Original subtitles

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

[ cicadas chirping ]

[ groans ]

[ sighs ]

[ groans, retches ]

amanda: Man, I'm really worried about you, josh.

[ walkie-talkie beeps ]

over by his tree.

[ retches ]

narrator: In the world's harshest environments,

two experienced survivalists

put their skills to the ultimate test

without food, water, or clothes.

[ cries ] [ grunting ]

now in the swampy jungles of southern nicaragua,

two strangers have to work together

to survive for 21 days...

Joshua: This is life or death.

Captions paid for by discovery communications

my two phobias are latex balloons and spiders.

I absolutely hate spiders,

and there are a ton of them out here that are everywhere.

My name's amanda lee,

and I grew up running around barefoot in the hills of texas,

building different sorts of shelters

and different ways to start fire and hunting snakes,

and that's how we'd get our dinner.

I'm sort of emotionless about meeting my partner.

It's -- I don't know -- a natural defense I have

going into situations I know I can't control

or that I don't know anything about.

I make no apologies about liking animals more than humans

'cause, quite frankly, they're more loyal and easier to trust.

Joshua: Mother nature's gonna be my bitch.

I am the apex predator. It's all mind over matter.

Anything she throws at me, I'll push past it.

My name is joshua.

I'm a gunsmith from roxboro, north carolina.

I am the total stereotypical redneck.

[ gunshot ]

a real redneck ain't afraid to get dirty,

ain't afraid of hard work,

and we'll make chicken salad out of chicken [bleep]

I grew up on a tobacco farm in north carolina,

so tobacco industry is a big part of my heritage.

I've been struggling to kick this habit for years,

and I think this 21 days right here

will definitely aid in that, so last cigarette.

No more ever again.

All right. No turning back now.

Growing up, I was always

this fiery, determined ball of energy,

and then being stepped on so many times,

I lost that confidence.

I wanted to do this to prove to myself

that I've still got some of that ornery spirit to me

and see if I can overcome that 'cause, if I can,

it just makes me feel like that much stronger of a woman.

All right, let's light this firecracker.

Being a redneck, it ain't nothing for me,

ain't nothing but another day on the farm.

Except for this farm's a hell of a lot bigger

and a hell of a lot more dangerous.

Hi. Hi.

How are you?

If I was any better, I'd be naked.

Oh, wait.

[ laughs ] I love it already.

Yeah. I'm amanda.

I'm joshua. Joshua.

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

See you've got the same outfit as me.

Oh, yeah, I mean, god, I hate it when people match.

Dang it.

And it took me five hours to pick this one out, too.

Really? I threw it on in 30 seconds.

'course. Men.

Exactly.

Immediately, we were able to have

kind of that banter back and forth

and sort play off each other's sarcasm,

so I think that's gonna work extremely well in our favor.

Let's see what we got here.

All right, well...

Narrator: Like many survivalists before her,

amanda has elected to bring along a machete.

Oh, nice.

What'd you bring?

While josh has opted for a more unconventional tool.

Duct tape.

[ laughs ] awesome. Awesome.

My dad always says, "if you can't duct it, [bleep]"

this is a redneck's multi-tool.

We are going to be clothed. We are going to be shoed.

I love the color you chose. I know.

Maybe I can get joshua to make me

some sort of a duct-tape bikini bottom.

In addition to their tools, josh and amanda were each given

a primitive survival rating, or psr,

as determined by a panel of experts in primitive survival

and special forces training.

While unorthodox,

josh possesses a solid level of basic wilderness skills.

But the fact that he is a smoker

brings his physical stamina into question

and lowers his score to a 6.1.

Amanda's limited experience in the outdoors

makes her an intermediate-level survivalist.

But her tendency to act as a loner

could interfere with her ability to work with a partner.

She scores a psr of 5.8.

If they're able to make it to the end of the 21 days,

their psrs will be reevaluated.

[ sighs ]

the one thing that's a little disturbing to me,

almost unnerving, right now is the lack of wildlife.

I've seen some insects, but...

It's all gonna come alive at night.

It's almost like they're in hiding from something.

I don't know if we're scaring them off

or something else out there.

Ooh, let's see.

What's you seeing, josh?

Uh...I've seen tracks similar to that in florida

where the american alligator lives.

Okay.

Well, we do have some caiman out here.

Josh and amanda have been inserted

along the southern border of nicaragua

on the shore of the san juan river.

Here, one of the largest populations

of fresh-water caiman in central america

will force them to move inland through the thick rainforest

in search of drier ground for a camp spot.

But the jungle is home

to aggressively territorial spider and howler monkeys

and over 150,000 species of teeming insects,

deadly spiders, and highly venomous snakes.

I think I see a little bit of a clearing up ahead.

I hate to almost do it, but we're losing light fast.

We're gonna have to set up a temporary shelter.

Clouds have been moving in and out, as well.

We're only losing daylight, so if this is it,

let's get started building.

I think I set my machete down over there.

Oh, you did? Hey, I'll tell you what.

That's kind of hard to see in natural colors.

This is rather bright.

Let's wrap a wrap around the handle.

Make it noticeable.

Yeah, in case we lose it.

Definitely don't want to lose the machete.

Make it purdy.

I'm super excited.

It seems like we both have the same sense of humor.

I'm kind of the duct tape queen,

so this is gonna be interesting.

How do you like this height?

You're the michelangelo here. You're the architect.

Then I'll cut another one,

and we can put it on the other side of this.

It makes it a little bit wider.

The trunk will be part of the bed,

if you're okay with that.

Whatever, man.

So, this is a good length.

It's splitting.

Amanda: Pull it towards you.

Yeah. Yep.

There you go. [ groans ]

good grief.

It's a brand-new machete.

Has a factory edge on it, which dulled quickly.

So I'm having to exert more force

to do the same amount of work.

This [bleep] sucks.

Amanda: Wow, that's solid.

I'm not a big cuddler.

I love my personal bubble.

So I'm nervous about tonight.

I'm not gonna be snuggling up on someone,

just for the comfort of physical touch.

Narrator: While amanda reinforces the shelter,

joshua fashions a cup from duct tape

so they can turn their attention to the next necessity -- water.

Hey, I found some mud down here, pure mud.

Whoo! Water.

It's very, very small trickle.

The water gathered in these stagnant pools

has most likely been contaminated

by nearby plant life, mosquitoes, and animal feces

that can cause typhoid and other deadly diseases.

This area's like really, really wet.

I think we might be able to find some water in here.

Because of the presence of carbon in the dirt,

digging a small seep well

will filter out many potential contaminants

as the water slowly trickles from the sides and below.

We're wasting a lot of energy for this

if it doesn't turn out.

Look, look.

It's starting to fill in.

Yeah.

Like, it's just flowing in on its own.

Hey, we can make, like, a little pallet out of duct tape

to cover it.

Nice.

That's great.

I'm surprised.

I didn't think it was gonna taste near that good.

It's a make-or-break for us.

If there's water in the morning, we're gonna be okay.

If there's not, there is no plan "b" yet.

Right now about to make my partner a brassiere

out of duct tape and possibly vine.

I don't know yet.

I feel it's a good gesture of community

to kind of help her cover up.

I'm a modest girl.

I don't really care to have everything out on display,

so I'm very grateful that he put that together for me.

And tomorrow, we'll get you some matching underwear.

That would be great.

I've already had quite a few things

interested in the accessories I have down there.

These things are all over my back.

It's a little bit too dark to be traveling to our water hole.

Yeah.

We've got a bed, we've got some fresh drinking water,

and that's crucial to survival.

I'm really, really worried about fire.

There is not a lot of dry wood to work with out here.

That's a priority task for tomorrow.

So, our shelter is listing. It's listing terribly.

I keep sliding towards you.

Okay.

We can switch positions, if you'd prefer.

No, 'cause then you'll end up sliding into me.

Okay.

I'm trying to maintain a healthy --

[ crash ] [ gasps ]

[bleep] ow!

Joshua: I can't lay down.

You're good. Stay there. I'm sitting.

I'm not getting comfortable at all.

We can switch positions, if you'd prefer.

No, 'cause then you'll end up sliding into me.

[ crash ] [ gasps ]

[bleep]

ow!

Oh, my gosh.

Amanda: I did a piss-poor job on that bed.

Well, our bed is toast.

Yep.

It was freezing cold last night,

so I first and foremost want to get a fire started

and get working on that so that we're not having to rely

on body heat to actually stay warm.

Joshua: I'll keep you swatted.

I'm getting eaten alive by horse flies.

Josh was trying to bat them away as I'm working at it.

But we're still not getting fire.

We're still struggling with that.

Have you ever started a fire like this before?

Not this way.

Nor have I.

Yeah, that's super wet. Damn it.

Joshua: Time to hydrate or die.

I really hope there's water in our well.

Amanda: For sure.

I see our tape.

Kind of a pivotal moment here.

Joshua: Since we don't have fire to boil our water,

this well is really important.

Okay.

Ready?

No. I'm scared.

It's a do-or-die moment.

Oh, my god.

Wow. Look at that.

There is a ton.

Yes, I have our chalice, my lady.

Ladies first.

Thank you.

It shouldn't be quite as gritty as it was last night.

Amanda: We got clean drinking water,

which I was surprised at how tasty it was.

I expected nasty stuff.

That is a wonderful, wonderful find.

[ animal growls ]

what the [bleep] is that?

Spider monkey.

There's a couple of them.

Right there.

If it pooped, it --

[ trickling ]

that's awesome.

If it pissed like it just did, it would rain on us.

It's throwing stuff and laughing at us.

[bleep]

joshua: Those monkeys are hurling nuts at us.

They were looking for us, hearing our voices,

and just chunking these things at us.

I mean, they're 60, 70 feet up, and they can throw pretty well.

They were hitting the ground with some velocity.

We decided to get out of here and not linger too much longer.

We seem to be interrupting their breakfast time.

They're none too happy about that.

No.

Narrator: With just four hours of daylight left

and nighttime temperatures in the low 60s,

amanda and joshua turn their attention

to the redesign of their shelter and finding ways to stay warm.

So, I'm just using the support posts

for our new shelter,

and I'm just going down, doing straight strips

in an effort to make a blanket

for us to have some warmth tonight.

I'm gonna put tape going across back the other way

when I get it done, so that way, both sides are teal.

And when it gets cold in the middle of the night,

we can have a nice, insulated blanket.

This actually looks really frickin' good.

Yeah.

I've got a little bit of withdrawal symptoms

since I've had my last cigarette.

They're gonna possibly make me a little cranky,

but I should be able to control them.

I can't get them to weave, anything to weave.

Weaving is not my strong suit.

I mean, is that okay with you -- leaving that side open?

I'll sleep on that side.

Yeah, that's fine. Absolutely.

Narrator: Other common effects of nicotine withdrawal

include headaches, anxiety, and nausea.

I'm coming in.

All right.

Oh, my goodness.

You're laying this way?

No, I'm laying the other way.

Oh, I'm excited about trying to get some sleep

for the first time since I've been here.

[ rustling ]

[ rusting continues ]

[ bird clucking ]

amanda: I didn't get to sleep much last night.

I realized he's not respecting that space boundary

that I need him to respect.

Throughout the night, he would, like, bump my foot

or bump my elbow or something,

so I'd scoot further away

until I just ended up at the foot there.

How much sleep have you gotten lately?

A couple hours. That's it.

You didn't get any last night?

Oh. No, I didn't get any last night.

Joshua: Can't go without sleep. I mean, you have to sleep.

Your body needs it.

And it's only gonna hurt the team.

Joshua: I, like, know every time I accidentally bumped into you

in the middle of the night or something,

like, touch your hand or something,

you, like, freak out.

Uh-huh.

I really think that's not good.

Like, I anticipated coming into this not sleeping at night,

and then just catching a few hours during the day.

Amanda: It seems to be bothering josh

that I have an issue with needing my bubble,

but I don't think it's weird

that I don't want some strange guy

that I don't know who's nude,

that I don't want him touching me.

I think that's a completely normal feeling.

Well, I'm sorry if you're in

such a difficult position with this.

Oh, no, no, no.

Wish I could help you out in some way, but I've tried.

Joshua: Personally, I think she needs to get a straw,

open it up, and suck it the [bleep] up.

Narrator: Without a fire for cooking,

amanda and josh set out separately

to forage for fruit and other edibles.

Amanda: When I'm alone, that's when I'm at my happiest.

I prefer it.

This is a telerooster

it's a little sustenance to get me through my walk.

Little bit of nutrient, little bit of moisture.

Joshua: I'm tired.

I've been walking for almost two hours.

I can definitely feel the lack of food taking its toll.

It's really shocking how quick my energy levels just plummeted.

Honestly, right now I'm running on fumes.

I have nothing left in the tank.

I doubt I could run half a mile right now in open land

if they promised me a steak dinner and beer afterwards.

Ow! Ah!

Geez, there's some spiny-ass plants in here, too.

♪ I see a banana tree ♪

♪ or plantains ♪

♪ I don't know what the hell they are ♪

whoo!

Almost got me.

[ exhales deeply ]

I'm gonna have to chop this down

because there's no way I can carry all that excess weight.

Oh, my god.

Pineapples!

My bag's getting pretty full.

[ breathing heavily ]

food is kicking my ass.

It's like 85% water weight, and it's heavy.

All of a sudden, I'm feeling sick.

I could even puke right now.

[bleep]

[ breathing heavily ]

food is kicking my ass.

It's like 85% water weight, and it's heavy.

All of a sudden, I'm feeling sick.

I could even puke right now.

[bleep]

[ chuckles ]

I'm not a religious man, but it's come down to the point

where I'm honestly thinking about praying.

Couldn't hurt, wouldn't take any energy.

I got no choice now but to cowboy up.

[ grunts ]

got a ways to go to the top of the hill.

Come on.

Honey, I'm home.

Amanda: Hola.

What you got?

I got some plantains.

[ chuckles ]

they're not ripe yet.

Holy crap.

So we've got to wait for a couple of days.

Do you really want to see the good surprise in my sack?

Yeah.

[ gasps ] you got to be kidding me.

I am so thrilled to have an abundant supply of nutrition,

but at the same time, now we have to worry about

all the animals around smelling it and wanting it.

I mean, it's plantains and pineapple.

Who doesn't want that?

[ sighs ] I need to get something to...

To drink? Let's go. Yeah.

Definitely.

Bringing back all that booty there was a major high today.

But right now I'm at a super low.

I'm...Wiped out.

I got to stop drinking so fast.

Make myself sick.

[ retches ]

amanda: Josh, you've been walking for four hours.

You can't overexert yourself.

We still have -- what? -- 18 more days left to go.

I just drank my water too fast, that's all.

I did have a long, hard hunt this morning.

Amanda: He's a smoker, and he's quitting coming here,

so it's just not a good combination

for taking on a challenge like this,

so he's feeling it now.

It's kind of weird throwing up and not having any food come up.

[ chuckles ]

y'all done? I'm done.

All right, I'll cover it back up.

You need more? I'm okay.

[ retching ]

oh, man.

I'm really worried about you, josh.

Narrator: Josh continues to vomit

for the remainder of the day.

By nightfall, his condition hasn't improved.

[ coughs ]

the medics are called in

to assess josh's worsening condition.

They administer a shot of promethazine,

a powerful antiemetic, to try and combat josh's nausea.

[ grunts ]

I just want to go to sleep.

I can feel it acting on me already.

Narrator: Amanda and josh finally manage to get some much-needed sleep.

But soon, josh's condition takes an unexpected turn.

Josh is sleepwalking.

Whoa.

I must have dozed off.

I don't even remember you getting up.

I don't...Think I did. I don't remember it, either.

How you feeling?

Really weird.

My mouth is watering so hard

at the thought of this pineapple right now.

If I wait any longer, I might drown in drool.

[ chuckles ]

it smells so good right now.

The pineapple only contains 82 calories per cup.

The minerals, vitamins, and natural sugars

will provide josh and amanda with some much-needed nutrients.

That is probably...

The absolute best thing

I have ever eaten in my life.

Damn, that's good.

It's almost like a cucumber inside.

Kind of.

I'm eating that way too fast.

I need to sit down before I vomit again.

[ inhales sharply ]

I think I need to visit the throw-up tree.

[ retches ]

he inhaled that piece of pineapple.

Whoa.

I don't think impulsive in this jungle

is the way to go at all.

You'll get yourself in a world of hurt real quick.

[ retches ]

so, josh has been puking a lot.

It's day 5. We're concerned.

We're concerned about the dizzy spells.

We're concerned that he's just not being able

to hold anything down,

so we have had the medics come out.

And I just ate the pineapple 10 minutes ago.

Joshua: He thinks there's a chance it might be from cigarettes,

but I don't think so.

I don't know.

Amanda: He's going through the nicotine withdrawals,

caffeine withdrawals.

You're a marine, bud. Man up. Pull through.

I'm really, really tired.

[ coughs, retches ]

joshua: [ retches ]

narrator: It's only day 5

of josh and amanda's 3-week survival challenge

in the swampy jungles of southern nicaragua.

And josh has been vomiting for unknown causes

for the last two days.

[ retches ]

joshua: I dare one of you [bleep] to say

it's a side effect of the cigarettes.

I'll slap you.

Narrator: Unable to keep food or water down,

he is becoming weaker with every passing minute.

From dehydration, exhaustion, malnutrition.

It's gotten the best of me.

Cannot continue this challenge.

What's going on?

I'm going home.

You're going home?

Yeah, I can't keep it up.

I'm sorry to let you down like this, but I...

I can't keep anything down. I have no energy.

I'm severely dehydrated. I tried rest. I tried medicines.

Tried food, water. None of it worked.

Duct tape's hanging on the post for you.

Enjoy it.

[ sniffles ]

sorry to anyone I let down.

But I'm going out of this with my head held high.

Amanda: He left me. He left me here.

And so this is no longer his challenge.

It's no longer our challenge. It's just my challenge.

Now I've got 16 days

that I'm gonna have to do alone, and that's scary.

Narrator: To make it to the end of the challenge,

amanda will have to survive alone in the jungle

longer than anyone in the history of "naked and afraid."

amanda: It's my first night alone,

and it's starting to sink in that I am by myself,

so if anything happens, it's completely up to me.

But I don't have to worry

about the whole cuddling issue anymore,

so I guess I got what I wished for.

Maybe I'll get some sleep tonight.

[ animals growling ]

everything seems so much louder.

[ growling continues ]

[ rustling ]

[ growling continues ]

[ rustling ]

oh, my god.

Didn't get too much sleep last night.

I have got bites from head to toe.

On my back, up and down my arms, everywhere.

It's important for me to be strong

because I've had to fight for everything in my life.

Nothing has really been handed to me,

so I know if I can get through this

that there's a ton of other things that I can get through

that are a lot less challenging.

Narrator: The pineapples josh harvested

have rotted in the heat and humidity,

making them inedible.

Amanda: I know my body is needing some calories

and nutrition right now,

so I'm gonna go ahead and eat a plantain.

Doesn't look like they're gonna ripen up too much anymore,

but at this point the starch and the calories will do me good.

So, it's what I've got. It's what I'll take.

Oh, that was...Absolutely awful.

But hopefully my body thanks me for it.

Just keeping my eyes peeled

to see if I can't find something to eat.

Oh! Look at that.

I found a nice huge almond.

Those are super awesome.

[ monkeys grunting ]

yeah, so, I haven't had protein while I've been out here,

so it'd be nice to get some in my belly.

I was gonna see if maybe I could crack one open.

That is a hard nut to crack.

Broke the rock.

[ sighs ]

[ thunder rumbles ]

as solitary of a person as I like to be, I have my limits.

I think I'm on autopilot now.

I'm just kind of...Hanging on.

I'm kind of just closed up.

I've got my walls around me.

[ animal growls ]

[ monkey grunting ]

narrator: Over halfway through the challenge,

amanda remains in camp,

making no effort to venture out for food

and slipping deeper into her own thoughts.

[ gasps ]

[ sighs ]

oh, my god. That is disgusting.

Ugh.

[ animal growls ]

what the hell is that?

Oh, my god.

[ monkeys grunting ]

there's just so much stuff.

[ monkeys chittering ]

I don't want to talk.

I can't do this anymore.

[ monkeys grunting ]

narrator: Before beginning a 21-day survival challenge

in the jungles of southern nicaragua,

amanda and her partner

were both given a primitive survival rating,

or psr.

Despite his illness,

josh's decision to tap out on day 5

will lower his final psr score significantly.

Since his departure,

amanda has been attempting to survive

alone in the jungles of southern nicaragua

for what would be a record of 16 days.

But with four days to go until her extraction,

she appears close to her breaking point.

Amanda: I don't want to take on this challenge anymore.

[ insects chirping ]

narrator: Without a partner

in the jungles of southern nicaragua for the last 12 days,

amanda has struggled with the mental strain of isolation.

Amanda: I don't want to take on this challenge anymore.

[ monkeys grunting ]

narrator: Three hours later, amanda returns to camp.

Amanda: I went into my bubble, my defense capsule.

This little devil that makes you question yourself

just kept speaking louder and louder and louder.

You can't just throw in the towel.

You can't just give up

'cause it's a goal that I really want to achieve.

I have a lot of insecurities.

I have a lot of self-esteem things that I work through.

I came here to prove to myself how strong I am.

I came here to get that drive and that determination back,

and if I go home now, I don't know I would ever get it.

[ laughs ]

I cracked an almond!

[ laughs ]

this little nut just made me so happy.

Oh, it tastes so good.

I'm tired, fatigued, and dehydrated and malnourished.

Hope that I have enough strength, energy,

and hydration to make my way out.

Narrator: To reach her extraction point,

amanda will need to make her way east several miles

into the dense, snake-ridden jungle

in search of a tributary stream.

She will then follow it south,

through three more miles of muddy swamps

to the mouth of the river infested with caiman,

where she will have to swim to a rescue boat.

I'm looking for any snakes, any spiders.

[ thunder rumbles ]

[ thunder rumbles ]

oh [bleep]

I cannot catch a break to save my life.

[ sighs ]

[bleep]

[ groans ]

[ thunder cracks ]

oh, the rain is just getting worse.

Come on.

It's twisty and turny.

I keep hoping that around each corner is the end,

and it's just another corner.

[ breathing heavily ]

[ sighs ]

[ engine whirring in distance ]

oh.

Hey!

Hey!

Oh, my word.

Oh, god.

Hey!

I came on this challenge to confirm in myself

that I am a strong woman

and that I can mentally overcome immense challenges.

Oh, I did it!

21 days! 16 alone!

The person coming back from this challenge

is a heck of a lot more confident

than the person going in,

and I think that my self-esteem points

get bumped up a little bit.

Whoo-hoo!

People have always asked me,

"what's the craziest thing you've ever done?"

and now I have a pretty definitive answer for that.

Aah-ooh!

Narrator: Over the course of her record-setting survival ordeal,

amanda experienced significant physical changes.

She lost a total of 21 pounds.

Based on both survivalist's performance,

their psrs were reassessed.

Josh's unconventional approach showed some promise,

but his tap out on day 5 drops his psr significantly

from a 6.1 to a 4.3.

After josh's departure, amanda struggled to secure food

and maintain her mental composure,

but in the end, showed incredible fortitude

in making it through to day 21.

As a result, her psr rises from a 5.8 to a 6.3.

So, finally back to civilization,

enjoying being back with my puppies.

But we're still healing from all of the bug bites.

I quit smoking.

Absolutely still regret tapping out,

even though I know it was for the best.

But I can do it.

I will do it.

And I would love the chance to try again.

Narrator: In the end, amanda overcame the swampy jungles of nicaragua

and proved she has what it takes to survive alone

longer than anyone before her...

Amanda: Aah-ooh!

Narrator: ...Naked and afraid.