From Metro Newspaper Toronto March 19/07
Detour asks racers to pick: Pamper or porter?
By VAKIS BOUTSALIS
For Metro Toronto
Week Five on The Amazing Race All Stars begins with the eight remaining teams looking for their first clue that’s buried somewhere
on Marshall Glacier in the southern most tip of Argentina. Charla and Mirna are on a high after eliminating pre-race favourites Rob and
Amber last week, while Oswald and Danny struggle and lose their lead. The clue tells teams to fly more than 7,000 miles to Maputo, Mozambique. Once in Mozambique, tempers flare between Eric and Danielle and the Guidos, who have been getting on each other’s nerves all race. A roadblock has teams using trained rats to locate a race marker located over a de-activated mine. Once teams find their marker they head back into Maputo where the next clue is waiting. Mirna and Charla’s high is short-lived as they struggle with the roadblock and the cousins end up falling to the back of the pack. But the drop in position doesn’t faze the scrappy team, which is getting used to fighting back from last place. A detour asks teams to choose between pamper, where they sell manicures in the local market, or porter, where they sew and fill 10 40-pound bags of coal and deliver one to the owner in town. Mirna and Charla are
able to complete the detour the fastest, leading to their first first-place finish ever on Amazing Race. The cousins, who made
most of their money selling manicures to men, take the time to thank all the metrosexuals in the world. Meanwhile, Terri and Ian’s driver takes them to the wrong detour, and the married couple end up selling manicures when they would have rather filled bags with charcoal. It’s a lucky mistake, however, as the couple locates two customers right away and finish the leg in third. Of the teams that do choose to porter, Uchenna and Joyce have the hardest time as they struggle to find the address for their delivery. The charcoal-covered Oswald and Danny are so excited to make it to the finish line in fourth that they chase down the show’s host Phil with their arms wide open. Uchenna and Joyce are last to arrive, but, luckily for them, it is a non-elimination round. The couple is marked for elimination, and will be penalized 30 minutes in the next leg.
