna have stout, sturdy shoes.

That's so dry. Oh, that is so crazy.

Let me know if you ever need a break.

- Do you wanna jump in? - Let's do it.

Elijah's such an easy personality.

How can you not like him?

- It's working. - Yeah, man.

Monica seems like a great human.

We've only known each other for about an hour.

I try to suspend judgement on somebody until I hang out with them longer.

Thank you, buffalo. Thanks, monica.

Thanks, elijah.

- That was good teamwork. - Yeah, man.

What's your motivation for this?

I have asperger's. You know what that is?

Yeah. A lot of people used to tell me I have that.

No way.

- Tell me more. - We're just

Seen like a disability all the time. Ow.

So, like, I wanna go out there and just encourage anybody.

Cool.

Along with my asperger's and my accent,

It's been a barrier in communicating to people.

But elijah and I are communicating great.

Uh, I think he would be actually my friend.

It sounds like you're saying that you're doing this as a...

A way to like really represent the capacity to overcome.

Yeah.

This looks like a dried pond.

Yeah, totally.

I think you would call this a pan around here.

- Oh, my god, dude. - What is it?

That's an elephant print.

- It's so big. - Wow! Oh, my god, yeah. They're all over.

Yeah, man.

Monica and elijah will need to steer clear of the elephants

That frequent these pans day and night.

The largest and most powerful land animal.

They number up to 10 per herd.

And easily outrun humans,

Reaching speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.

They kill 500 humans a year, usually by trampling or crushing their victims.

Ooh, it's looking good. marshy plants.

Well, this is pretty.

Oh, I'm so excited! I think we cruise

And make a boma closer to the big water.

Can we take a look at that one over there?

I was eyeballing that.

This one's nice, right, because this is an open area

So if we have our fire there, we don't burn things down.

- It's a half boma done. - There's water here.

There's some bird action there. So, this one then?

- Yeah. - Let's do it.

Home for 21 days.

Dude, this place is sweet.

What do you think about this?

Like, this is our opening.

And we chop here... A little. And leave that.

And we make this, kind of like, the spot.

Yeah, I agree.

Elijah and monica are building a thorny enclosure called a boma,

With a fire inside to deter would-be predators.

I'm getting thirsty.

- Let's both clean. - Yeah, let's both clean.

- And then... - you make fire and I'll chop.

Then I'll make some fire, get some water going?

Oh, yes.

So, to make fire,

You spin the stick against the other stick.

They make heat.

Huh. Yeah. We're getting close to temperature.

Nice, - thanks. You wanna get water?

Oh, I'm so glad he knows how to make fire.

He's a really good partner.

This is the, uh, buffalo skin.

We have to put it in the water so it softens a little bit.

Right now, my partner is getting water.

I'm working on getting the other pieces for the boma wall.

- Just like make sure that it's stable. - Yeah.

Just, it'd be a bummer to drop.

The clock is ticking. The sun is going down.

We've got a couple hours left before we have to have a very secure boma.

I'm feeling so dehydrated.

I feel it in my throat.

Hey, elijah. Do you wanna drink some water with me?

It hasn't boiled yet.

I'm so thirsty.

Phew.

Oh, but I hit our pot of water.

Well, that's a bummer.

- Wait, what? - I spilled it.

It's all gone. Total flip.

Sorry.

That's the first thing I wanted to do. Drink water.

But I know.

I am regretting...

Um, saying he was a good partner.

Oh, but I hit our pot of water.

Total flip.

Elijah, can you get water?

That's the first thing I want to do. Drink water.

- Elijah, get the water. - On it.

He has one thing in mind and that's the only thing.

He's going now. So...

So, I go to the water.

I'm so thirsty.

Day one's almost done and we are about to get one day at a time.

We did get today.

We built a really good boma.

We gathered up a whole lot of hay and grasses

To sleep in. We gathered a lot of extra firewood.

Uh, let's have two fires. One outside and one inside.

One fire on the outside would be like our, uh...

security fire.

Is that a hyena?

I think that's a hyena.

Oh, yeah.

- Oh, I think that's an elephant. - Oh, wow.

We're hearing some animals outside.

Elephants, hyenas.

It's scary.

Yeah, you?

- Ah, I'm so excited for daylight and warmth. - I know.

Last night was very cold.

I could not get any sleep

From just shivering all night.

Look at my bruise here.

Whoa! That's from, like, shaking against the ground?

- No, shaking, like, my legs, like... - God. That's a bummer to hear.

The grass seems to keep heat away better than it does keep heat in.

I think later today, I might make a pod shelter

- Out of, like, a wattle and daub type thing. - Oh.

But my first thing is gonna be shoes.

So, right now we're making shoes out of buffalo hide that we harvested yesterday.

The terrain out here is really rough.

My feet. They definitely have a lot of little bits in them.

We will need shoes to work better and be more efficient.

You know. Less pain, more work.

I got flippy-floppies!

Those look pretty nice.

- Some point today, let's set traps. - Yeah.

Yeah, we're getting food today.

Oh, there we go. Look at this. Yeah.

Knowing another animal's eating patterns,

You can use to place your traps right.

I'm gonna set mine up over there.

This is a sand bushman style trap.

So, we set out spring pull.

This is the engine for our trap.

A trap has three parts.

The engine, the action, and the trigger.

A spring pull trap is a simple snare

That uses the force from a bent stick

To catch small to medium-sized animals.

Okay, so it looks like this is an area where a lot of birds come here.

So let's set our trap here,

Where I know I'm gonna catch something.

Yeah, so we need to... Measure our string.

We need to cut our string.

This is a slack line, baby.

And what we have to do is take it apart.

This is way too thick for my trap, so,

Um, gonna get two traps out of this.

Look at that. Isn't that pretty?

Now comes the tricky part.

It's like the human spider string.

It's made up of webbed synthetic fibers,

But it tangles really easily if you're not careful.

These pieces of grass

Hold the string up.

When the bird comes and puts its neck in there,

It will get its neck caught in the noose.

This is, um, the amazing cord that elijah brought.

Like, I've wasted more time

Trying to get the cordage right than setting the trap.

Dang it.

I'm just gonna go get more.

Can I get a little bit more rope?

Sure, you already used it all?

Yeah.

So you cut it

The way that you cut it

Earlier?

I would feel reluctant to give you more.

I think the appropriate way to utilize that

Would be to take it apart.

And then, cordage

The individual

Pieces.

I mean, I just wanna set traps that's like,

I mean, if I told you that with the knife, would you be happy about it? No.

Of course not, we're a team.

Well, you wouldn't tell me that with the knife.

Right.

'cause I'm not an.

Because... Whoa.

Wait, what did you hear me say?

Exactly what you said.

Yesterday, monica spoke to me about

Her method of communication is not

Generally, as typical

As a lot of people's in society.

And I'm really committed to supporting her.

If you're gonna, like,

Start, like, it's my... It's my rope...

- no, no, no. - It's my knife then.

- How about that? - Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Heard, I'm not trying to say that.

What I'm trying to say is, I think we should make cordage out of it.

When do you wanna do cordage?

- How about right now? - Okay.

Cool.

I spent two years working wilderness therapy,

And learned, whenever there's conflict,

If I come with an open heart

And a curious mind and ask someone about...

What they're going through, usually everything settles down pretty quickly.

People wanna be heard.

How you feeling?

Stressed.

Yeah.

Just, like...

Let's share, you know.

That's it.

Yeah, let's share.

Would it make you feel good

If we cut this thing in half?

You get half, I get half.

Yeah, sounds good.

- Yeah? - Mmm-hmm.

I'm glad we talked it out.

He's really good at talking things, which,

I'm not great at.

He knows how to communicate with...

Us, non-neurotypical.

- We get so much string out of it this way. - Mmm-hmm.

And I like that about him.

This is the other half of the stuff...

- mmm-hmm. - From this morning?

- Don't get it on the ground. - Okay.

'cause you don't want any

Birds in there.

He can be a bit condescending in how he talks to me,

But maybe that's something we can figure out together.

That's what we're doing here, adapting

To the environment, to the person.

You can totally make a teeny-weeny little snare out of that.

Monica and I

Make a whole lot of

Pieces of cordage.

So now we're gonna set 10 of the same trap.

We are catching termites...

And putting them in a little ball of clay as bait.

If monica's setting traps and I'm setting traps and everybody's setting traps,

And then tomorrow, we set up more traps together,

The more traps we have, the more chances we have of food.

Ooh, nice.

- Awesome! - We did it.

Nice job.

To increase our chances of catching something,

We're setting many of the traps

Over a quarter mile from our boma.

We don't want our human scent to scare away potential prey.

As we go along, I think we'll learn a lot

About what works and what doesn't work.

Now that our shoes are done and our traps are set,

We need to deal with the cold.

It was freezing last night.

I just kept thinking about how much heat I was losing

From the fire, just, all that heat just going right up.

I was like, we gotta remedy that.

This is gonna be

A pretty warm structure.

There's gonna be a cob rocket stove here.

There's gonna be a sleeping quarter here and a sleeping quarter there.

It's gonna be an arched hut.

Over-unders, over-unders and

Eventually it has a decent amount of integrity.

Enough to, uh, apply grass and mud.

This is a waddle and dog technique where

Branches and sticks create the structure.

And then we cover it with mud and grass for insulation.

It also holds it all together.

Looks like it's working...

'cause I'm already hot in here.

It's gonna have a little rocket stove inside of it made of cob.

Cob is an ancient building method

That combines clay, sand, straw and water

To create a fireproof mixture that can be formed into structures.

Using elephant dung, makes some of the best cob ever.

We'll form that cob

Into a super, sweet, high-efficiency oven.

We take a little bit of this, just pure mud

And slip it over the top.

The coals are gonna go right here.

And we just have

Clay and the ground radiating heat to us.

And the roof, radiating heat back to us.

Two engineers in africa.

Yeah. Yeah, you're a software engineer.

- Yeah. - That's so cool.

Now that monica and I have spent more time together out in the bush,

We're starting to coordinate more and it's good.

Eli.

It's an elephant?

That's the first elephant I've ever...

so close.

Wow.

There's two!

Oh, my god!

That's so beautiful.

Isn't it? Yeah.

It's day four. It's been three and a half days

Since I've eaten.

We've set up more than a dozen traps scattered all over the area.

And I check them twice a day.

The bait's gone on this trap.

I am super hopeful that we can get some food in our traps.

Wow!

Oh! Oh, my god!

That is awesome.

This is really africa.

That's an elephant skull.

Chuck that at a bird.

Flock of birds.

Definitely taking this back.

Hard to tell what happened here.

I'm guessing, died of natural causes. And then,

Other animals came and just...

Had a feast.

I've never fasted before so this is the longest I've

Been without eating...

And I feel like I have no energy.

Elijah has a lot of energy still, so

That's good, that's good.

I hope those birds really love this one.

Monica would be super stoked to have food.

So would I.

Checking the last two traps for the day

I probably walked four miles already, today.

And we got a yellow-billed hornbill.

Oh, hey baby. I'm so sorry.

Thank you so much. Thank you for your life.

It's intense.

Monica's gonna be so stoked.

Check it out!

- Check it out! - Nice.

- Dinner. - Dude!

- Yes. - Yeah, man.

Oh, my god, I'm so... Wow!

It's just awesome.

Let's eat dinner out here.

And every win we have,

It definitely makes us closer as a team.

- Whoo-hoo! - Let's get this thing going!

Let's do it.

We just caught our first meal.

Yellow-billed hornbill.

Yeah.

What the was that?

It's right here.

Can you see what it is?

Mmm-mmm.

What the?

Oh, my god!

What the?

It's, uh, hyenas.

I trapped a bird and...

Something else came along and it wants to eat my resource.

Get! Get!

Did that work?

Yeah, I think so. They're leaving.

That was intense.

Really puts things into perspective.

Out here,

Moni and I are definitely competing for resources.

So hungry

And excited for this.

It's been four days without food.

Protein, about to get it.

Mmm.

- How is it? - Mmm.

- So good? - Oh, my god!

This is so good.

Mmm-hmm.

This tastes like chicken.

That's friggin' awesome.

This is our first night in our little hut.

There's elijah.

Right now, the chimney's pumping out heat but,

Still not super warm in here.

I think I'm gonna sleep out here.

Hmm.

Good morning.

- How'd you sleep? - Um,

I got a little cold last night.

And it didn't seem like the stove was working super well, so...

I think that's 'cause it's also pretty moist in there.

Mmm-hmm.

- We'll just give it a couple of days to dry. - Okay.

Maybe tweak a couple things.

And finish this hut?

Mmm-hmm.

Hoping to make 10 pieces of cordage here

To set a little snare.

Anything else we should do today?

Yeah. Check traps, set new traps.

Mmm.

Survive and thrive.

Let's take on day five.

Yeah.

I love a good rhyme.

Are we doing the traps or checking my traps first?

- Let's check yours. - Okay.

Takes me a while to figure out where I am.

Okay.

I'm still trying to find it. It's around here.

No, that's not it.

Where the hell was it?

I always do this.

I lose my trap.

There was, like, a termite mound next to it.

Like many people with autism,

Monica has spatial navigation impairments

That make it hard for her to use landmarks to navigate.

A good way is to try to remember the trees near it, what they looked like.

No, that's not the one.

Not the one!

Damn it.

This is exhausting.

I cannot find this trap.

I know, I always get lost.

- We keep the sun on our right. - Yeah.

When we get back we put it on our left - mmm-hmm.

Spring here hole.

Yeah, I'm gonna set a a trap here. You got time for that?

I just wanna get back to the boma.

- Are you leaving? - Yeah.

Is the boma this side, this direction?

I told you how to get back.

You can't think of it as a direction.

You have to think of it as the way you are, relative to the sun.

Otherwise, it's really easy to get lost.

You didn't answer my question. Is it that way?

I already told you.

Dude, you're an ass sometimes.

Are you mad at me?

You're an ass sometimes.

What was that being rude about?

Sorry.

Oh, it never feels good to be called an ass.

I'm not really sure what I did.

Why are you mad at me?

'cause I just asked a simple question.

- How to get back? - Yeah.

I just really wanted to like make sure that

You found your way back in the right way.

But you can tell me. It takes three seconds.

Keep the sun on the left.

Yeah.

It's easy to, kinda, get a little confused.

Okay.

I mean, it's over, like...

- okay. - Yeah.

- We're cool? - Yeah.

- I'm so sorry. - It's good.

Being out here, in this environment

This is very similar to working wilderness therapy

With our rescues.

I'm trying to pass on to monica the same tools to grow and succeed.

But monica seems upset with me.

We're gonna have to figure out

What's the best way for me to communicate with her.

What's up, what's up?

What up?

- Weaving? - Yeah.

Oh, look at that. You got grass all pushed up in there.

Yeah, I'm still fixing it.

- Are you weaving it through? - Yeah.

Dude, I love that.

I've been working for hours and hours.

I'm like, so thirsty.

What you wanna do?

Go get water.

Cool.

How we usually divide the work is even.

Elijah has the energy to go and check the traps four times a day.

I don't. But what I can do is

Finish our hut and get more water.

Be right back.

I feel like I have no energy for anything.

Like, my body wants to go but my head's just like "ugh".

But I like to be a team.

I'm just doing as best as I can to keep surviving out here.

A bird right here on the ground.

Oh!

Ahhh! I don't know what to do.

I'm so sorry, buddy.

I'm so sorry.

Dude!

Oh, !

Thank you.

It's emotional because

Looking at that bird in the eyes and seeing it dead

Just broke my heart.

And to take something else's life,

It's just hard. But

That's how we survive out here.

Am I going the wrong direction?

Huh.

I don't wanna get lost out here.

Wait, where the hell's my boma?

Wait, where the hell's my boma?

Am I going the wrong direction?

Huh.

Happy that I found it.

Lesson learned, next time.

My plan to not get lost,

I'm gonna leave arrows around the ground

To make sure I get back home

To the boma.

I just can't find my way around any other way.

Look.

I just threw the pot.

- You just threw the pot at it and got it? - Yeah.

You just straight up just threw the pot and just hit a dove?

- Yeah. - Dude!

Oh, my god. I wanna hug you, but you're naked and that's probably awkward.

- Ah! - I feel so bad.

No. Feel so good.

- Thank it. Honor it. - I did.

You did?

- Yeah. - Thank you, dove.

Thank you so much.

- Can I put my hand on you? - Yeah.

It's good. It's okay.

It's good that you can feel like that.

Yeah.

I think that's what makes it, like, okay, to be able to kill something is to eat it.

Is to have that respect for their life.

It's intense, having to kill things to eat it.

But, to know that my partner has that kind of respect for life, feels really good.

It warms the heart.

You're great. You can hunt with anything.

-Wait, I... -you're like the macgyver of hunting.

- Oh, I'm so stoked. - Oh, yeah.

Got a grass bed. Got a ba partner.

This is so good.

That was not my stomach.

Sounds like a lion.

And we have kind of two fires in our boma. So I think we're good.

We totally have two fires right now.

There was some, like, lions so close.

- Yeah, there were some lions. - Hmm.

And some friends.

Hmm.

Definitely feeling the intensity of being out here.

That's the lion footprint.

My energy levels are fluctuating rapidly.

Sometimes I'm mega down, sometimes I'm still kinda up.

And I'm burning tons of energy, walking miles to check our traps.

It would be so nice to get a really big feast, and just be stuffed.

It's a high guinea fowl area.

Those are the big birds. Sure hope we catch one.

A guinea fowl is a ground dwelling and nesting bird

That lives in flocks, and resembles a turkey.

These birds weigh up to four pounds, and eat mostly seeds and insects.

Oh, look at this.

Two eggs. This is gonna be a spot where guineas are definitely gonna come around.

I'm gonna leave the eggs for now, and set a trap

And then hopefully I'll have a guinea and I'll be able to have the eggs as well.

Got some clay to, like, put the bait in, I've got these

Sprouted acacia seeds, which they love to eat out of the elephant dung.

I'm feeling super excited about this trap.

I really hope it goes...

It'd be super nice to get some really big game.

Moni's been pretty hesitant to...

Come check traps out here.

I think, partly, she's nervous about her ability to navigate.

So she's staying pretty close to the boma.

That way she doesn't have to walk too far.

She's doing what she thinks is best for her, and I support that.

She said she was gonna go make a bow later.

Like, I know, my sense of direction is really bad.

I get lost trying to find my car in the parking lot.

All the cars look kinda the same.

Well, it's the same out here.

The only difference for me...

I don't wanna get lost out here. I don't wanna be... You know, meat.

I'm hoping that that bow and arrow makes us catch more birds

Without having to go far from the boma.

The pot works sometimes, but not always.

Wrong but nothing.

Whatever.

I've been thinking, my strategy of walking around so far

To check these traps twice a day isn't really worth the effort.

Every time I check these traps, it's a mile round trip.

I got two birds a day. Two tiny ones.

I don't know if that'll be able to sustain me for the next 11 days.

For the past nine days,

Monica and elijah have consumed less than 350 calories

But expended almost 25,000.

You know what, screw it.

Just taking this down.

I've reached the point of diminishing return.

Almost rather not check traps if there won't be anything in them.

Getting rid of this one too.

So I figure I'll conserve my fat,

And not do such long walks,

And set so many traps.

Today is day 10,

Halfway there.

We're conserving a little bit of energy.

- Does my face look skinnier? - Yeah.

We haven't eaten in the past three days.

Elijah goes and checks the traps,

And I appreciate it so much. So much.

I love his energy,

But I can't do that.

I need to stop comparing myself to other people, you know.

Just having a disability is hard.

I'm not gonna feel bad about it.

Hey, hey!

Look at that. There's breakfast!

Oh, thank god. Oh, that's so... A mood changer.

Yes.

Big, fat starling.

Yes!

Sweet!

Moni's gonna be so stoked.

Two elephants.

Right there.

So peaceful.

There's some pheasant looking birds.

Let's see if we get one.

Moni did it with a pot. Maybe I can do it with... Elephant dung.

Ah.

We now have two birds for breakfast.

It's kind of cool. Go out in the morning, go get breakfast, come back.

Feels good, feels really good.

Found this in one of the traps.

- Wow. - I know, right?

Fatty.

And I threw two pieces of elephant dung and caught this.

That's awesome, dude.

So we got a breakfast.

Nice.

- It's intense out here. - It really is.

I don't know. It's making us stronger.

Okay. All right.

I'm enjoying this. It's, like, so good.

Elijah strongheart here.

It's cold at night.

Got a big... Grass blanket,

Got a fire going.

Elijah, wake up, fire. Dude, you're on fire.

It's out.

Ah, that was a close call.

Elijah's bed got caught on fire.

I'm pretty much sleeping one eye open and one closed.

My grass bundle caught on fire in the middle of the night.

So I am modifying... This rocket stove.

Hot air's not wanting to rise through it and get it hot.

Go.

So... I'm just gonna

Elevate it so it's a little bit of an angle,

And see how that goes.

I was a little bummed before, I was, like, "man, all that work for nothing."

Then I was, like...

Did the math, like,

Little bit more work to just really make sure

It's warm... I think it's worth it.

If I can get this working properly,

It will be much more efficient and safer than sleeping next to an open flame.

Tossing some coals in now...

Look at that.

As soon as all the walls are insulated, that hut should be really swell.

Oh, my god. Elijah, look at...

What the...

elephants are right there.

That's like 30 feet.

Holy crap!

Elephants aren't a joke out here.

They're huge and very dangerous.

And stay chill and quiet.

No sudden moves.

That is a gnarly animal.

They're so quiet, too. Sneak up on you.

Yeah. Thank god, we're in the boma.

It's kind of intense.

Oh, man that was... - are you scared?

That was so close.

Oh, my god.

That was so freakin' scary.

How much water did you drink today?

Like, half a pot, maybe.

Do you think that's enough for one day?

- Maybe not. - Probably not.

Elijah

Crosses that thin line of giving...

Unsolicited advice

To being micro-controlling.

If you don't drink the water...

You rapidly lose vitality.

I've been kinda like getting those feelings inside.

Not telling him so... There's no conflict or, like, tension between us.

But I feel I'm going to have to say something if it happens again.

- Got to drink it. - Yeah.

Just heard one of the loudest trumpets

From an elephant I've ever heard out here.

That was intense.

Eight days left.

Headed to go check my guinea trap.

Wish me luck.

Oh, man!

Trap sprung.

No guinea.

I'm pretty sure an elephant walked in here and tripped this.

That looks so much like elephant...

Well, the bait's still there. I'm gonna reset it.

Oh, that's so disappointing.

Reset. Go check the other trap.

Also an elephant.

An elephant was all over my girl.

I think the elephant was completely following...

The path I made.

Biggest creature out here.

They get pissed...

Break everything.

Holy.

And it's right there.

If the elephant

Thinks I'm sneaking behind it...

It'll turn and charge.

So the trick is

Just wait until they're spaced.

Just give them lots of space.

Oh, dude.

Oh, my god.

He's right there.

If the elephant thinks I'm sneaking behind it,

It'll turn and charge.

Oh, dude.

Oh, my god.

A lot of male elephants around here.

Walking all around my traps. Near the boma.

Dude.

I almost got charged by an elephant.

Elephants are freakin' scary.

That was intense.

- Really important to get that safety fire lit tonight. - Oh, yeah.

You do it.

You're putting the big logs on first.

Uh, we can't do that yet.

Didn't you want to start a fire again?

- Yeah, but we... - Oh, we wanna...

Can I teach you how to make a fire?

Ugh. Yeah.

Monica knows how to keep the flames going on the fire,

But doesn't really know how to get it started from coals.

I'm trying to teach her, because I think she needs to learn.

Do you wanna start? That way you can learn.

You do first.

No, that's too soon.

It has to be smaller.

It's like, you wouldn't feed a baby a steak, right?

It seems like more than

Him trying to help me understand,

He's trying to put me down and, like, teaching me a lesson.

You don't have to make fun.

I'm not making fun at all.

Nobody wants to feel dumb when you don't know something.

You make me feel like.

Like real, okay?

- I wasn't making fun. - You don't even know, like...

I was not at all making fun, monica.

I care about you and I just thought you would like that.

Nobody on earth would want you to correct them. You know?

- What do you mean? - You know?

I don't know.

Help them. Don't correct them.

You're so critical. That's it.

And I don't wanna hear it, that everyone's being critical all my life, like, I'm done.

And release, I want right now, from you for my team.

Hearing monica say that I'm criticizing her

And that it doesn't feel good for her is troubling.

My intentions have been to be helpful.

But maybe I need to approach monica differently

From the way I approach the kids in wilderness therapy.

So I'm thinking I'm gonna back off and only offer help if it's asked for.

Hope I can express things in a way that it doesn't sound like criticism.

And you can. Like, I have no doubt.

- I'm gonna lift this one. - Mmm-hmm.

- Would you push that one forward. - Oh, yeah. Mmm-hmm.

- Monica and I had a long discussion... Yesterday. - Yeah.

Monica doesn't want, like, unsolicited feedback.

But if this hadn't come up, I don't think I would have known that

The way I was trying to help was not being helpful for her.

- Can I show? - Yeah.

If you take this one, and lean it on this one.

Mmm-hmm. I'm so hot. Like, I...

Oh, you're good. 'cause this blocks the heat.

Mmm-hmm.

I really want unsolicited feedback.

And that's just two different ways of being and they're both perfectly great.

I feel like a lot closer after that.

Yeah. I think we're good friends.

I got my last little bit of energy left and I'm gonna make this steenbok trap.

A steenbok is a small antelope weighing up to 31 pounds

And known for leaping away from predators in a zig-zag run.

These solitary animals are active during the day and night.

They're gonna come through at night

And get funneled into a spot where they can step and...

Trigger a snare that...

Snags 'em up.

Trick for this is

Don't waste energy trying to dig super fast.

Slow and steady.

The tortoise wins the race on this.

I have got this hole dug.

Here is my spring-pole.

Mmm. Snare loop.

Trigger stick. Yep.

Two sticks planted horizontally in the hole support the trigger stick.

The cordage is then attached to the trigger stick.

And more sticks are placed in a circle to support the noose.

So what's gonna happen here is

I've got these sticks holding up the noose.

And some sticks against that trigger.

An animal's gonna come walking along. Step through this hole.

They'll fall down and at the same time this will spring up

And snare 'em, ideally pretty far up there.

I'll put a little grass around this and some sticks that go against that trigger.

Come back in the morning... Should have some food.

I'm really skinny right now.

I don't think I've ever been this skinny before.

I don't have the energy to do a lot.

But staying in the boma all day is one of the most

Challenging things I've ever done in my entire life.

I'm pure peace and chillness.

Did you hear that?

I don't know what that is.

I'm guessing that's an elephant.

They're back?

It's loud and pretty close.

It's scary. It's really scary out here.

Well, it's just... Elijah and I

And that's it. And a machete, and honestly...

Machete will do no harm to an elephant.

Oh, my god.

Whoa.

No sleeping for me tonight.

I'm going for it.

I've been thinking about this the whole time in my back pocket.

I'm starving. Never been this hungry.

All that walking and setting traps really burned me out.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures.

I'm cutting this.

Buffalo hide that we found on day one of insertion.

Hopefully it tastes really good too.

Are you sure it's safe?

It's super safe. I mean, seriously people eat

Boot leather. It's, like, a survival thing.

We're almost to the end. Don't ruin it.

No way.

Cracklings going in the pot.

Pig cracklings is just fried pig skins.

It's a big thing down south.

The smell of the rawhide stinks.

It's like picking your finger in your belly button and smelling it.

Deep.

I'm going for it.

Beef.

Chicharron african style.

Not the best. But, uh...

It's protein.

There we go.

They're pretty gross. I'm not gonna eat any more.

I just heard a lion.

Get a kill around the pond.

That's so scary.

Because of my asperger's,

The way I hear sounds...

Is more intensified than any neurotypical would hear it.

I use noise-cancelling headphones at home when

Some noises overwhelm me.

And here I don't have those tools.

And you just gotta cope with it on your own.

I'm anxious, especially at night. The noises, it all freaks me out.

It's like...

really bad anxiety out here.

You know, I curl up in a ball in the boma most of the day 'cause

I'm anxious of the environment and

Not eating makes me anxious.

Prolonged lack of protein can cause anxiety and depression,

As proteins are made up of amino acids that serve as mood regulators.

I think she's having a lot of trouble, uh, just getting water...

And doing small bits of walking around.

I'm a little concerned for her.

I get overwhelmed.

But and when I push myself through...

This challenge is not just surviving out here, it's also...

I'm trying to make myself stronger.

I feel tired.

I've been fasting for a long time.

Never been fasting this long before.

It's been eight days since I've had any real food.

Checking my steenbok trap.

Nothing. But...

We've got a lion print.

Looks like a lion's also hunting where I'm hunting.

I really can't stop thinking about food.

It's super annoying me.

Please... Let there be big food here.

Oh, look at that.

We got some lunch.

Breakfast. Another starling.

Son of a bitch!

Oh, look at that.

We got some lunch.

Son of a bitch!

Unfortunately, everything got eaten.

Yeah, uh, there's our little kitty footprints.

Uh...

That's such a bummer.

I really wanted to get some meat for monica.

Hey.

Is that a bird in my trap?

Oh, yeah.

That's a bird.

It's a yellow millet hornbill.

Oh, that's gonna be so good.

Moni's gonna be so stoked.

Awesome.

Thank you spirits of the land.

Nice.

Monica.

- You want have half of a yellow-billed hornbill? - Yeah.

- I'm hungry. - All right. I'm gonna cook it up.

I wanna be really clear in something.

People with asperger's, people with autism don't really express emotions that much.

That doesn't mean I'm not excited.

Super stoked, but it's hard to express our emotions

Physically and verbally.

But I'm definitely super stoked to be out here

And to have elijah as my partner.

No matter our differences, we've got our backs in order to survive.

I love cooking. Trick is not to rush it.

I hope the protein helps with the anxiety I've been feeling at night.

- You wanna eat? - Yeah.

Oh, you got the heart.

- Do you want it? - No, go for it.

Oh, my god.

Oh, it's so nice to have food finally.

We finally got some food. Some chicken.

Best for last.

Got the skull here.

Two eyeballs and a brain.

Brain has lots and lots of fat.

The eyeballs are salty.

Mmm, so creamy.

I feel so much better.

Crunch your bones!

No.

It's a song. It's music. It's fun.

It's called singing. I haven't heard you sing once yet.

- Hmm. - Come on, let me hear you sing a song.

Please!

Please sing me a song!

Moni!

The stove and the hut aren't really working well together.

Cabagan was almost too hot.

And then the walls could use some insulation.

I'm feeling like it's more important for me

To conserve my energy than work on this,

But I think I got enough energy in me to check on our traps.

Yeah?

That bird opened up my appetite.

And I'm exhausted today and hungrier than yesterday.

You wanna come?

- Uh, you can go. - Okay. Cool.

I definitely need more food.

Hopefully we can catch something big before extraction.

Ooh, that is fresh.

Think we got a buffalo here.

Dangerous.

You can see animal activity all over

From their tracks on the ground.

Oh, they spotted me.

Friggin' proper wild place in here.

We have to continue to stay alert.

And the more energy we have, the easier it will be.

We've had a little protein but we could use something else.

So, I'm gonna feed us with plants.

Checking my steenbok trap.

Oh, trap got sprung.

Nothing in it.

I'm seeing some steenbok tracks,

So like, it might have caught one

And gotten free.

Oh, look at that.

This is jasmine.

It's probably the only plant out here that has

Significant calories.

Sweet star jasmine is an edible creeping herb

With fruits and leaves that can be eaten raw

Or cooked as a vegetable.

This is a fruit. I just gotta crack it open.

So these one have, like, a bunch of sugar on it.

And that's what we need right now.

So... Excited.

Elijah's pretty tired right now, so...

Wanted to bring something so we can both feel better.

I'm tired.

Very tired. I'm feeling... Deep, deep tiredness.

I'm just gonna lay down for a minute.

Holy.

I'm feeling deep, deep tiredness.

I'm just gonna lay down for a minute.

Holy.

I'm in between two groups of elephants.

We have to walk quietly between them and get back to camp.

They're gone.

Those elephants are everywhere.

And I'm so friggin' tired

I couldn't run from them if I tried.

- Hey. - Hey.

I almost got charged again.

Wow.

We're such easy prey out here being so weak.

I got something for you to chew.

It's a jasmine pod. But it's basically fruit.

- Have you tried it? - Yeah.

As we share the jasmine, we can feel the sugar instantly.

Oh, it's so invigorating.

Wow.

There's definitely a bit of morale boost having sugar.

This is the night of day 18.

This is... We have three nights left.

It's getting cold again.

It is freezing cold.

Uh, I had to wake up and put my feet near the fire.

It's terrible.

- So frustrated with the cold. - Me too.

So hard.

It just feels like you haven't slept for days.

And I just not only feel bad physically but mentally.

So glad we have a fire right now.

Day 19.

Last night was one of the coldest nights

I've ever spent outside.

I almost wanted to cry.

I'm gonna warm up a little. I'm so cold.

I've never been so cold

As I was last night.

Our noses were just frozen.

We didn't sleep at all.

And right now, physically, I feel very, very weak.

In colder temperatures, a shivering body

Burns about 400 calories per hour

To stay warm, resulting in significant dips in energy levels.

Can't tell how much I'm tired

From not sleeping 'cause of the cold

Or 'cause I'm so empty of food.

I'm feeling near the end of my tank.

Very wild.

I don't know if I've ever felt this...

Empty.

I feel so weird.

I'm not thinking very well.

I really should just check the traps,

But I don't know. Think I'd rather just rest and conserve.

We're exhausted and so tired.

Not sure how we're gonna manage walking out of here

To extraction.

It sucks.

We're so close.

One night is not going to make us

Not complete this challenge as a team.

Last night was really tough

Emotionally and mentally.

And the mental game is a little tough sometimes.

I'm emotional at the moment,

But I've made it too far to quit.

I'm so grateful for my partner's support.

Oh, I am feeling it.

First thing I'm gonna do is go take down those bird traps.

And I guess there'll be time to get firewood

And rest up for a long walk tomorrow.

I'm low on energy and

I'm praying that we get a little morsel to eat before we walk out tomorrow.

Oh, my god!

Big, old, beautiful starling.

That's gonna help a lot.

Mmm... A little bit of...

Meat in the tank before walking.

It's the last full day. We're so close to the finish line.

My body is feeling super weak.

I just found a bird. Now I am super confident

That I'll be able to walk out of here.

Hey, hey. Hey, hey!

How about that!

Record for traps.

For catching pigeons with hands,

Killing pigeons with pots,

That's awesome.

Last meal, we both get a bird to eat. I'm so excited.

Last night of getting firewood.

Cook up some food. Get ready for extraction.

Another pot.

Yes!

Moni just killed another pigeon

With a pot full of water.

- Where is it? - I'll hold...

it's nice to be sitting under the shade of this tree

Looking out over the water watching some elephants,

And doing a little singing.

I find it's really, really relaxing

And really centers my soul.

Oh, my god. I really miss my noise cancelling headphones

When I hear elijah singing.

I don't think he understands how bad it is.

It's just so bad.

Another pot.

Yes!

Moni just killed another pigeon

With a pot full of water.

- Where is it? - I'll hold him.

It's right there.

Ah, good job.

Dinner!

Moni... If you see her on the street with a pot full of water...

Don't mess with her.

Dinner! Sweet.

I'm so excited for some food tonight.

Get the rest of those feathers off.

This is the last food

Before extraction.

We take our stick and we run it through

The backside, next to all the organs

And start roasting.

We're roasting this bird on a stick.

Bird on a stick.

Oh, this is gonna be the best bird yet.

Slow roast.

This is the best way to do it.

Oh, yeah.

Our last meal is delicious.

Oh, my god, it's so good to have food right now.

And that's gonna invigorate me a little bit

For extraction.

Day 20 and...

We are gonna get matching tattoos.

There's elijah doing himself the first

Tattoo. So we're gonna get it on the left knee.

It's really special for me to be able to like

Give each other tattoos

In a primitive style

Using the acacia thorns.

Using charcoal from the fire that kept us warm for 21 days.

That's a beautiful thing.

There you go.

It's a broken line and a whole line.

This is yin and yang from brokenness to wholeness.

And every time I look down at that I'll be like,

"yep, did that."

Right now it's my turn to get tattooed.

For monica's tattoo, I'm using clean new thorns.

I'm also sanitizing my stick with the fire

And making fresh ink.

- Can you hold that? - Yeah.

Yeah, right there.

This is mine.

Fist bump. Best friends for life.

- Our first african tattoo. - Mmm-hmm.

We are a couple of hours away

From day 21.

I cannot wait for this to end.

Looks like the... Night is not

Too cold yet.

Knock on wood.

Hopefully it stays good.

We've really grown a lot. We're better people with...

A lot more perspective on how we wanna go through life and

And what's really important.

It is...

Day 21!

I'm doing this so I can show other people that

It's okay to take risks and it's okay to go

Beyond our comfort zone.

It's very rewarding at the end

What you get to learn from those experiences.

Nice. Good flow.

Yeah, get the left hand going more and it'll float up easier.

Ah, super nice.

Yup, and then you can start to...

Monica's confidence has grown

Immensely throughout this whole challenge.

It's wonderful to see.

I'm really proud of her

And I'm really proud to be a part of

Her process, showing the world that

She's strong and that

Anybody can overcome anything.

- Looks like it's full. - Ooh.

Do you wanna take that home with you

As a reminder?

Yeah, I will practice. Yeah.

- It's my gift to you. - Thanks.

It's a great gift.

Being out here with you has taught me

That communication is the way to solve things,

You know, and not just keep them all inside of myself.

So it's something I'm really happy I learned from you.

Thanks for saying all that. It means a lot.

I feel like you really taught me that I can, like,

Have a little more patience when it comes to, like,

Problem solving and connecting with somebody. I really

- Appreciate you for that. - Yeah, me too.

So I figure we should get rolling

As soon as possible. That way...

We're not walking in the super-hot sun.

I don't think we should bring water. Let's just hydrate before.

Cool.

Towards the end of this challenge,

Monica and I have connected a lot more deeply.

Oh, my god. Super stoked.

Goodbye, boma, it's been good. It's been real.

Get the... Out of here.

The ability to connect and exchange information right now

Feels really strong and

I'm super confident monica and I are gonna be able to walk out of here together.

All right, you got that map?

- So we're there? - Yeah, that's what I'm seeing too.

We're gonna have to head that way like northwest-ish.

All right, let's go.

Monica and elijah will hike four miles

Through rough desert terrain full of sharp acacia thorns

And fallen trees that attract scorpions

And deadly black mamba snakes.

They'll then have to hike two miles across

A savanna grassland

Where lions hide in wait...

And across a mud pan

Where seven-ton elephants like to wallow...

Before reaching the clearing

Where they'll be rescued.

Ouch.

Stepping on stuff.

- Whoa. - Whoa!

- That's cool. - Cool.

Oh, I'm gonna keep this for the walk, in case I need to

Stab an elephant.

It's so hot.

No straight path through here.

There's a lot of cover for things to hide.

Gotta keep an eye out. Make sure we don't

Get ambushed.

What do you think?

I feel like I've been walking for days. I'm so tired.

Feeling weak, but mentally strong.

This is the last big push. The final stretch of africa.

We're gonna walk through a totally foreign environment.

Gotta make sure we still stay aware and attentive as we walk through this.

I think we follow our shadows.

We'll be getting there just right,

- If we keep the sun directly on our back. - Let's do it.

We walked in here... Twenty-one days together.

Now we're walking out.

Yeah.

Watch out for the lions.

Going through the tall grass. This is where big cats

Hide to hunt their prey.

It's scary and...

I think we're prey right now.

Walking on that slippery grass with the...

Hidden elephant holes

Can be a little tricky.

So dizzy.

Feel like 10 steps... I feel like I'm gonna pass out.

Sun's so intense.

I should've drank more water.

I... I feel cramping everywhere.

Monica looks rough.

She's having a really hard time walking.

There's those trees over there. You see it?

- I know. - It's like right there.

You're doing so good.

- It's so close. - Yeah, it is.

You got this.

- You really do. - Let's go.

We're gonna finish strong together.

I really feel that, like,

African motto, "if you wanna go fast

Go alone."

"but go together and you'll go further."

I feel really honored

- To go through this whole experience with you. - Me too.

We're on the other side, made it across the pan.

Somewhere real close here should be our road and our extraction.

I hope this is it.

So hot and

Dehydrated.

Do you hear that?

Oh, look at that!

Looks like our ride's here.

Yes!

- We did it. - Boom. Boom!

I am so excited to be getting in this truck and getting out of here.

I have so many emotions welling up inside me.

You know, I can persevere through anything after that.

This experience has totally changed my life.

I feel like my heart's been opened immensely.

Monica taught me, like, so much patience and compassion.

I think I have a better understanding of how to walk in this world

And uplift others around me.

- We made it. - Yeah!

After surviving for 21 days

In the harsh sankuyo desert of botswana,

Elijah leaves the challenge 40 pounds lighter.

His psr rises from 7.0 to 7.8.

-Proud of you -proud of you too.

You know, elijah and I did really good teamwork.

This past 21 days have been so tough,

Mentally and physically.

This experience changed my life

And taught me communication is the way to solve things.

I'm so proud I made it.

I was out here to show

People with asperger's that

No tag is going to define your limit.

It's all in here.

You set your own limits,

So set them really high.

You can get there.

Monica lost 20 pounds and her psr rises

From 6.1 to 6.6.

Africa, you broke me but I rebuilt myself even stronger.

I'm gonna give my very best all the time

And be the best version of myself

Twenty-one days!

We did it! We made it!

>>>>oakislandtk www.opensubtitles.org