Original subtitles

Oh [bleep]

[Bleep]

Narrator: They survived in pairs and in groups,

and now the best of the best

are taking on their greatest challenge yet...

to survive 21 days...

Holy [bleep]

...with no support...

Oh, my God!

...no one to watch their back...

Man: This is my shot.

Narrator: ...Completely exposed.

[ Groaning ]

I'm terrified.

So I've been out here in the backcountry of Alaska training.

No better way to get ready for the wild

than to get in the wild.

Godfather is back.

Yeah. I'm 53. Yeah. I'm older.

But since my last "Naked and Afraid" four years ago,

I'm that much better.

Just got dropped off at the airport,

getting ready to catch my flight.

Phew. Here we go. No turning back now.

Wow. This is unbelievable.

I'm in the Balkan mountains.

These mountains are surprisingly very, very cold.

They can be quite deadly as well.

There's all kinds of wildlife in here

that just wants to hurt you.

It's a little intimidating at times, even for me.

I'm EJ Snyder, extreme survivalist, instructor,

adventurer, 25-year army combat vet.

I've been on several "Naked and Afraid" challenges.

I was one of the very first ones to go out there and do this,

and I got hooked.

Along the way, I was blessed with some amazing partners

that I've had to lean on sometimes,

and everything I've learned from my partners,

it's all going to come into play.

We're putting it all on the table here.

Narrator: EJ's solo survival rating, or SSR,

was established based on how he performed on his past challenges

using three criteria...

self-reliance, mental toughness and skills.

On his 21-day challenge in Tanzania,

EJ and his partner struggled to make fire for three days.

It's out. [Bleep]

Ah!

Then an infected foot wound...

Aah! ...Almost took him out.

Aah!

But EJ's fierce determination

helped him survive to extraction.

We made it. We survived 21 days.

On his second 21-day challenge in the Peruvian Amazon,

EJ's hunting skills...

Yeah! That's dinner.

...and ingenuity...

We need a safe vessel.

This is a caiman, anaconda-infested tributary.

It's sturdy, though. Look at that.

...got him and his partner to the finish line.

Go, go! Right here, go, go!

He then took on a 40-day "XL" challenge

in the Colombian Savanna.

His resourcefulness...

EJ: I'm gonna try to get some more out of that guy.

Not bad.

Narrator: ...And perseverance...

Almost there. Oh!

...got him to the end once again.

Having completed

all of his grueling "Naked and Afraid" challenges,

EJ begins this one with a solo survival rating of 9.1.

Here we go again.

Dude, it is fricking chilly.

Narrator: For this challenge, EJ was allowed to choose

just three essential items to help him survive...

EJ: There's my bag.

Narrator: ...A knife, a coffee pot...

This is a critical item for boiling water,

and it's a cooking pot.

Narrator: ...And paracord.

When I was in the military, we called it a 550 cord.

It's got unlimited uses ...traps, fishing line.

But I've got to do fire by friction

because I don't have a firestarter.

And last but not least... the map.

Puts me right about here.

Now, I'm gonna recon all the way up this waterway

to find best area for resources.

There's a lot of hogs, and there's fish along the area.

I think that'd be a good spot.

I got to camp somewhere temporarily

because the trek is just too long...

Alright.

I'm ready to get the hell out of here.

I'm coming for you, Bulgaria!

Bulgaria!

Narrator: EJ is making his way

into Bulgaria's Sredna Gora mountain range,

which rises 5,200 feet above sea level.

The region is deceptively hostile.

As fall sets in,

violent winds can reach speeds of 35 miles per hour,

making the 49-degree nights feel as cold as 37 degrees

and creating thick condensation that seeps into everything.

The dense and steep forested terrain

is home to venomous nose-horned vipers,

jackals and Europe's most aggressive wild boar...

nocturnal beasts who can weigh up to 480 pounds

and will charge anyone in their path,

especially when protecting their young.

[ Boars squealing ]

Their main predator, the gray wolf,

hunts in packs of five to eight

and can take down prey as large as 2,000 pounds.

♪

♪

Just get down this hill.

Oh [bleep]

This stuff is brutal, brutal on the feet.

Ow. This grass, it's very deceiving.

Looks really soft, but there's all kinds of sticks

and thorns underneath this.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Narrator: The second longest mountain range in Bulgaria,

Sredna Gora's steep, treacherous terrain is covered

in jagged loose rocks and sharp bramblebushes,

making it extremely difficult to traverse.

♪

A good walking stick really helps

with balance, protects you.

I want my spear to be about 6 to 8 inches taller than I.

That gives me some good distance

in case a wolf or a wild hog comes up to me.

I just need to protect myself, you know?

I am out here alone, and these hogs,

they're not just regular boar.

They're Bulgarian boar. They're big.

They're mean. They're ornery.

They're... these things are nasty.

Even if you shoot them with a gun, they'll come after you

if they don't go down.

Alright. That's good enough for now.

♪

Alright.

Ugh. I'm on a game trail here.

Follow the game trail down to the water.

Phew.

My feet are getting beat up right off the bat.

So glad I got this spear, but, you know, it's pretty hairy.

I'm just gonna keep making my way down this hill.

If I don't get down there soon,

I'm gonna be against the clock with nighttime falling.

Whoa.

Ow! Oh [bleep]

Ahh!

I got water.

After that trek, that is a bit of a reward.

I don't know if I can take a chance at drinking it yet,

but I got water.

♪

All the way up there... that's what I traversed down.

All the way up there.

And now I'm over here in this open area with all these rocks.

I can see any predators trying to come in on me.

Judging by the sun,

probably got another hour and a half of daylight.

I'm running out of time.

Make a temporary camp here for the time being,

figure out what I can do about fire.

And it gets very cold at night, so I have to have a fire.

Otherwise, I'll be done.

Dry wood is critical.

I'm pretty sure this is gonna work very well for my fireboard.

Fire, when you're alone, it's like having a friend around.

Fire is, like, a morale booster for you.

It keeps you safe, wards off wild animals.

Oh, okay.

Alright, we're getting brown dust [blows]

But not black.

Maybe this one is too wet.

We're gonna give this one a shot next.

♪

[Bleep]

Got smoke. Need to get the coal now.

[ Breathes deeply ]

Aw, man.

Come on. Stay with it. Stay with it. Stay with it.

Ah.

Ugh!

That close. [Bleep]

I had the coal.

I had the coal!

And the wind took it away from me.

[ Sighs ]

Yah!

The sun is down behind that hill now,

and I can definitely feel a temperature drop.

I got this wind chilling me down.

Now, my critical task

is to build some kind of a brush shelter,

so I'm gonna go put a ridgepole in there.

Narrator: A brush shelter

is a small, temporary, makeshift enclosure

using raw materials that are readily available.

[ Grunts ]

Cut down a few of these branches...

[ Grunts ]

...and then bring in all these pine trees

and kind of frame them up around me

and then bring a bunch of grass in there

and try to do the best I can to insulate myself.

I'll tell you one thing about building a shelter by yourself,

it makes you appreciate a good partner.

I remember when Laura Zerra and I were in the Amazon.

We worked so well together...

I'll work on poles.

You work on getting cordage.

...and how much easier it was...

Right there? Yup.

A little higher.

...and how much less time it took.

Heck yeah. Nice work.

Also, a partner would be helpful for warmth,

but I don't have one.

I'm pretty much out of sunlight,

so this is gonna have to do for tonight.

♪

♪

I don't know how cold it is, but it is very frigid,

and I feel like it could almost snow.

That's how cold it is out here, no joke.

Toes have been going numb.

My fingers have been going numb, teeth chattering.

In all my previous challenges, it's been pretty temperate,

but this is bone-chilling frigid and windy.

[ Shivers ]

I haven't stopped shaking all night.

I got to do something to make it better for me.

Try to keep from getting hypothermia.

Yah!

[ Birds chirping ]

♪

It was very cold last night.

It was very cold.

Narrator: The cold and wind are forcing EJ's body

to work harder to stay warm.

I got to clean this lens.

I'm still shaking.

Whoo!

Narrator: Every 15 minutes spent shivering,

he is burning as many calories

as he would working out for one hour.

These damn conditions, everything is absolutely wet

on the floor here, and it is frigid wet.

So it's almost like walking on ice, it feels like.

I need water, so I'm gonna drink

a little bit of the river water.

I feel pretty confident with it because we're in the mountains.

Most mountains are spring-fed.

It's running, and so a lot of the factors

that factor into water being a risk are not there.

I mean, there's always a risk, but it gets to the point

where either you're, you know, drink or die.

I'm all packed up.

It's time to get this trek on.

It's gonna be a bit of a movement

and get to greener pastures.

I'm gonna head out right up

that dried-up riverbed right there.

I got a plan, and I got a purpose.

Today is gonna be a victory day.

Oh, boy.

That's bigger than a jackal.

That's a wolf paw.

Usually, when there's a few, there's usually more.

There's always a pack.

That's not what I want to see out here.

Mm, mm!

Okay.

[ Grunts ]

Ow! Phew!

[ Grunts ]

I know. People should...

they're going, "well, why didn't you make shoes?"

Well, I've been in riverbeds like this with bark shoes,

and they get torn the hell up,

and I don't really have the luxury of time

to be messing with shoes at the moment.

One rock at a time.

It is very slow-moving.

I'm trying to find a game trail

out on the side of the riverbed to walk on,

but I have to come back into the riverbed...

Phew.

...because the terrain was going up,

up, up on both sides.

Bulgaria is not pulling any punches with me.

As soon as I got in here,

it's been punching me in the face.

So frustrating.

I wish I could be moving so much faster.

This is really irritating.

Ah.

I just came from all the way down there from my first camp.

That's the road of agony,

and I still got to go all the way up there.

This has been probably the toughest trek of my life,

and I've done a lot of trekking.

Today was the first time since I've been out here

where I've felt truly alone.

I always say, "it's easier when you go through it

with somebody else," because they will always know

the rest of your days how tough that really was.

Ah, game trail, perfect.

Oh, boy.

I've been seeing great signs of tracks

all the way up this riverbed, and right here, got some hogs.

That's awesome, and they're right by where

I'm wanting to set up my freaking base camp.

Tracks! Yeah!

♪

Oh, wow.

This is a score... blackberries.

Dang.

This is absolutely my first meal here in Bulgaria.

Let's get in here and see what we got,

pretty big open space.

I can work with this.

I'm building my shelter in there.

I'm gonna build a little lean-to up inside there.

I'm using this canopy up here.

It gives me natural shade,

and it'll provide extra canopy for any rain

that might come if it comes, hopefully not.

Got the whole back side open,

so I can put my rails in there to create my lean-to,

and I've used my vines to create the grid pattern,

and then I'm gonna bring the green leaves in there

and put them on all the rails.

This baby is done.

I'm so happy.

Right now, I got to get fire going

because my survival depends on it.

It got brutally cold last night.

I'm thinking I may have to switch up

to a good old-fashioned bow drill

because my hands are absolutely getting torn up from doing this.

Here's to the fire gods.

I didn't think I was gonna have so many issues with fire.

That's a little frustrating for me,

but I do know in my past challenges,

like in Tanzania, having a partner,

they can be a help with motivation.

- Come on, EJ. - Come on.

You can do it.

Come on.

Blow on it. There you go.

Oh, yeah, baby.

Oh, yeah!

Yeah! Whoo!

We got fire!

But that's not my situation here, so fire is on me,

and I need this.

I need this bad.

♪

Running out of options and running out of daylight.

♪

Okay, baby. Get in there.

Oh, oh, oh, come on!

Come on!

Yeah!

There we go.

Yeah.

Yeah!

Oh, fire!

What a sight you are.

Now I can do so much more.

I'll be able to fire-harden my weapons, keep warm at night.

If I got to boil water,

I can boil water, cook food, keep the predators away.

That's a fire.

Oh, I'm so happy.

Hey, what's up?

Just chilling by my friend and partner in crime, Mr. Fire.

Making sure he's happy because he sure is making me happy.

Alright.

I'm gonna try and get some sleep.

Peace out.

♪

[ Hog grunting ]

I just got woke up from a big hog who's not very happy.

He's making all kinds of grunting noises.

He's not too far from me.

I hadn't heard any hogs up to this point.

That's all I need is one of those

mama boars protecting her young

to come whipping by those briars,

and to know they're that close, that's...

It's a little unnerving.

[ Wolves howling ]

Oh, my God.

Just added wolves to the game.

Spear is close, knife is close.

Don't want to be caught off guard.

[ Wolves howling ]

Wow. Just added wolves to the game.

Spear is close, knife is close.

Don't want to be caught off guard.

[ Howling continues ]

♪

Yeah, a little unnerving to know that I'm out here

with a pointy stick, a knife and this fire,

and there's wolves out here now.

Even with the fire going, it is still frigid this morning,

so I'm gonna stew me a pot of nettles

and have that for breakfast...

rich in iron, cleans out the blood,

a lot of vitamins and minerals in it.

Losing a bit of weight pretty rapidly now.

Got to keep putting calories in my system no matter how little.

First cook in the pot out here.

Narrator: Four days into the challenge,

EJ has burned close to 9,000 calories.

And for the first time today, my stomach has actually been

reminding me it's around.

Bon appétit.

Narrator: While his pot of nettles

will provide less than 100 calories,

they're packed with as much protein as two sausage links.

I guess it is a little bit like spinach.

Man, my feet have been brutalized.

Right now, I've got shelter.

I've got water. I've got fire.

I just need to get some shoes, so I can get to food.

Go find me some shoe material.

The boars were keeping me up last night.

If I'm gonna get them,

I'm gonna need to make some shoes.

My first step is cutting strips of bark

to match my big 13 wides.

Alright.

Now, I'll score the bark, so I can peel it off.

It is very meticulous work.

Ah.

That is the makings, yes, of a shoe for me.

Now it's time to start weaving a shoe,

and I'll make a really good shoe

to kick Bulgaria in the keister with it.

Under, over, under, over.

I just want to be able to walk like normal.

Then I'll have an advantage to get after some protein.

Hey.

Look who's got some shoes.

I'm so happy I have a nice ember base like this.

I just definitely don't want to lose it.

So we'll make sure my fire doesn't go out while I'm gone.

This is a task, man.

This would be a lot easier if I had a partner.

In Colombia, I had three partners to keep the fire going.

Off we go.

My feet are ecstatic, game changer.

I want to get out there and look around,

see if I can see where those hogs are coming through,

set up a couple simple snare traps.

Definite evidence that there's hogs here.

All kinds of trails in here.

Right here, this is perfect for a snare

because this is like a junction right here.

What I'm gonna set up now is a simple snare,

nothing more than a slipknot noose,

and I'll attach it to that tree there,

anchor it down, so they can't get away.

This is perfect trap spot

because we've got this natural branch hanging down here.

They've been traveling right through here,

so we've got this one in place within earshot of where I'm at.

♪

I can hear the pigs.

Yup. You hear that?

They're over there rooting around, eating.

Hopefully, I'll be eating bacon soon.

I'm close to scoring some protein.

I've been putting traps out continuously,

and I've been putting them in very strategic places,

places where I know hogs are coming

and running down the hill.

The hogs, they taunt me.

I hear them at night, so it's very frustrating.

You want to get after something so bad,

and you can't do it because you're handicapped

based on the environment.

I have just about every trap in place that I need,

and now it's just a waiting game.

Definitely came through, almost had one.

One of the hogs went through this area

and knocked the snare down.

That's a good sign they came through here.

It's not a good sign that my snare was knocked off.

I need protein!

Ugh. Protein, protein, protein!

My stomach is yelling at me.

I really need to get some fish or some hog.

Alright. Let's see what we got here.

Hmm, little minnows.

Sometimes, I've seen minnow before be very curious

when they see something like this in the water,

and they swim in there to investigate.

I need a sinker.

There we go.

Yup. Look at them.

"Oh, what is that? Oh, it's just a pot."

There's a pretty little guy.

"I tell you, it was 6 feet long,

must've weighed over 150 pounds."

Ooh, they're fast.

Hey, we're doing better.

He's bigger than the last guy.

And number three.

It's a small victory.

Bulgaria is a beast.

All my years of survival experience,

nothing could ever prepare me for what I've been experiencing

since I got in here, and it's just me.

There's a lot to be said with having a partner,

folks you can talk to and rely on or lean on.

I've got a renewed appreciation for that.

10 days.

♪

Whew. It is just frigid.

[ Hogs grunting ]

I can hear the pigs.

They're so close, 50 yards away from me.

50 yards away.

You know, hogs, where I've hunted them back home, Hawaii,

they come out in the day.

These ones... only in the dark, only in the dark.

And it's pitch-black, and I can't do jack.

Well, here I am and little protein other than minnows.

My stomach is yelling at me. I'm starting to feel it.

My energy levels are... When I'm trying to do tasks.

I am not happy about it.

With hog-hunting, I'm used to doing it

with several other people,

and that's always nice when people got your back,

especially when dealing with hogs.

They're not anything to play with,

but I'm out here on my own,

so I've got something special planned

for these Bulgarian hogs.

This thing is gonna be a weighted spiked trap

that's gonna hang where I know they're traveling,

and as soon as they run through, one of them hits the trip wire,

thing falls on top of at least one of them.

Once this thing sticks in, they're not going too far.

Now, I'm scoring the wood

to be able create notches for the stake.

Narrator: Next, EJ will lay the spikes into the notches,

then place another log on top to weigh the spikes down

and hold them in place, binding them with his 550 cord,

which he'll also use to hoist the trap up

and create a trip wire.

EJ: Once the hogs come running down this highway,

as soon as they hit it, bam.

Yeah!

For about the last 15, 20 minutes,

I've been hearing this squalling,

like, this little suffering sound,

some animal making a moaning noise.

I don't know if it's a hog in my trap or what,

but it's just getting light enough

where I can see to get down there,

and I'm gonna head down there.

I got my hog spear, grab my knife.

I'm gonna go check it out.

Alright. Let's check this trap.

I don't know what the hell I heard last night, but, man,

that thing sounded like it was caught up in here.

I don't see nothing.

See? Look. [Bleep]

[Bleep]

Man, I swore I heard something here last night.

They must've...

It sounded like a... wolf! Wolf!

What the hell?

Oh [bleep]

[Bleep]

Wolves are territorial with the hunting.

I'm gonna get out of here.

They're fighting for the same food I am,

and it's a battle I won't win, and that's a shame.

Narrator: Gray wolves will attack competitors

for their food sources and leave their bodies uneaten.

In EJ's weakened state, continuing to hunt for hogs now

would put him at extreme risk.

♪

I need protein.

My body is consuming itself.

My energy levels are starting to crash,

and I can't help this situation

because it's so desolate for protein,

doesn't want to give it. You got to earn it.

You got to try and take it, but I keep coming up short.

♪

♪

I can still see my breath. That's how cold it is.

So day 15.

Here goes the final push, the final 7 days.

Nothing is easy in this place, nothing.

You've got to earn and work for everything.

So my next thing is to start thinking

about primitive fishing, getting more active and see

if I can't get one of those bad mama jamas.

Inside of the paracord,

I have a place to tie my string off to.

Just gonna wrap in this other cord around, so a fly.

Let's go get some fish.

All my life, I've never been much of a lucky fisherman,

and then I wind up in Colombia.

My partner is a kid named Jeff.

- Holy [bleep] - Whoo!

- Oh! - Yeah!

Well, if I had Jeff here right now,

I know we'd be eating fish because they, like,

just jump out of the water at him.

Now, here's to wishing a little Jeff luck,

little Jeff Zausch luck.

It's right there waiting for you.

Come on, man, come on.

Hold it steady.

I'm beat.

Even holding this pole is becoming a chore.

There is absolute zero interest in my line.

Oh [bleep]

Aw!

It's frustrating.

I can't catch a break.

I just can't catch a break.

[ Wolves howling ]

I hear wolves running all up and down, just behind my shelter.

I don't know if they were chasing a hog or what,

but I definitely could hear them.

I am beat down.

I don't have it in me to defend myself against a pack of wolves.

[ Howling continues ]

♪

Oh, my God, a crayfish.

Oh, ho, ho, ho!

Wow.

Bigger than a minnow.

All this time and effort I'm putting in here,

I'm just kind of walking and see

this little guy crawling on the rocks.

I'll just start kicking over rocks, man,

see how many of these I can find.

Oh, my God. Whoa!

Oh, you're the main course in my pot, buddy.

Big daddy!

I'm EJ, and welcome to my crawfish boil.

Uh-huh. Yup. That's right.

Look, right here, look in that pot.

And we'll start with the hors d'oeuvre.

Narrator: 86% protein and 14% fat...

4 crayfish provide about 70 calories.

Oh, ho, ho.

What is that going across my tongue?

That little guy packed a delicious little punch.

Mm, that's so good, some real protein

for the first time in a long while.

Alright.

Best for last, the granddaddy.

It feels so good to have some protein in me.

One good thing about not having a partner...

I don't have to share any of my food.

My little crawfish boil definitely helped me

with a little morale boost,

and today is gonna be all about preparation

to get out of here.

When I look at my map,

I realize that the journey out of here

is further than my first location.

I think it's gonna be a grueling haul.

So this is better to be a 2-day journey.

That way, it's not so taxing on me.

First marker point is going to be the waterfall.

It's where I'm gonna make camp for the night.

I'm gonna make a carry pack to carry the embers.

I'm gonna need to make fire to protect me from wolves

and the cold temperature and the winds.

This thing is ready for action.

[ Wolves howling ]

Oh, man.

The wolves are super close.

Damn. I can't see jack.

It's pitch-black out there.

That fire is everything.

I can't let that thing go out.

That's gonna be my protection against these guys.

Alright. Day 20.

Last night, heard the wolves running up on the ridge again,

a lot closer to me.

Getting out of here now is the right move.

I've got to finish my pack-up

and get my ember carrier ready to go.

That's set.

I'll never forget this.

Hasta la vista, valley of the forsaken.

Narrator: EJ's 5-mile trek to extraction

will be his steepest

and most physically taxing journey yet.

He's burned more than 80,000 calories

in the past 20 days and consumed barely 400.

In his weakened state, he'll have to hike

3 miles deeper into the mountains,

avoiding deadly nose-horned vipers

as well as hungry wolves,

who've already been alerted to his presence.

I feel better with a pack on my back

because it makes me feel like

I've got my hands free to protect myself.

Narrator: He'll then have to make a risky climb

up a steep crevice along a waterfall.

Then on day 21, he'll need to climb an additional

2 miles of steep and slippery terrain

before reaching his extraction point.

Ugh. Whew.

Next stop is the waterfall.

Up, up, up, I go.

Alright.

Up. Ow.

I'm running on empty fuel at the moment and pure will.

Even though it's painful and miserable,

I want to live up to the challenge.

[ Grunts ]

Oh! Oh! Oh!

Oh, man. I hope the embers are okay.

♪

How the hell do I get out of here?

I'm gonna try and make my way up around this waterfall.

That looks like the only way, right here.

Putting together a makeshift rope,

so I can have both hands free.

I just got to rig the pack, so I can haul it up.

Alright.

[ Grunting ]

I'm exhausted. This is tight.

I've been beat down beyond any challenge I've ever had so far.

Oh, God.

Oh. Whew.

Whew.

Okay.

That was a tough climb.

Survival... it's about risk versus reward.

Waterfall, a little over halfway.

This is me for the night.

The big question... if my embers made it or not.

Nope.

I think when I took that spill,

I think whatever good embers I had fell out.

♪

This place is...

I just can't get a break in this place.

Fire, to me, right now means everything.

I ain't got no fire means hypothermia.

♪

Ah, son of a bitch.

♪

After that trek today and the little bit of sleep

I've gotten since I've been here and a little bit of protein,

I'm literally exhausted.

I'm throwing everything I got at this thing,

and I don't have much left to give.

I just can't do it.

This place just has it out for me.

Everybody is thirsty.

Check this out.

Ants decided they thought it would be a great idea

to get a drink of water.

Well, know what that means... protein.

They going down.

Ahh.

Not enough of them in there to equate to a meatball,

but every little bit counts, right?

♪

I don't have much left to give.

♪

But I'm so close to extraction,

I can't just stop here.

Never quit. Never give up.

Alright. One last one.

♪

Oh, yeah.

Aha!

♪

Yeah!

I am fricking exhausted, but here I stand, swinging.

Keep fighting! Never quit!

Yeah!

[ Wolves howling ]

I heard the wolves.

Getting out of here, that is the right decision.

Oh, man. I'm beat.

I have lost a bunch of weight, muscle.

It's gonna be uphill going out of here,

which I'm not quite sure how I'm gonna tackle that task.

I'm so exhausted.

♪

Day 21.

A mixed bag of emotions right now.

I never like to leave these places.

All my other challenges, I get very sad

because I love being out here in the wilderness.

It's gonna be a push to get to the end, but I'm ready to go.

21 days alone.

♪

♪

It's uphill going out of here, but ready for my extraction.

That's steep.

My God, that ravine.

Alright. That's the problem.

If I go on the rocks, the rocks are kind of rough.

I get up here, and no telling what's in these leaves.

It gets all in the shoes, and it starts beating you up that way.

[ Grunts ]

Ugh.

I'm worn out.

I've given everything I have to this thing, mentally,

physically, spiritually, to stay in the game.

♪

I'm exhausted.

I've got a bit more to go according to my map

to climb out of the belly of the beast of Bulgaria,

and it's been ass-kicking,

and I'm gonna keep pushing up.

[ Grunts ]

♪

I've got to be close.

Ah, there's a road.

I hope this is it.

Hey! Hey!

Yeah!

21 days in the battle of Bulgaria.

I showed you how to do it alone.

Yes! Yeah!

Now, that's the chariot for a warrior!

Yeah!

Yes!

I did it. 21 days alone.

This place tried to take the very breath from me,

and I wouldn't let it.

Oh, this was tough.

This was tough.

I feel pretty proud and accomplished

to take on such a tough challenge solo.

It really took a lot out of me.

I was tested again and again and again just like a prize fight.

I just kept getting punched, and I had to keep punching back.

I'll never forget this one.

Narrator: EJ lost a total of 52 pounds during his challenge.

He battled his way through Bulgaria's hostile conditions

and persevered despite a lack of resources.

His solo survival rating rises to 9.7.

EJ: This was about me being tested individually,

but I have a newfound appreciation for partnership.

To all my partners in the past, I salute you.

Thank you for being such great partners

and having my back.

I beat you, Bulgaria!

I beat you!

Yeah!

My bear claws, they are rough.

So, here, take a look at this.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, wah, wah, wah, wah.

♪

Yeah!

My feet are happy.