TAR19, Recap Leg 11, 12/4/11

Welcome to Leg 11! Last time, on Sprouting Up All Over Belgium, teams raced through Belgium. There were cars and waffles and rafts. Ernie and Cindy lost their lead. Again. Andy and Tommy won the leg. AGAIN. And Bill and Cathi were eliminated. Who will be eliminated . . . next? (click for more)

Arrival at the pit stop last episode:
1st – Andy/Tommy, The Snowboarders
2nd – Jeremy/Sandy, Team Tryout
3rd – Ernie/Cindy, Team Chinatown
4th – Amani/Marcus, Team Football

Atomium, Brussels, Belgium

The teams slept in the Atomium all night!!! (Toyouke: “I would much rather sleep in the Atomium than customize a car online that I can't have for another two weeks.”)

3:46 AM Andy/Tommy (1st) – (Toyouke: “I guess Andy and Tommy are not as irritating as past teams. Such as Team T-Tow. Or Flo.”)

Clue: Teams should dress in the costumes provided in the box. Once in costume, teams travel to Rue de l’Etuve 37 and find the pictured character (Tintin) and describe to him who you are dressed as and what you do. (Detectives Dupond and Dupont)

(Toyouke: “Uh...what? Although, Tintin is hot.” Kmanpat: “I second that emotion!”)

4:20 AM Jeremy/Sandy (2nd)
4:35 AM Ernie/Cindy (3rd)
4:40 AM Amani/Marcus (4th) – (Toyouke: “Them in the cab giggling and Marcus trying to stop so he doesn't lose his mustache? Hilarious.”)

Teams arrive on Rue de l’Etuve in the four o’clock hour and start asking locals who they are dressed as. (Toyouke: “Yes, let's ask random people who are on the street at 4am. They'll totally recognize comic book characters. If you went to any random city in the US and asked people questions at 4am, you would probably not get any help whatsoever.”) They are provided with various translations of the names, and Andy and Tommy find internet kiosks and determine that they are Charlie Chaplin. (Toyouke: “Seriously they look like Charlie Chaplin.”) Obviously, they are wrong. Anyway, teams get their clue from the ever adorable Tintin in the following order:

1- Jeremy/Sandy
2- Ernie/Cindy
3- Amani/Marcus
4- Andy/Tommy

Teams are now instructed to take a train to Amsterdam and go to the airport to fly over 4000 miles to the city of Panama City, Panama! Once there, teams were to make their way to Puerto Cerado and take a boat to Parara Paru and locate Embera Village to get their next clue.

We find that the Tintin clue had no bearing on the teams, as they all make the same Amazing Dotted Red Line to Amsterdam and Amazing Red Line to Panama City.

Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Jeremy/Sandy
3- Ernie/Cindy
4- Amani/Marcus

Teams arrive at the motorboats in the following order:

1- Jeremy/Sandy
2- Andy/Tommy
3- Amani/Marcus
4- Ernie/Cindy

Teams find that there are NOT hours of operation and the motorboats will drive them in the middle of the night to their destination. (Toyouke: “I am totally expecting creepy pictures to jump out at them like in Willy Wonka.”) So, they arrive at the village in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Jeremy/Sandy
3- Amani/Marcus – Marcus: “We’re going to get a crash course in head shrinking.”
4- Ernie/Cindy

Teams arrive and are invited to sign up for tattoos in three time slots.

7:00 AM
1) Andy/Tommy

7:20 AM
1) Jeremy/Sandy

7:40 AM
1) Amani/Marcus
2) Ernie/Cindy

And then teams spend the night on hammocks in the village.

Teams wake up in the morning, and go and get their tattoos, which is their next clue. (Toyouke: “Oh, this isn't a tattoo. Weak sauce. At least poke them some.”) Teams are now headed back to Panama City to locate the San Francisco Bay Towers.

Teams arrive back at the port in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Jeremy/Sandy
3- Ernie/Cindy
4- Amani/Marcus

And then teams taxi to the San Francisco Bay towers to arrive in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Jeremy/Sandy
3- Ernie/Cindy
4- Amani/Marcus

And once they arrive, teams get the twelfth roadblock clue. (Toyouke: “CLUE BOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, I MISSED you!!”)

ROADBLOCK:

“Who wants to walk in rarified air?”

(Kmanpat: “In reality, this should read, “Who GETS to walk in rarified air?” as they tell us exactly which team members are taking the roadblock.” Toyouke: “It looks like the 6-Roadblock-rule is still in effect. But if Sandy's done 5, and Jeremy's done 6, then after this one they'll be even. So does that mean there aren't any more Roadblocks? Or what?”)

In this roadblock, one team member must travel 35 stories into the air and walk a tightrope between two buildings in order to get their next clue. Roadblockers then walk back across the rope to unsuit and return to their partner where they can open their next clue.

The following teammates take the Roadblock, because they have to:

1- Andy
2- Sandy - who is afraid of heights.
3- Cindy
4- Amani

It is interesting to note that Ernie spots the taxi drivers talking. Jeremy remarks that his cab drier knows where he is going after the Roadblock, and then proceeds to tell the other ones. (Toyouke: “See, that's why you don't discuss directions where everyone else's taxis are.”) This could provide for interesting leg endgame.

After much tight rope walking, teams complete the Roadblock in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Jeremy/Sandy
3- Ernie/Cindy
4- Amani/Marcus

Teams are now instructed to find the man who had “success in Suez” located “beneath a rooster.” (Toyouke: “A real clue clue! It's like they decided in this leg to go old school. Or maybe Panama insisted.”) This directs teams to the Ferdinand de Lesseps Statue to get their next clue.

Teams arrive at the statue in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Jeremy/Sandy
3- Ernie/Cindy
4- Amani/Marcus

And we get the Detour Clue.

DETOUR:
Filet OR Sole
*Water: Teams travel to El Mercado de Mariscos and deliver specific amounts of fish to each of the marked vendors. Once complete, teams return to the fishmonger and get their next clue.
*Waffles: Teams travel to the Salsipuedes Market and find Tacho Cuterras to use one piece of leather to make one pair of traditional sandals. Once complete, the cobbler will give them their next clue.

1- Andy/Tommy choose Sole
2- Ernie/Cindy choose Sole
3- Jeremy/Sandy choose Sole
4- Amani/Marcus choose Filet – but end up at Sole because their cab driver had been communicating with everyone else’s cab driver. Instead of performing the task, they took the risk to be delivered to the actual task they picked. (Toyouke: “No! When you stumble on the other Detour choice you do it instead of losing more time by looking for the one you want! Although, if you're in last and everyone else is doing the same Detour choice, I can see that.”)

Teams complete the detour in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy
2- Amani/Marcus
3- Ernie/Cindy
4- Jeremy/Sandy

Teams are now instructed to make their way to the Polera demonstration in Cathedral Square to find the name of their Pit Stop. We are told that the clue can be spotted written on one of the dresses or pictured on a medallion.

Teams arrive in the following order:

1- Andy/Tommy – who arrive first, and determine that since the medallions all say Balboa, they must be looking for Balboa. (Toyouke: “See? This is too tricky of a task for this group of racers. Because if I saw the word "Balboa" and I knew that was what the money was called, and I saw the word on COINS, I might think twice about it.”) So their driver takes them to the Panama Canal and the Balboa Statue (Toyouke: “Oh, Balboa was a thing that exists? That sucks.”) before they return to take another look. In the meantime, the other teams have come and gone.
2- Amani/Marcus – they go with the Balboa clue, but are redirected by their cab driver who is following . . .
3- Ernie/Cindy – who also have the Balboa clue, but are redirected by THEIR cab driver who is following . . .
4- Jeremy/Sandy – who found the medallion with the picture of Panama Viejo on it. (Toyouke: “Sandy, stumbling on the right answer.”) They told their cab driver, and you can determine the rest. (Toyouke: “Not one of these racers knows if they're right or not. That's not a good task.”)

(Toyouke: “Wait...so Ernie and Cindy, and Amani and Marcus, are now going to the right place because Jeremy and Sandy's cab driver told their drivers where to go. But they didn't actually have to solve the clue. That is DEFINITELY not a good task.”)

Once teams find their clue, they learn they are on their way to Panama Viejo, the PIT STOP of the eleventh leg of this racearoundtheworld. The last team to arrive MAY be eliminated!

1- Jeremy/Sandy – who win a trip for two to Turks and Caicos.
2- Ernie/Cindy
3- Amani/Marcus
4- Andy/Tommy

(Toyouke: “Although I don't mind the snowboarders are out, in particular, I don't like how it happened. Because it seemed to happen because Andy and Tommy went off on their own. Everyone else collaborated, and finished through no effort of their own. Ernie and Cindy, and Amani and Marcus, they didn't figure out the clue. So they should have driven around and gone back and so forth like the snowboarders did.”)

And Andy and Tommy’s luck due to other team stupidity has finally been thwarted by intelligent Panamanian cab drivers. Andy is thankful he experienced God’s awesome creation.

ORDER NOW:
1st – Jeremy/Sandy
2nd – Ernie/Cindy
3rd – Amani/Marcus

Next week: The pressure is on in the final destination city of Atlanta! There is flight simulation, a typewriter roadblock, and a final task featuring maps and carabineers. Who will win TAR 19? Until next time!