FIRST TV GUIDE PART FROM JEFF!
Jeff Probst: It's going to be extremely hard on them because of the heat. Anytime we can keep the game changed up is good for us.
We're trying to set a tone this season right off the bat about the importance of first impressions and we've got an opening twist that is going to speak to that. This season is going to open up with about a four hour trek to their respective camps. But before they start on their trek we're going to ask them to vote one person out of each tribe and the words I'll use will speak to the notion that maybe they're out of the game, they're not sure. Somebody's going to be voted out of the tribe. They're going to think it's a bad thing, what's actually going to happen is the rest of the tribe takes the trek but they will get helicoptered to the camp. So they'll skip the whole trek, they will have about a four hour head start. We're going to leave plenty of supplies to start building camp, we're also going to leave a clue to the location of a hidden immunity idol. They're not going to have enough time to do both. So the choice is going to be: do I try to change the first impression by starting work on the camp and see if I can get back into the good graces or do I just stay selfish and look for that idol and try to save myself for the first Tribal Council? I think it's going to set the tone for this season that you have to be aware of the social integration that is going on at all times.
Exile Island is desolate. It is a big sand dune. This year two people will go to Exile Island. The winning tribe will chose somebody from the losing tribe, that person will then chose somebody from the winning tribe. So there will always be two people out there. When they get out there they'll find two eggs, two choices. They'll have to figure out amongst themselves who gets which one. They break them open and inside one will be nothing, inside the other will be a note that says, "here's a clue to the location of the hidden immunity idol." Nobody except them will know it is back at their camp. Two, you also have power. You can decide to go back to your original tribe or you can mutiny and go back to the other tribe. So we're hoping to get some mutinies this season.
Also the challenge is explained in this summary from codayoda1221
I assume Jeff said that it happens at every exile, because he said "We are really hoping to see a few mutinies on exile island." The twists were revealed in about the first 5 minutes of the program. ETA: First challenge: Both tribes have two people stand behind at the stairs, the other 6 run through the dunes and into the river to grab planks. Once they bring the planks back and untie the knots, these are given to the two left behind where they figure out how to set it up and run up the steps to the top, where there is a maze with two handles that each tribe member holds and directs this string through, first duo to solve the maze raises their flag and gets immunity. Looked pretty even with the running but red had a slight edge. Sandy and Taj I believe were the duo doing the maze, and Erinn and someone else was doing the maze for black.