Original subtitles

[Music playing]

I am ready to take on this challenge.

My confidence level is strong.

I'm right up there at the top with the best of them.

It's just about go time, but yeah.

Third challenge, all stars, Ecuador...

I'm coming after you.

Narrator: Just 50 miles south of the equator, nestled

in the foothills of the Andean mountain range,

lies Cotopaxi, Ecuador, with an elevation of 3,500 feet.

This remote jungle is blanketed by unending cloud cover,

often plunging temperatures into the 50s.

During the wet season, oppressive 100% humidity

and nearly 9 inches of rain each day

saturate every square mile of the dense jungle terrain.

These damp conditions are breeding grounds

for mosquitoes, red ants, and Ecuador's most relentless

biting insect, the chigger.

The bites of these microscopic bugs

cause itchy welts and painful blisters.

It's amazing that we're actually up in the clouds

right now.

The environment is so damp.

A fire is going to be so hard to get going and keep here,

and we need it with rain every day.

I mean, you can get hypothermia.

The humidity is incredible here.

The temperature's dropping.

The terrain is really steep.

I can easily tell why this place is uninhabited.

Narrator: "Naked and afraid" all stars Wes and Suzanne will

attempt to survive this Ecuadorian forest buried

in the clouds, a dank, unforgiving

environment that will test their skills like never before.

I think I'm addicted to the misery.

I really do.

I don't know, but I love these challenges.

Hey, Jessie, come here quick.

It's a rattlesnake.

My first challenge was a 21-day in Brazil.

We're about to eat, cuz.

It was excruciatingly difficult. Come on, storm,

you're not getting us.

But we made it through.

Goodbye, Brazil!

Goodbye, Brazil.

The next challenge was XL in Africa.

I brought every piece of food into this camp.

Oh, please... oh, god.

We're gonna need a medic.

I had an intestinal blockage, an e coli infection.

Unfortunately, I got medically tapped out.

That was a blow to my ego.

I don't like not getting to the finish line.

This is a second chance that I'm getting.

Very few people get a second chance, and I'm taking it.

So coming here to be in an all-star challenge...

I have to finish.

I'm gonna make 21 days.

So we're hidden in a cloud forest...

Totally different from the dry, arid spots

that I was in for my other two challenges.

But I'm confident I have the skill

set to survive any environment.

Please don't move.

I survived 21 days in Brazil.

I just got a stingray.

I lost my partner on day four, and that left me to do

the next 17 days by myself.

I have a wasp nest.

I knocked it down.

I got it.

Made it through a lot of adversity.

I know that I can take care of myself.

Oh, my god.

And my next challenge was a 40-day XL in Africa.

God, I love that.

Sick!

Making it through a 40-day challenge in one of the most

inhospitable places on the planet,

I survived a lot of adversity.

And that's what I’m determined to do this time.

And now, I'm going for three for three.

[Insects chirping]

It's deafening loud with the bugs already.

This is gonna be brutal.

[Music playing]

And this is my stop, and it's raining harder.

All right, this has gotta be it.

[Music playing]

Here I go, off again.

All right, let's get moving.

Here I come, Ecuador.

You got nothing!

[Theme music]

There's nothing easy about this.

[Music continues]

We got hail.

[Growling]

My heart's racing.

You don't fight, you won't make it.

Fight so hard!

Man: This is gonna first class suck.

Go find my partner now.

Out of everything I'm gonna face,

the biggest wild card could be my partner.

Your back is directly in the sun.

In Brazil, I felt the need to be a caregiver to my partner.

In Africa, Seth required continual emotional support.

Water.

[Grunting]

Not doing that anymore, and I hope

it's a collaborative path towards the goal

of making 21 days.

So wet here already, and I'm already getting soaked.

Narrator: Suzanne has conquered two grueling challenges in some

of nature's harshest conditions, but her low body

mass could work against her in this cold and wet environment.

She begins with a PSR of 8.2

this environment is tough now.

It's wet and slippery, and there are rocks everywhere.

Narrator: Wes survived 21 days in Brazil.

But after falling ill and failing to make it the full 40

days in South Africa, are his mind and body

up for the challenge of the cloud forest?

Wes begins with a PSR of 8.0

[music playing]

Oh, my god!

Woo!

So I come across the hill, and who's

there but Suzanne, which is fantastic to see because we

were in Africa together.

We'll see you.

Be good to each other, please.

She made the 40-day challenge.

It's very comforting to know I’m here with somebody, you know,

who can handle themselves.

You're still hiking out of Africa.

Man, long time, no see.

I'm so excited!

Not really that long.

I really just wanted my partner to be at least more

of an asset than a liability.

Yeah, so I'm teetering?

You're teetering.

I'm so excited I'm with a partner that can not only pull

some weight but has my back.

I couldn't ask for a better partner, so yay.

You wanna look at our stuff?

Yeah.

Narrator: Wes and Suzanne have been given a fire starter.

Wes: As wet as it is, we are going to need it.

This is your bag.

Perfect.

Narrator: And each brought along a personal item.

I have cordage.

Oh.

For making our shelter and maybe some snares and traps.

Map.

Oh, yeah.

All right, so that's probably us here at the rock.

OK.

And there's food sources here.

Banana leaves... that'll be good shelter making material.

Nice.

So that way?

That way, up into the clouds.

Narrator: The survivalists have chosen to trek seven miles up

river through slick jungle terrain,

where they hope to find a sustainable location to build

their shelter and gain access to food sources and fresh water.

We're gonna have to get a shelter

going the second we get to where our base camp is gonna be.

Narrator: Along with biting insects,

concealed within the dense vegetation

lurks the Andean puma, the highly venomous

Brazilian wandering spider, and the deadly chili

pepper tailed coral snake.

The neurotoxin in its venom has twice the potency

of a black mamba and can cause paralysis and death

by respiratory arrest.

[Music playing]

My feet are so waterlogged.

Hey, be careful.

Those are thorns... thorns.

Ow!

Some of those thorns?

Ow!

What the... what was that?

It wasn't nettle, was it?

Oh, yeah, they are.

You can smell them, actually.

Yeah.

You can smell the stink of nettle.

My feet were so brutalized in Africa because of 130-something

degree ground with thorns.

Here, I'm worried about them being waterlogged.

It really softens them, cause us to cut our feet,

easily infect them.

Whoa.

It's like instant jungle.

We have to watch out for those big ass bugs.

Look at that.

One little slide there, and it's over.

Be careful right there.

It is not solid.

This is really sketchy right here.

Kinda hoping it flattens out a little bit.

Yeah, this is rough.

You're still keeping an eye out for snakes up there, right?

Yes, ma'am, I am.

I can promise you that.

Oh, and the nettles are everywhere up here.

The terrain is very treacherous, so it's a tough journey.

It's slippery, and it's muddy, and it's really slow.

I've never seen anything like it ever.

Just go easy on your feet.

Go really slow.

It's rough in there.

All right, we've hit a little spring.

I'm pretty thirsty.

That's some fresh water, I'd say.

Yep.

Would you have any problem drinking that?

Nope.

It gets filtered through the mountain, which purified it.

It's perfectly safe.

I bet there's more of these.

Oh, yeah.

And rainy as it is, I don't think staying hydrated is

going to be our biggest issue.

[Music playing]

The jungle is getting lower, thicker.

Almost crawling now.

I really hope we pop out of this jungle

sometime soon, at least a clearing, something flat.

[Ominous music]

Suzanne: We're losing daylight, and it looks like we

only have a couple hours.

Wes: Yeah, I'm a little bit concerned.

We cannot get caught without rain coverage.

Damn this jungle.

Suzanne: Feels like it's getting dark quick.

Wes: And it's raining.

Suzanne: I'm already chilled.

[Music playing]

OK, clearing.

Suzanne: All right.

And I think at this time of night,

we've gotta make a decision.

What if we took this tree, this naturally,

put something down here kinda as a little bit of a lean to,

and then just stack branches up on it.

All right.

Wes and I are definitely behind the eight ball here.

Ugh, nettles.

Getting out from under the rain...

That's so important right now, because it's getting colder.

And being wet and cold is a hypothermia risk

that neither one of us can afford to take.

Dammit, this thing... this is gonna first class suck.

It's not even close to a shelter.

It's just awful.

It's all wet, and it's all nasty.

There's no way we're gonna have a shelter

tonight at this point.

Consequences could be leaving the challenge.

This is a big problem.

This is so bad!

[Dramatic music]

Hey, Suzanne, this is terrible over here, absolutely terrible.

Nettles are everywhere.

Can I just come your way?

Let's fortify something over there?

Suzanne: Yes.

This is so bad.

But what if we were to hunker down in there?

I worry about being that far in because of the snakes,

but I kind of feel like we need to because it's

a natural kind of shelter, and we're losing sun.

Yeah.

Our plan is to get something on the ground,

separate us from the nettles.

And we're gonna use a little bit of this natural canopy

and hope that it'll keep some of the rain off.

I can tell that the temperature's dropped,

and there's no hope of drying the body at all.

So tonight's gonna be a little rough.

Fortunately, Wes has a very can-do attitude.

Both expected the challenge to be hard,

but I think we both underestimated

how hard it would be day one.

[Thunder rumbling]

[Music playing]

I have no idea what the bug is that is just tearing me up.

[Music continues]

[Thunder rumbling]

[Music playing]

[Birds chirping]

First night was brutal.

I think Wes might agree with that.

Horrible... absolutely terrible.

Take a look at all those bites...

Up my leg, down my leg.

I got some waterlogged feet here.

I don't think we can take 20 more nights like that.

And I think today we have to try to find

resources for shelter and fire.

Get shelter 2.0

this hill provides a natural earthen back to at least

give you some structure.

How far out do we want it to go?

Our Y stick is the opening.

The rest of it, we can dig in the hill, go high.

Suzanne: OK.

We're gonna stay in this location.

We're just gonna put a shelter 20 feet away.

We're gonna get out of that kind of buggy area

we are just into an open setting.

This is our Y branch.

This is gonna support our Ridge pole.

It's gonna have all the weight on it

for the top of our a frame, and we'll shingle

it with these leaves up top.

All right, fire pit?

Yeah.

We're trying to get a fire going tonight.

I'm putting a little wood drying rack together.

It's so wet here, you really need

to get things off the ground so air can circulate.

So I've just got a couple of big pieces on runners,

and everything else just goes on top.

I am trying to strategically make a fire pit for us that

has a rock bottom to it, because it's

much more difficult to build a fire on top of wet ground.

Shivering used a lot of calories.

Yeah, miserable.

So our goal is to not have that happen tonight.

Wes: It's actually starting to rain now.

Yeah.

That's cold.

Yeah, it is cold, right?

It's cold rain.

Here... come on in.

Wes, don't lose any more body heat.

[Suspenseful music]

Wes: There's no way I could make a fire in this rain.

It's raining pretty hard, as you can see,

and we discovered this.

This sucks.

It's like when it rains here, it goes in the soil

and then just pops up in a low spot.

Seems to have stymied the flow a little bit.

This lasts into the night, we're screwed.

[Music playing]

Suzanne: So cold, so cold.

[Music continues]

[Birds chirping]

I mean, if it wasn't for all these leaves,

we'd have been freezing to death.

It's amazing we're on the equator

and it's this chilly, right?

My feet are so waterlogged, I’m

trying to put them up and get them off the wet ground

for a little bit.

You can see pretty much really waterlogged.

And then when I look at the bottom,

it's actually a split in the skin.

But my feet are really kinda too numb

for me to tell if I’m having pain there.

Narrator: Numbness and tissue decay

could be early signs of trench foot,

a condition caused by prolonged exposure to damp environments.

If left untreated, it could result

in permanent nerve damage, and in some cases amputation.

A fire will help dry out my feet

when we finally get one started.

You know, we're busy drying all our wood.

To make a fire, it's like trying to burn a wet sponge.

Ow.

Wes: How are your feet doing?

Suzanne: They're not drying out.

I am worried about Suzanne's feet.

Her feet are nasty.

They're wrinkled up like she's an 80-year-old who's been

sitting in the tub for all day.

I mean, there's so much moisture that my feet

are kinda falling apart on me.

That's definitely a problem.

Whoa.

There's so much moisture that my feet

are kinda falling apart on me.

Whoa.

Suzanne: Watch where I'm walking here.

[Dramatic music]

What we are doing is drying our feet, which

is a very important task to do.

First time we've had sunshine yet.

And if we don't try to keep our feet dry,

we're gonna have problems.

Well, hopefully, there'll be some firewood.

Got that setting in the sun, too.

But it is soaked.

Not being able to get a fire is terrible.

I think that was it for the sun already.

Got clouds coming in.

No time to sit.

Weather changes on such a dime, like it's

clouding up pretty thick.

It'll probably rain within a half hour.

It's just unpredictable.

Things change, the weather changes,

the temperature changes.

Everything in Ecuador changes.

Never seen anything like it, ever.

You gotta do your absolute best to stay dry,

especially towards evening time.

I still am concerned about making

sure that feet get dried.

I'll cut a whole bunch of extras of these for blankets.

It makes a difference to have a layer right over us.

OK, I feel better about tonight.

Wes: All right.

[Insects buzzing]

Oh, hell.

Got nothing to protect you against the bugs.

It's finally not raining, and I've never been

bitten this much in my life.

Suzanne: Yeah.

Yeah.

Cold doesn't seem to affect the bugs, whatsoever.

They're chewing me to pieces.

Night was really cold last night.

I am just bit to death.

Them suckers are just tearing me up.

The clouds are dropping on us.

Yeah, it's almost more of a surprise if they don't drop.

Last night, we were burning up an awful lot

of calories shivering.

My energy level is pretty depleted right now.

So the plan for today is to harvest some food

and bring it back here.

Did you see that?

Snake... hang on, because it might be right there.

Well, it's gone.

There's trouble around every corner for a survivalist.

Coral snake... if you get bit by that, it's 100% fatal.

That scares me to death.

Oh, well, sweet Mary and Joseph, look here.

Is this fruit?

Looks like an orange or a lemon.

That's awesome.

We can eat these unripe, too.

And I know I can eat that horse fly.

Little bite of protein.

Part of it's rotten, but this part might be good.

Wes: Oh, absolutely.

There you go. Here.

Wes: Thank you.

It works out pretty nicely.

Little bite to eat right now.

It's starting to turn into cheap alcohol.

Woo!

Deal with it.

If it's edible, eat it.

Oh, yeah... oh, yeah.

Oranges are fantastic, but very aware we

can't live off those alone.

They're so high in acid.

We're getting our vitamin C, that's for sure.

But the acidic content of that will rip

your insides up pretty good.

So you gotta go real easy on those,

and you've gotta mix in other food.

Wild lettuce.

And then bromelia.

Wes: Yes, sweet.

Here, try some of that.

It probably came from right above us.

Here we go.

Narrator: Bromeliads are native flowering

plants that grow on trees.

The leaves are rich in fiber and calcium.

We can eat like the white part.

Yeah.

Nice, good find... balance out the citric acid.

Doesn't taste like anything, really,

but it doesn't taste bad.

Just putting a little fiber in the system since I

got in a little trouble in South Africa

not having fiber in my diet.

Oh, [bleep], the pain is so bad.

I have superstar Suzanne who can identify just

about any plant in this jungle.

She's a godsend.

Still kinda Woody.

Yeah.

It's kinda like chewing on a Popsicle stick.

With no Popsicle on it.

It's a win today.

Yeah, it is.

Slower journey back.

Yep.

No sense in hustling and taking

a chance on getting injured.

It's just really slick... Slicker than owl snot.

All right, now we're in some more treacherous stuff.

[Music playing]

Oh, god.

Wes: Whoa, whoa!

Ow... ok.

Did you hit that rock?

Bent my knee.

Ow.

[Bleep] Dang it.

Like it feels like my knee is gonna rip off.

Hey, can we get a medic in?

Hey, can we get a medic in?

The knee... it burns right through here.

How are you on your movement with this one?

I can do range.

It just like... it has a pop.

We need somebody over here.

I had a knee surgery just two months ago

because I had a torn meniscus.

I just felt a pop in my knee.

You're doing great, doing great.

Yeah, that's tender.

Pretty sure everything's not ok.

I'm really sure that it's not ok.

So due to your recent injury and the surgery,

I'm gonna have to go ahead and medically tap you out.

[Music playing]

Why don't you go get checked out?

Why don't you get checked out?

Let's just do that this time, ok?

Let's just do that this time.

I'm so sorry.

Oh, don't... no, come on.

I feel so bad.

I'm sorry.

It's ok.

It's all right.

Suzanne, I'm gonna have you lay back.

I feel horrible about leaving Wes.

He's been in this position, so I think he's feeling

my emotional pain right now.

We'll see you.

Thanks.

Ok, good job.

Bye.

Bye.

All right, take care of yourself.

Not completing 21 days is a huge disappointment.

I came in wanting to go three for three,

but Ecuador had other plans.

Guess that's it.

Narrator: Only four days into the challenge,

Suzanne's injury proves too much to overcome.

Her early departure drops her PSR from 8.2 to 7.7

big bummer.

I feel really bad for her because she

was a go-getter, man.

She's a tiger.

I'm in the thick of it all of a sudden.

17 days to go...

That's all right.

I better get back to camp.

[Pouring rain]

Now that I'm here on my own, I'm sitting here...

I got nothing to do at all.

Only us idiots think this is fun, I swear to god.

Ugh.

[Music playing]

I've really gotta be a lot more cautious now that it's only me.

I have to have a mind shift.

If you're gonna survive an alone event,

you better be mentally tough for it.

Because if you're not, you're gonna fail.

I'm gonna be looking for anything to replenish calories.

Little guanta.

Narrator: Guanta are indigenous nocturnal rodents that feed

on leaves and fallen fruit.

They grow up to eight pounds and could

provide much needed protein, an elusive commodity

in the cloud forest.

We'll see if we can snag some protein.

I need some kind of frame with a suspended rock.

This tripod will actually act as a spring snare.

This is gonna be held in place by that tension,

just like that.

That's set on a hair trigger.

And when the animal steps on it, it's gonna release the tension.

When the rock falls, it's gonna pull the rodent in there

and be suspended.

It's just a static snare.

I got a snare set.

I got a trap set, so we'll see what happens.

[Dramatic music]

[Insects buzzing]

Ow, get off!

Bugs out here are unbelievable.

Gosh.

Dammit... nothing.

I'm gonna really need to get some protein here soon.

I don't know what kind of form it's gonna take,

but it's gonna have to happen.

You can't just eat oranges.

Tagua fruit... see how this goes.

That's up there.

Narrator: Tagua is a native palm fruit high in calories and fat.

It's less acidic than citrus and could provide

the nutrition Wes needs to get him through the next couple

of weeks.

There ain't no way up except this one branch.

[Grunting] Damn it.

I don't think this little task could

be done without undue risk.

Damn it.

I burned some calories I don't have.

[Ominous music]

It is absolutely pouring out there.

It's like a kid peeing on a flat rock.

I mean, every day for hours and hours and hours.

Compared to Africa, where you got no rain ever...

Yeah, this is mentally taxing, more than any other challenge.

It is another cold night.

It's like every night is a cold night.

Good lord.

[Dramatic music]

Hey, my trap went off.

And he didn't get caught in it.

Oh, well that sucks, because it went off.

Dang.

I'm gonna go ahead and reset.

I'm very optimistic because something

is now engaging in the trap.

Hopefully, score me some protein.

It's been tough the last few days.

With all the rain constantly, isolation, lack of food,

bugs constantly biting you...

I mean, yeah, it'll make a mad man out of you.

Holy crap, I got ants everywhere.

Son of a bitch.

I cannot have a night full of ants.

I just cannot.

I think I may want to actually try and start a fire

and get some ash because the ants won't go through ash.

I got all my stuff out in the sun.

I haven't started a fire yet.

The wood is just too wet.

[Music playing]

Well, that's a tad frustrating.

[Music continues]

It's so moist that even when it lights the branch for a second,

or the tender for a second, goes out.

Won't even leave any kind of a coal.

Gosh.

That'll do for now.

I'm not gonna sit here and just get pissed.

[Music playing]

Ugh.

Ok, reset.

Don't let this one little setback get you.

You will get fire.

It's ok.

You didn't need fire, you just wanted it.

So it's ok.

That's ok.

[Thunder rumbling]

There are noises like I have never heard before.

Crazy... I'm hearing a freight train.

I'm hearing music.

I'm hearing, like, car doors slam.

Just crazy stuff that's not here.

Narrator: 15 days into his challenge, Wes

has taken in less than 100 calories a day,

and he's only slept a couple of hours a night.

The deprivation is now starting to affect

the mood enhancing hormones in his brain

and his cognitive abilities.

I got a crying baby.

I know.

It's driving me insane.

Whoa, will you stop?

Oh, please stop.

Stop!

[Music playing]

[Farting]

All the citrus gives me gas.

I am farting up a storm.

There's nothing I can do about it.

I've gone to the bathroom... You know, big potty...

Twice.

No problems whatsoever, so that's

really good, especially since I had

such an issue in South Africa.

[Farting]

Thank goodness I don't have a partner.

Drive her out right now.

[Birds chirping]

Ecuador is absolutely torture...

The lack of food, the lack of sleep, the strange noises.

So far, this is the most mentally difficult challenge.

It's really pushed me to the edge,

but I can be as mentally tough as anyone out there.

Got five days to go.

I'll make it.

I'm still 100% confident that's gonna happen.

Narrator: Despite his struggles, Wes is just days away

from completing the challenge.

But unbeknownst to him, the coronavirus has been rapidly

spreading around the globe.

Producers are monitoring the situation,

but it is escalating fast.

Things are going crazy.

We haven't seen a spike here in Ecuador.

There's no curfews.

I can get to Wes in case of an emergency.

We've only got five days left to go.

I think we let him finish.

Ok, well, be prepared to pivot and check flights because

things can change on a dime.

Yeah, ok.

Tiniest bit of food.

I imagine a lot of people consider this gross.

You know what?

That's fine.

They're on their couch with a bucket of popcorn.

It's cool.

I wouldn't recommend eating larva to people

who aren't out in my situation.

If you've got plenty to eat and a cold beer in your hand,

maybe it's not the thing for you.

But it's exactly what I need right now.

These little white berries on the stinging nettles

are absolutely delicious.

Getting to 21 is really important to me.

I had to leave South Africa early because of a medical tap

out, and I did not like that.

You know, when I commit to finishing something,

I finish it.

And so here, I committed to 21, and I

fully plan on making it to 21.

We're scrambling to get Wes.

We are tapping him out due to safety precautions

and the global pandemic.

We cannot be on the road after five.

Tried to get him to the end, but it's out of our hands now.

[Music playing]

Hey, man.

Hey!

Want to come out here?

I got something to tell you.

All right.

When we started this challenge 18 days ago,

you heard of the coronavirus, right?

Yeah.

Well, in our 18 days, president has

declared a national emergency.

Borders are closing.

Plane rides are being canceled.

Get the [bleep] out.

No way.

Roads are being closed, so we have to tap

you out of the challenge.

Are you kidding me right now?

You won't be able to come back.

No, [bleep] That, seriously.

I'm not gonna get my 21?

If there was an emergency and we couldn't get you outta here,

there's no way we could leave you in the jungle.

This is for real that I gotta leave because of this

[bleep] Damn coronavirus?

Yeah.

Another thing I wanna tell you, we have spoken to your family.

Everyone's fine.

I thank god for that.

We're really sorry, Wes.

It's like having the rug pulled out from under you.

I am just trashed, emotionally.

All my plans, everything is on 21.

And then to have it change that quick, it's

just got me in a bit of a mind spin right now.

Feel like I gotta rush home to see my family.

It makes me very anxious and worried.

You know what I would like?

I wanna walk out like I came in.

Thank you.

[Music playing]

All right, Ecuador.

I guess this is just really goodbye.

We were close, that's for sure.

In my mind, I completed my challenge.

I did everything that was asked of me and more.

And here I am on 18, and I still got tons of energy.

So it's not on me.

I completed my challenge...

My third challenge and the most difficult yet.

[Music continues]

The world I'm going back to is a little scarier

than when I came here.

I'm almost thinking back there's a little safer.

Narrator: After surviving 18 days in the Ecuadorian cloud

forest... 14 of them alone...

Wes exits the challenge 21 pounds lighter.

But his will stayed strong, raising his PSR to 8.6

Ecuador has not been kind to me.

Bit me and scratched me and kicked me and made me bleed.

But at the end of the day, I still Rose to the challenge

and I still overcame all those odds.

I set out on a mission, and I accomplished it.

And it's now time for me to go back to being

a good dad and a good husband.

Come here!

I'm really disappointed I didn't get to cross that finish line.

Oh, my god!

What are you...

But I'm really glad to see Molly and the kids.

It's a crazy new world, but we're in it for the long haul.

Good luck to all you survivalists out there.