Instead of venturing to a new destination, the remaining eight teams stayed in Burkina Faso for their latest round of adventures.  In other words – the episode was surprisingly airport-free.

Having reached the last pit stop in first place, Azaria and Hendekea had the honor of kicking off the next leg of The Amazing Race.  Their first mission was to follow a marked path to a nearby village.  There, the teams would find a tribal chief waiting with a clue….and a live chicken.  The birds – a customary gift of generosity – was something the teams had to take with them during their travels.  (They would not be allowed to ‘check-in’ without their ‘chicken’.)  Shana and Jennifer opted to name their new pet ‘Phil’; something about its spiky hairdo reminded them of the ‘cute’ host.

After securing their fowled friend, the teams then had to travel 100 miles by taxi to their next destination.  Although the brother/sister duo were the first to reach the 2nd locale, a bathroom emergency had the duo starting their next task behind Nathan/Jennifer and TK/Rachel.  (Already believing his sister had ‘physical limitations’, Azaria was, of course, not pleased with his sister’s pee break.)

For their next Detour, the couples had to choose between ‘Shake Your Pan’ or ‘Shake Your Booty’.  In ‘Pan’, the teams had to use local mining methods to search for gold in nearby pits.  Although they only had to find 1 oz. worth, the challenge had the potential to be physically demanding.  In ‘Booty’, the teams had to learn and then perform a traditional local dance.  Their literal and creative interpretations would be judged by three local celebrities.  If the judges were left unimpressed, the duos would then have to wait 10 minutes before moving on with the race.

Nathan/Jennifer immediately opted to take on the dancing challenge.  Unfortunately, Jennifer’s experience with the LA Clippers dance team did not get them far; the locals were not pleased with their bland choreography.  Discouraged by the 1st team’s resulting verdict, a waiting TK/Rachel decided to try the mining task instead.  Meanwhile, an undeterred Azaria/Hendekea chose to tackle the dancing themselves.  Thanks to impressive moves, the siblings moved back up to the front of the pack; Nathan and Jennifer could only stand behind in their penalty box and watch them move on.

The two teams most affected by this segment of the race were TK/Rachel and Nicolas/Donald.  Because they opted to switch tasks, then had problems finding gold, the hippies dropped from 2nd to 6th place.  Meanwhile, the grandfather/grandson team struck gold with their mining duties and moved up from 6th to 3rd going into the next task.

After completing their Detours, the teams were instructed to travel by foot to a local market to receive their next clue.  They were also warned that a U-Turn was up ahead.  The ‘U-Turn’ is a new addition to the race; if a team is saddled with one, they are forced go back and do the other half of the detour they opted not to attempt before.  With only two U-Turns in the total competition, the duos had to decide if/when to penalize an opponent with it.

Although most of the teams decided not to use the U-Turn (it’s the most honorable thing to do), one panicked competitor screwed over a couple already destined to come in last:  Lorena and Jason.  Thanks to Lorena’s miserable camel experience last week, the dating pair were already far behind in this leg of the race.  Unfortunately Shana - much to her partner’s dismay -  freaked out when she thought she saw them close behind (she actually saw TK/Rachel).  Since the blondes were already dragging behind in 7th place at that point, the blonder one of the two decided it was strategically in their best interest to use the penalty.  (Karma did not play a factor into her thinking whatsoever.)

Up ahead, the first six teams were already starting on the Road Block portion of their race.  In a town on the outskirts of Ouagadougou, one competitor from each duo had to deliver supplies throughout a confusing market.  Unfortunately, strapping the various goods – including a sad baby goat - onto a small bike proved to be a difficult task in itself; having to understand the unmarked streets (and the foreign language) only added to the confusion.

When it came to reach the final pit stop, the race for first place was extremely tight.  It came down to phenoms Azaria/Hendekea and Nathan/Jennifer.  Although Jennifer was determined to get her team its first victory, the siblings edged them out by just a hair.  Realizing that this was Azaria and Hendekea’s third win of the race, Jennifer then became extremely whiny.  (Why couldn’t they just let someone else get a chance to win every once in a while?)

LESSON OF THE DAY:  THIS IS A FREAKIN’ RACE…WITH PRIZES.  NO ONE GIVES A CRAP IF YOU HAVEN’T HAD ‘YOUR TURN’ YET.

While discouraged by the stupid U-Turn slapped on them, the usually annoying Lorena/Jason somehow managed to stay upbeat through the remainder of the race.  (Clearly they were still in Stage One: Denial.)  Although they prayed someone would fall behind after a major mistake, they could never quite make up the large time difference that had been created.  LOSERS: Lorena/Jason.

Read why I believe The Amazing Race could use more Hendekea-esque pee breaks here.
(You can review last week’s episode here.)
(You can read next week’s episode here.)