Amazing Race - Milk Does a Racer Good

The Amazing Race 12's third episode began with the nine remaining teams leaving Amsterdam's Durgerdam Yacht Club, which served as the Pit Stop for the second leg of the competition. Each of the remaining teams had a mandatory rest period at the Pit Stop, which was good for Ronald Hsu -- who is competing with his daughter Christina. Ronald developed a hernia during the race's second leg, and while it required medical attention and he was in "intense pain," he continued on.

"Dating Couple" Lorena Segura and Jason Widener -- the first team to reach the race's second Pit Stop -- were the first to depart at 4:19AM. Lorena and Jason opened their clue, which instructed them to fly nearly 3,000 miles to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in West Africa. Once there, they'd have to find the city’s train station, where they'd retrieve their next clue. "Dating Couple" Jennifer Parker and Nathan Hagstrom left the Pit Stop at 4:30AM, and they were followed by "Friends" Shana Hall and Jennifer McCall at 4:31AM; "Dating Goths" Kynt Cothron and Vyxsin Fiala at 5:21AM; and the "Brother/Sister" team of Azaria and Hendekea Azene at 5:22AM. Lorena and Jason; Nate and Jen; and Shana and Jennifer were the first to arrive at Amsterdam's airport, and via the Internet they discovered Air France had the only flight going to Ouagadougou, which left at 8AM, would connect through Paris and land in the West African city at 4:35PM. "Newly Dating Couple" Rachel Rosales and TK Erwin left the Pit Stop at 5:23AM; Marianna and Julia left at 5:46AM; "Grandfather/Grandson" team Donald Jerousek and Nicolas Fulks left at 5:47AM; and Ronald and Christina were the last team to leave the Pit Stop, departing at 6:26AM.

All of the other teams began to arrive at the airport and followed the lead of the first few teams, booking flights on the 8AM flight through Paris. However Nate and Jen were put on the standby list for a fully-booked 7:20AM flight to Paris, which would give them a slight lead over the other teams.

"We just barely made the 7:20AM flight out of Amsterdam to Paris. The other teams are on the 8AM flight, so obviously we have a 40-minute head start," commented Nate as he and Jen boarded the first flight. "Hopefully we can take advantage of that time, because you never know what's going to come next on this race." Ronald and Christina were the last team to arrive at Amsterdam's airport and had to run through the terminal to catch the flight. "My hernia's acting up!" yelled Ronald at his daughter, who verbally pushed her father forward and the two eventually made the 8AM flight. However it didn't take-off on time, as a "mechanical problem" was going to "take a while" to fix. Since there's only one flight from Paris to Ouagadougou a day, the teams were concerned that their delay in Amsterdam would stop them from making their connecting flight in Paris. "Nate and Jen are on the other flight, they could be way in the lead," commented Jason. "We're all screwed basically."


Nate and Jen's flight touched down in Paris and they had plenty of time to make the connecting flight. The other eight teams had to make a mad dash through Paris' airport to make the connecting flight, but they all were on it, much to Nate and Jen's chagrin. "Damn!" said Nate as the plane took-off. The flight landed in Ouagadougou, Burkino Faso, and Marianna and Julia were the first to hail a taxi outside and arrive at the train station, with the other eight teams hot on their heels. They opened their next clue and learned they would be taking a train into the middle of the African Savannah to Bingo. However the ticket window didn't open until 6AM the next morning, so the team's just relaxed. The next morning, all of the teams purchased tickets on the same train and embarked to Bingo. While most of the teams enjoyed the ride -- especially Azaria and Hendekea, who described the opportunity as a "thrill" -- Shana and Jennifer constantly complained about the flies and the train's lack of cleanliness.

The train then dropped the teams in the middle of the savannah, where they scrambled to find their next clue box and learned it was a Roadblock. In this Roadblock, one team member had to milk a camel and extract enough milk to fill a bowl to the designated line. Then they had to drink the milk to receive their next clue. If their camel ran dry, they had to wait for all the other teams to finish milking theirs before using one of their camels. Since all of the teams were on the same train, they all started the Roadblock around the same time, with TK, Lauren, Azaria, Vyxsin, Jennifer, Christina, Don, Nate and Julia all participating in the Roadblock for their respective teams. Not surprisingly, Jen complained about the camel's smell and eventually having to drink the milk. Lorena immediately ran into problems, as she said she was "really stressed out" and wasn't helped by the camel, who kicked her bowl and spilled her milk on more than one occasion.

TK was the first to finish milking his camel, and while he gagged and said the milk tasted "a little grainy, a little sweet and warm," he was still able to chug it down. Opening their next clue, TK and Rachel learned they had to lead four camels across the savannah along a marked path to a group of waiting nomads, where they would receive their next clue. Nicholas and Don; Christina and Ron; Kynt and Vyxsin; and Nate and Jen also finished the Roadblock and simply followed TK and Rachel to try and find the nomads. The plan looked like it would be costly when TK and Rachel led them astray, however all five teams eventually got back on track. Azaria, Jennifer, Julia and Lorena continued to struggle at the Roadblock, however it was clear Lorena was having the most problems, freaking out that her camel had stopped giving milk. As her boyfriend, Jason commented how it was difficult to watch Lorena have such a big breakdown and not be able to help her.

Eventually Azaria and Jennifer switched camels, and Julia and Lorena followed their lead. Azaria and Jennifer finally finished the Roadblock and began to lead their camels. TK and Rachel; Nicholas and Don; Christina and Ron; Kynt and Vyxsin; and Nate and Jen all arrived at the next clue and were met by a Detour, having to choose between "Teach It" or "Learn It." In "Teach It," the teams had to choose a local child who doesn't speak any English and teach them the English words for ten common items. In "Learn It," the teams had to learn Möre -- the primary African language used in this region -- with a local school child as their instructors and teaching them the Möre words for ten common items. TK and Rachel; Nicholas and Don; and Ronald and Christina chose "Teach It," while Nate and Jen and Kynt and Vyxsin chose "Learn It." Apparently deciding which Detour challenge to do was the easy part, as all five of the teams in the lead struggled to find the school in the village. Azaria and Hendekea found a young, local boy who directed them to the school, which allowed them to catch-up. Azaria and Hendekea then approached the "Learn It" challenge systematically, with each memorizing five of the words to lighten their individual load. The plan paid off as they were the first to finish the Detour challenge and receive their next clue, instructing them to travel on foot to the Pit Stop in the outskirts of Bingo.

The siblings left the schoolhouse just as a massive storm started to move across the savannah, kicking up sand and dumping rain. While it was only a small problem for Azaria and Hendekea -- who were the first team to reach the third leg's Pit Stop -- the messy weather hindered Lorena and Julia's attempts to milk their camels. Julia was eventually able to calm both herself and her camel and filled her bowl with milk. Julia and Marianna then started to lead their four camels along the path just as Lorena was finishing up. Alas, the camel she was milking gave a mighty kick and spilled her milk yet again. "Lorena, try the ones that have a baby with them!" yelled Julia as she and her sister departed. It was good advice, as Lorena quickly milked a nursing camel, and she and Jason were the last team to complete the Roadblock. Back at the schoolhouse, Ronald and Christina and TK and Rachel were the next two teams to complete the Detour. However in the horrible weather they were unable to find the path that lead to the Pit Stop. It didn't really matter, as TK and Rachel finished second; Nate and Jen finished third; Kynt and Vyxsin finished fourth; Ronald and Christina came in fifth; Donald and Nicholas finished sixth; and Shana and Jennifer finished seventh, all within minutes of each other.

As Marianna and Julia slowly walked their camels along the path so the animals wouldn't be spooked, Lorena and Jason decided to take the opposite approach and ran with their camels in an attempt to catch up. It worked, as both teams reached the Detour almost simultaneously and both also decided to do "Learn It." The two teams were neck-and-neck as they studied and took the test, however Jason and Lorena were the first to finish the challenge and sprinted out of the schoolhouse in-search of the Pit Stop. While Marianna and Julia were hot on their heels -- it didn't matter -- as Lorena and Jason were the eighth team to reach the Pit Stop, eliminating Marianna and Julia. "It's just like we had this black cloud hovering over us," said Marianna. "We almost never caught a break."