Topic: The Amazing Race: Design Challenge VIII - Final Round Design Show on Page 50!

[Kamineko]

Design #1 - betheactress
[Ennedi Plateau, Chad]

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This is Istanbul, Turkey. The transcontinental city separates Europe and Asia, and has been a cultural and historic city. Formerly known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it served as the capital of three empires over the course of sixteen centuries.



Inside the Fatih district lies the Topkapi Palace. This site was the administrative center for the Ottoman sultans in the 15th and 16th century, and nowadays it is a noted UNESCO World Heritage site in Turkey. This was the 7th Pit Stop in a race around the world!



Roman and Kendall, who were the first to arrive at the end of the last leg, will depart first at 1:22PM.



Roman: Fly to N'Djamena, Chad.



Teams must now fly over 2,000 miles to the land of the nomads: N'Djamena, Chad. Chad has had human populations since the 7th millennium BC, as the country was an established part of the Saharan trade routes. This has resulted in numerous states that have sprouted in the country, leading to a multiethnic country with over 200 groups. Because of the ethnic groups, Chad's national identity is virtually nonexistent, leading to the periodic disruptions of government.





All 6 teams are flying on the same flight to N'Djamena, connecting in Casablanca, Morocco.






When teams land in N'Djamena, they will be assigned one of two charter flights based on the previous leg's Pit Stop finish order. Each of the two flights will leave 30 minutes apart at 5:30 and at 6:00, with the flight taking 2 and a half hours. The teams' charter flights would take them to Fada in the Ennedi region in northeastern Chad. Fada is the regional capital and gateway to the Ennedi Plateau UNESCO site. Teams have $20 for this leg of the race.











When teams land in Fada, they will travel by marked four by four Toyota vehicles with a local driver further into the Sahara Desert as they drive towards the Ennedi Plateau. The Ennedi is a sandstone bulwark which is being constantly eroded by wind and atmospheric chemicals, which shape the rock formations. The Ennedi Plateau itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, spanning over 2 million acres of Chad. Teams will follow the sandy road until they find the Five Arches on the outer edge of the site. This is where teams will find their next clue.




The Fast Forward is task that, when completed, a team can use to skip all remaining tasks and go directly to the Pit Stop.

Chad is a country of nomads, who often live their life traveling by camel. When a bunch of camels congregate like they do near the Ennedi, it can be hard to keep track of which camel belongs to which nomad. Luckily enough, camels have prints similar to the human fingerprint, in which each one is unique to the camel. In order to claim the Fast Forward award, teams must find the correct set of camel prints that match the Fast Forward's camel. There are over 25 sets of tracks in the area, but only one belongs to the camel. Teams are allowed to enter the area where the camel is currently being held to examine, and if they find the correct set of tracks the nomad will hand hand them the Fast Forward award.





In the dry arid Sahara where very few animals roam, almost nothing can disturb the sand and footprints can remain imprinted for months. In order for teams to find their next clue, they must follow a marked ant track nearby and find the ant hill to find their next clue waiting nearby. Teams must be careful because if they are following the track in the opposite direction of the ant hill, they will be walking for quite some time.









Teams must now continue their journey into the Ennedi and finding the most famous canyon in Chad, the Guelta of Archie. The guelta is a pocket of water that accumulates in deserts. This place is a keystone place for the nomads, as a main water source for the Tobu people who survive off of it. Hundreds if not thousands of camels visit daily on their nomadic routes for the water. Teams will have to park their Toyota and will go on foot into the canyon to find their next clue underneath the Acacia albdia tree.



"Who is packin' it?"

A roadblock is a task that only one person may perform.









The people of northern Chad live a nomadic life, with the women and children staying in the villages while the men are constantly leading a nomadic lifestyle traveling from place to place. In order to do that, they must constantly be packing up their belongings onto their camels, who can carry up to 600lbs on their back. In this roadblock, that person must assist a nomad in packing up a camping setup. The racer must work to pack up four rugs, two folding chairs, and 3 jars of dates effectively on the camel. When they get approval from the nomad, they will travel through the majestic Guelta of Archie on camel back with their partner. When they reach the other side, they will see a sign that instructs the roadblock racer to set up camp exactly as it was when they have left, which includes the correct orientation of the rugs, and exact spots the folding chairs and date jars were. When it looks how it did before they left, the nomad will give them their next clue.

Opening the next clue, teams find a detour clue.



A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with their own pros and cons. In this Detour, teams must choose between two tasks that the nomads of the Ennedi do on a daily basis. The choice, Faster Than A Camel, or Slower Than The Sands.



In the Sahara desert, water is extremely hard to come by, with average rainfall per year amounting to less than 10 inches. When the nomads find water, they have to collect water for their family, but allow their dromedary herd to fill up on water in order for to carry the heavy load. Camels can drink 22 gallons of water in 10 minutes, and in Faster Than A Camel, teams will have to collect 22 gallons of water from the guelta and fill up a tank in under 10 minutes.

The catch, is that they must collect the water off two donkeys. If teams can accomplish this feat, they will receive their next clue. If they fail to complete it, they must take the water back out of the tank back to the guelta (without the use of a donkey) After every 2 attempts, they will have 2 more minutes to complete the challenge. However donkeys can be fickle beings, and teams are only supplied with 2 five gallon buckets each so they will have to make more than one trip each time.



Date palms are one of the most important plants in the Sahara. It is an important source of food for the locals. When a nomad sets up camp in a new location, they must build shelter to protect their dates and other food from spoiling in the hot sun. In Slower Than The Sands, teams must help build one of these shelters by turning a pile of rocks into four sturdy columns. When teams work out the right combination of rocks to build their four columns, they will help the nomad put the turtle shelled shaped roof on the column, cementing it with clay. Once the structure is finished, teams will receive their next clue. While this task is easier, moving the rocks and cementing the roof can take some time.







Teams must now head back through the Guelta to their toyotas and drive to the Pit Stop, the D'Oyo Labyrinth. These rising rock structures that are pillar shaped form a large labyrinth, and teams will have to run through and search the labyrinth for Phil and their next Pit Stop. The last team to find Phil and check-in, may be eliminated!

Producer Thoughts:

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-I debated a lot of where to go this round, going back and forth between the Meroe pyramids in Sudan, a Yoruba-themed leg in Nigeria or Chad and I ultimately went with Chad since the pictures of the Ennedi were so breathtaking! I understand there is a lot of vagueness / uncertainty with judges preferring safe legs but obviously the producers of the Amazing Race can just use this leg when things in Chad get better. From the travel blogs I read about this area most of them met with the regional governor of Ennedi who assured them top security since they want their people to get the added revenue of tourism so they don't resort to violence.

-I chose to use Toyota trucks as the means of transportation since they are apparently very sandworthy and won wars and battles for Chadians who used them over the soviet tankers
-They have drivers since there is no roads but they are very experienced and know the way, as this area does have tourism.
-For the Fast Forward, the tracks are set up by production who meticulously walked 25 different camels through the sand and cleaned up any other tracks, so that it is circular. The set design team is phenomenal!
-The ant track is very noticeable, as you can even see it in the picture I used. It's not meant to be a super hard task, more of a funny task to show how there is nothing in the desert.
-The roadblock original setup is in no way super complicated like past memory tasks of the race. It is intended as an element to trick teams by having them hastily pack up camp and then take in a breath taking once in a lifetime experience before having to remember how it looked before. It's only 4 rugs, two chairs and 5 jars
-The gif is from RHONY it's not representative of the camels they might encounter but you never know 
-In the water side of the detour, the tanks are located roughly 50 feet from shore, and in theory teams can carry 20 gallons in one trip, but donkeys have proven to be fickle beings in TAR so water could get spilled, and the jugs are heavy so maneuvering can take some time. But on the third attempt they'll get 12 minutes, the fifth will allow them 14, etc.
-The rock detour is a 5ish minute walk from the lake, since there is 6 tanks setup as well as the roadblock camps! In my head the towers are inspired by the Fitz Tower from Survivor 32 and 40, where different sizes have to equal 4 equal columns. They also have the clay nearby to cement the tower together.

-I also have no in depth map as google doesn't even know where this plateau is. The only map I have is this which shows how close Fada is to the plateau, but no source on the internet has any map on where specific rock formations are. Thus that part of the presentation is lacking and others will have better maps for their locations, but I think my tasks and overall aesthetic of the leg is strong and the pre Guelta locations can vary and provide the same tasks to the same effect and pizzazz.

-Wiki version is here

[Kamineko]

Design #2 - Declive
[Praia & Cidade Velha, Cape Verde]

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PIT START: Pina Manique Palace, Azambuja, Portugal
FLIGHT to Praia, Cabo Verde
ROUTE INFO: São Pedro Salineiro Church
ROUTE INFO: Pelourinho, Cidade Velha
FAST FORWARD: Eat Cachupa
ACTIVE ROUTE INFO: Fishing with Locals
ROUTE INFO: Sucupira Market, Praia
DETOUR: PLAY & SING | SEW & BRING
ROUTE INFO: Liceu Domingos Ramos, Praia
ROADBLOCK: Learn Creole Alphabet
PIT STOP: Farol de D. Maria Pia

________________________________________________________

This, is Azambuja, Portugal!



A small village that is so old that there is no longer any surviving record of when it received the privileged status embodied in a municipal charter.
And nowadays attracts adventurers looking for nature trails.

At the village of Manique do Intendente, teams checked in at the Pina Manique Palace!



This beautiful palace is actually an unfinished work of former resident Diogo Inácio de Pina Manique, and it served as the XXth Pit Stop in our race around the world!

XXXX & YYYY were the first to arrive at 02:01 PM and will depart at 02:01 AM.

ROUTE INFO: Fly to Praia, Cape Verde!



Once there, travel by taxi to the São Pedro Salineiro Church, in the Salineiro neighborhood.



You'll find your next clue at the entrance.
You have 50 USD for this leg of the race.

___________________________________________________





Teams are departing within 02:01 AM & 04:30 AM. They will face a 44 minutes drive to Lisbon Int. Airport.
The mandatory flight leaves at 09:20 AM and arrives in Praia at 11:40 AM.

___________________________________________________

Teams arrive at São Pedro Salineiro Church, one of the oldest churches in all Cape Verde, located at the main street of the Salineiro neighborhood.

___________________________________________________

ROUTE INFO: "I stood up in 1512, clean as a mirror
Unlike the one in Salvador, i'm a marble pillar
Some may call me a pillory
But i represent a history of sadness & misery"

___________________________________________________

Teams were left to find out that the clue was leading them to Pelourinho, a small monument in the heart of Cidade Velha, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the Seven Wonders of Portuguese Origin in the World.



Clues in the poem:
Pelourinho was erected in 1512.
The most famous "Pelourinho" in the world is a neighborhood in Salvador (Brazil).
Pillory is the english word for "Pelourinho".
It represents a history of sadness & misery because slaves were tied to it and whipped.
___________________________________________________

Teams arrived at the Pelourinho and found their next clues.

FAST FORWARD: If you wish to take this Fast Forward, walk to Pelourinho Restaurant.



___________________________________________________

Arriving at the restaurant, teams discover the real task.

FAST FORWARD: Get to the kitchen!



In this Fast Forward, teams must prepare a large batch (2kg) of Cachupa, the national dish of Cape Verde.

Cape Verdeans recently entered the Guiness Book for the largest Cachupa portion in the world.



It is a slow cooked stew of corn (hominy), beans, kale, garlic, onions, cassava, sweet potato, fish or meats (sausage, beef, goat, bacon and/or chicken), and often morcela (blood sausage).

It takes 30 minutes to make a batch of Cachupa. What teams don't know, though, is that after the Cachupa is ready, they will have to eat the whole batch to win the Fast Forward award.

On winning the Fast Forward, the team can skip all tasks and go directly to the Pit Stop at Farol de D. Maria Pia.


___________________________________________________

For the teams who didn't take the Fast Forward, the clue showed...

ROUTE INFO: Join the local workforce in the water!



Fishing is the way locals survived for years & years here at the Old City.
To this day, the fisherman working here still load up the nearby restaurants.
Now teams will get to be part of the local workforce.



To complete this task, team members must help the locals in pushing a boat to the water. Once there, both team members must use a net and dig deep to catch five fishes each. Size won't matter.
Once they are done, their must deliver the fish to the nearby Pelourinho Restaurant.
The owner will provide the next clue.
___________________________________________________

ROUTE INFO: Travel by taxi to Sucupira Market, in Praia!



Sucupira Market is the largest market in all Cape Verde. The gates to the market on the Avenue Cidade de Lisboa are an entry into a labyrinth of stalls laden with all sorts of things for sale, from fresh fruits, vegetables and raw meat, to local CDs and African fabrics.



Find your next clue inside the confusing streets of the Market.

___________________________________________________

DETOUR: Play & Sing or Sew & Bring

In this Detour, teams will be taking part in two daily activities of this crowdy, busted market.
Their choice: Play & Sing or Sew & Bring.



<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/2e0wCkWeoVs" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/2e0wCkWeoVs</a>

In Play & Sing, teams will walk to the nearby store "Música D'Mar" (Ocean Songs), where the Morna Band performs daily. Morna is widely considered the national music of Cape Verde.
Teams will have to be quick in learning: they must correctly perform a famous song "Lura/Mar Azul". While one teammate plays the base guitar, the other sings.
Once they've master the rythm, the lead singer will provide the next clue.





In Sew & Bring, teams need to race to the front of the market, where in the outside, dozens of man work everyday sewing all kinds of clothes. They will than choose 4 different scarfs to replicate. The 4 scarfs will have names of stalls attached to them. Teams will have to finish the scarfs and deliver each scarf to its stall to receive the next clue.

___________________________________________________

ROUTE INFO: Travel on foot to Liceu Domingos Ramos!



Once there, search the grounds for the next clue.

___________________________________________________

Teams raced on foot to Liceu Domingos Ramos, the largest school in all Cape Verde.
The school had notable students, like 3 former Prime Ministers of the country, plus the current President.

___________________________________________________

ROADBLOCK: "Who can master a new language?"



Even though Cape Verde's official language is Portuguese, the most spoken language in the country is the Cape Verdean Creole.

The history of Cape Verdean Creole is hard to trace due to a lack of written documentation and to ostracism during the Portuguese administration of Cape Verde.

However, it is known that the Cape Verdean Creole is the oldest of many Creoles in the world.



In this Roadblock, one team member must enter a classroom filled with children and correctly learn the phonetically correct way to speak out the Cape Verdean Creole alphabet.

Once they are correct, they must finish the task by correctly pronouncing the phrase

"Quêl mudjêr cú quêm m' encôntra ónti stába priocupáda"
(That woman with whom I met yesterday was worried)

If they are correct, the teacher will provide the next clue.

___________________________________________________

ROUTE INFO: Make your way to the Pit Stop: Farol de D. Maria Pia



Farol de Dona Maria Pia (also known as Farol da Ponta Temerosa or Farol da Praia) is a lighthouse at the southernmost point of the island of Santiago, Cape Verde.

Named after Portuguese Queen Maria Pia de Savoy, this lighthouse, built in 1881, is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race.



The last team to check-in may be eliminated!

_________________________________________________________

NOTES & MAPS

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Declive's Notes

1 - I chose to start at the Pina Manique Palace because it's a place i've heard from my dad's trips. Portugal is a small country but full of beauties in the inside. The small villages are precious. I think TAR should explore the "rural" Portugal. Also, Portugal relates strongly to Cape Verde. It was a colony and its official language is Portuguese, still.

2 - Teams will be driving to the airport in provided cars. Automatic cars. Should be a 44 min-1 hour drive.

3 - Teams have 50 USD. Their taxi expanses should cover 46 or 47 USD in the leg.

Taxi Fares in Cape Verde
0,90 EUR per KM
1,06 USD per KM
99,2 CVE per KM

Airport > São Pedro Salineiro (2202~2220 CVE)
São Pedro Salineiro > Cidade Velha (416~430 CVE)
Cidade Velha > Sucupira Market (1279~1300 CVE)
Liceu Domingos Ramos > Farol de D. Maria Pia (337~370 CVE)
TOTAL: 4320 CVE = 47 USD

4 - I was worried about flights so i have all teams in a mandatory flight. It's safer and it prevents a team from falling hours & hours behind due to lack of options.

5 - São Pedro Salineiro Church is so old that is unknown in what year was it built. It's a major spot on the Salineiro neighborhood.

6 - The Route Info about the poem is meant for teams to race around asking the locals/the taxis for help. I've put down a map for you guys to see how big is the Salineiro village. Teams would have plenty of locals to ask for.

7 - Pelourinho Restaurant is nearby, as well as the fisherman place. There is a map below for you guys to see it.

8 - There are lots of Cachupa recipes. I've put down the most tradicional one. Should take teams 30~40 minutes to make.

Recipe for Cachupa:
4 cups of mashed corn
200g of red kidney beans
200g of beef
200g of bacon
2 large potatoes
4 morcelas
2 cassavas
2 sweet potatoes
2 onions
2 garlic minces
salt & spices to taste.
water (1.5 liter)

1. In a large saucepan, add water, potatoes, mashed corn, red kidney beans, cassavas, sweet potatoes & salt. Heat up.
2. In another pan, fry the onions, garlic, bacon, morcelas & beef together.
3. Once the water boils hard, add the fried things.
4. Let stew until the soup is reduced and the broth is thicker

I had teams eating 2kg of Cachupa made by themselves. So for each team member would be 1kg of food.
Given that the meat Roadblock in TAR (Argentina) was 1.8kg for one person, i think it's good.
Meat is tough to digest. This Cachupa soup will go down easier.

9 - For the fishing task, teams would use a large pole with a fishing net attached to it. Teams would have a basket to put the fishes on. I believe this task should take about 20~30 minutes.

10 - The Sucupira Market map below is confusing but i think i got it like i should. The map shows all the stalls where teams should run to deliver the scarfs.

By the way, these are the scarfs. A sewer will be doing a demonstration at the place. I'm imagining one team member to be sewing and the other to be helping by stepping the pedal of the sewing machine or even holding down the scarf.



11 - "The morna is characterized by having a lento tempo, a 2-beat bar (sometimes 4) and in its most traditional form by having a harmonic structure based on a cycle of fifths, while the lyrics structure is organized by musical strophes that alternate with a refrain."

Teams would be performing this Morna song (from 00:00 to 02:00)

With instructors helping to sing and to play the base guitar.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Y1wqWJ4I" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0Y1wqWJ4I</a>

12 - I wanted another tricky thing in this leg, so i've added the "on foot" clue as it always generates some mistakes. The Liceu Domingos Ramos is a huge Praia sight. The school is well known.

13 - For the Roadblock i imagine something on the lines of that Laos task in TAR. Alphabet reciting in front of kids who are laughing at you.
It has the differencial, though: you will have to speak a whole phrase correctly to get the clue.

14 - At last, Farol de Dona Maria Pia is a beautiful sight to end the leg.

MAPS

[Kamineko]

Design #3 - NELs
[Asmara, Eritrea]

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This is Dubai



In Dubai is the Burj Al Arab, one of the most famous hotels in the world. This hotel served the nth Pit Stop in a race around the world.



Teams are now flying to the city of Asmara, Eritrea. Asmara is the first modernist city to be labeled as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Teams are given $100 for this leg of the Race.



Once teams land in Asmara, they will need to hire a taxi and proceed to the Fiat Tagliero Building. Built in the 1930's, the building resembles a futuristic gas station. It is here where teams will pick up their next clue. In this clue teams are given a Detour, and the option to go for the Fast Forward.

A Fast Forward is a task that only one team can complete. Once a team completes it, they can skip all tasks and go directly to the Pit Stop.



The team wishing to pursue the Fast Forward will have to travel to Asmara Sweet Cafe and make coffee for a traditional Eritrean Coffee Ceremony. First, they will have to roast coffee beans over a fire until they're fully roasted. Then, they will ground up the beans using a wooden bowl and metal stick, like a mortar and pestle. Lastly teams  will have to put the grounded up coffee beans and put them into a jabena filled with water. The jabena will be put into a furnace to heat up the coffee. Once the coffee is made, they will have to pour the coffee into tea cups and serve it to five people. The team who chose to go for the Fast Forward will have a chance to talk with the people they served coffee to. Once everyone is done drinking their coffee, the team will be given a clue directing them to the Pit Stop.



Because they decided to go for the Fast Forward, [Team] can now go to the next Pit Stop, the Tank Graveyard.

A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with their pros and cons. In this Detour teams will experience some of Eritrean culture, the choice is Bike or Play



Cycling is a popular sport in Eritrea. In Bike, teams are given a map with a route they must follow. Teams will start the route at Cinema Roma, where bikes are ready for teams. Teams will have to follow the route passing Asmara landmarks: Cinema Roma, Shida Square, and Our Lady of the Rosary church. However, teams are given a time limit of 20 minutes to complete this route. Once teams bike the route under the time limit, teams will receive their next clue.



Piano bars are very popular in Asmara. In Play, teams will have to go to Albergo Italia and perform an excerpt from one of Dawit Shilan's songs to play on the piano. One team member sings the song in English, while the other performs on the piano. Once teams have the satisfaction of the audience, teams will receive their next clue.



Teams are now making their way to the University of Asmara, where teams will pick up their next clue.

A Roadblock is a task in which only one person of the team may perform.



Who is a polyglot?

In this Roadblock, the chosen team member are taken to a room in the university where they will be given a quick lesson on how to quickly translate English to Tigrinya, the language spoken in Eritrea. Once the team member has been given the lesson, they will be given a chart to be used when translating the words. On a chalkboard they will write Tigrinya symbols next to the ten English words to translate. Once the team member has translated all ten words, teams will receive their next clue.



Teams are now making their way to the Tank Graveyard, this location is served as a memory of Eritrea's battle for Independence. The last team to check in here may be eliminated.

During the Pit Stop...



During the Pit Stop, teams went back to the Tank Graveyard and took a tour of the graveyard. At the end of the tour, teams gave their condolences to all the lives lost during Eritrea's battle for independence.

Flight Info

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Maps

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Fast Forward Map



Detour A Map with Bike Route



Detour B Map

Notes

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I decided to have my leg in Eritrea for two reasons. The first reason is because, Eastern Africa is barely visited on the Race. The second reason is because the Horn of Africa has only been visited once in TAR, that being the Ethiopia leg in TAR 6.

The Fiat Tagliero building is one of the most famous places in Asmara, that's why I decided that is the perfect place for a route marker.

I chose to do the coffee ceremony as the Fast Forward, because it would be a lengthy task, that would require lots of work, and teams get to talk to the locals, something not many Fast Forwards have done. A jabena is a traditional serving container in Eritrea. Here is a video showcasing how teams will make the coffee. (Note: in the video the person uses a modern coffee grinder, that is NOT what the team will do, they will instead use a stick to grind them up in a wooden bowl.)

Cycling is one of the popular sports in Eritrea, heck they even have their version of Tour de France there! That's why it's an appropriate task for an Eritrean leg, and teams will also see many famous landmarks in Asmara if they choose this option.

Piano bars are very popular in Eritrea, and Dawit Shilan is one of the first people in Eritrea to popularize it. That's why they will be performing one of his songs in the bar.

The Roadblock is a really cool task the chosen team member will perform. It's more of an attention to detail and a puzzle kind of task. Consonants have the same symbols, but the vowel makes all the difference. For example in English "ma," "me," "mi," "mo," and "mu," will all have different symbols in Tigrinya. Example: "ma" = ማ, "me" = ሜ, "mi" = ሚ, "mo" = ሞ, and "mu" = ሙ. Notice how the symbol in Tigrinya is the same with tweaks based on which vowel is being used. Here is the chart the team member will have. Here are the ten words teams will have to Translate. "Walk," "Book," Wallet," "Backpack," "Flag," "Pillow," "Metal," "Garage," "Asmara," and "Tigrinya"

The Tank Graveyard is a great choice for a Pit Stop, it's a landmark in Asmara, and it's perfect for teams to go back there during the Pit Stop to walk around it and send their condolences to the people who fought for Eritrea's independence.

Lastly, making a leg in Asmara (or Eritrea) wasn't easy. The country is about 30 years old, and it mostly has Italian culture's leftovers. That's why many people call Asmara "Little Rome," So I made sure to put mostly their new culture into my leg rather than the Italian culture still present in Asmara. I wanted to show how much Eritrea has grown since Independence.

[Kamineko]

Design #4 - MrDS
[Nouadhibou, Mauritania]

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Phil: This is Nouakchott in Mauritania. The capital of the country, Nouakchott was only truly established in the late 1950's though was difficult to live in due to drought until 20 years later. And part of this upcoming city is Mosque Saudique...

Phil: This mosque, standing in the centre of Nouakchott, dominates the skyline and is the main religious centre of the city. It is also the start point for the 7th leg in a race around the world!

Tony & Sarah were the winners of the last leg of the race, and so will depart first at 3:49pm.

INSIDE CLUE: Find one of the 7 marked jeeps outside Mosque Saudique and drive along N2 Highway to Banc D'Arguin National Park. Once there, make your way to the ranger's hut and search for your next clue.

You have $8 for this leg of the race.

Phil: Teams will now have to drive more than 200 miles north towards the Western Sahara, and find Banc D'Arguin National Park. This park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the largest water bird reserve in the world, with birds flocking from Europe and Africa to migrate. Once teams arrive, they must make their way to the ranger's hut near the entrance and search for their next clue.

*Teams leave between 3:49pm and 4:18pm, choosing a Jeep parked by the mosque and using the instructions provided to get towards Banc D'Arguin National Park. Tony & Sarah arrive first after about 3 and a half hours and find...



All teams remaining soon find out, and are told to drive to the campsite at the park to camp out overnight there. The teams reminisce about the Race so far and watch as the sun sets on the park. At morning, all teams receive both a Route Info and a Fast Forward clue.*

INSIDE CLUE: Prepare a food used by the rangers to help aid breeding in the park - fishmeal! For this Fast Forward, you will have to clean, descale, gut, and skewer 100 fish to the high standards of the rangers. If you complete this task first, you can skip all remaining tasks and may proceed directly to the Pit Stop.

Phil: A Fast Forward is a task that allows a team to skip all remaining tasks in a leg and proceed directly to the Pit Stop. For this Fast Forward, teams will have to prepare fish to produce a food used by the rangers to aid the breeding patterns of the birds that come to migrate here every year - fishmeal. If teams wish to take on this task, teams must clean, descale, gut, and skewer 100 fish ready for filleting. The first team to complete this task can skip all remaining tasks and proceed directly to the Pit Stop.

*Teams ponder about whether to take on the Fast Forward, with Christopher & Kevin and Tony & Sarah electing to complete the Fast Forward. Meanwhile, all other teams choose to continue on with the leg as normal.*

INSIDE CLUE: Continue driving down N2 towards the town of Nouadhibou and find the Nouadhibou Berber Camp near the outskirts of Nouadhibou and search for your next clue.

Phil: Teams will now continue driving down the highway towards the border of the Western Sahara, and find the Nouadhibou Berber Camp in order to receive their next clue.

*Teams begin to head towards Nouadhibou whilst Tony & Sarah and Christopher & Kevin begin the Fast Forward task. Quickly, Christopher & Kevin decide not to do the task due to the rancid smell, and hop in their jeep approximately 10 minutes behind the rest of the pack. A couple of hours later, Tony & Sarah are working through the Fast Forward task whilst Bananas & Wes are the first team to arrive at the berber camp and receive their next clue.*

INSIDE TEXT: DETOUR: Way of Art or Way of Music

Way of Art: Prepare to make your mark by creating a piece of Mauritanian rock art! Choose an art guide who will give you a prompt based on one of Mauritania's symbols. Then, using the paint and rock slab provided, paint a piece of rock art using only your fingers. If the art guide is satisfied with your art piece, they will hand you your next clue. If the art guide is not satisfied, they will hand you a new rock slab to create a new piece of art.

Way of Music: Engross yourself in the music of Mauritania! Choose a music guide who will take you a demonstration tent where you will hear the two main styles of music in Mauritania - al-bayda and al-kahla. Then, once you are happy with the demonstration, you will be taken to an ensemble of 15 musicians, where you must correctly identify which style of music they are playing. If you correctly assign all 15 musicians their music style, you will receive your next clue. If you fail, you must return to the demonstration tent and listen again before returning to the ensemble.

Phil: Art culture is rife here in Mauritania, where the creative talents of the population are deep-rooted in the past. Now, teams can choose to immerse themselves in one of two forms in Way of Art or Way of Music!

Phil: Rock art is the most prominent art form in Mauritania, with symbols of cattle, geometric patterns, or horsemen being some of the more commonly depicted pictures painted.

Now in Way of Art, teams must choose an art guide who will give them a prompt relating to a common inspiration for a painting. Then, using only their fingers in much the same way that the men of Mauritania used to, teams must paint their prompt on their assigned rock slab to the satisfaction of the art guide. If they are satisfied, teams will be rewarded with their next clue. If the art guide is not satisfied, teams will be handed a new rock slab to paint on again.

Phil: Music in Mauritania can be divided up into two main branches - al-bayda, also known as the white way and is associated with delicate or refined music, or al-kahla, otherwise known as the black way and is associated with rooted or masculine music.

Now, in Way of Music, teams must choose a music guide who will guide them to a demonstration tent, where two musicians will be playing the two styles of music. Then, once teams are satisfied that they know what they're listening for, teams must make their way to an ensemble of 15 musicians who will be playing one of the two music styles they just heard one at a time. Teams must correctly discern which way they are playing, and if they've tuned in and got them all correct, they will be rewarded with their next clue.

*Bananas & Wes choose first and decide on Way of Art. Soon after, teams slowly make their way to the berber camp and choose their respective Detours. As teams continue on with the Detour, Tony & Sarah are skewering the last of the fish, and shortly thereafter collect their clue directing them to the Pit Stop at Cap Blanche at the Nouadhibou Graveyard as well as a silver tablet instructing them to go there. They begin their drive to Nouadhibou, whilst teams begin to struggle in the Saharan heat. After a while, Lauren & Cameron, who breezed through Way of Music, receive their next clue.*

INSIDE CLUE: Drive yourself into the town of Nouadhibou and find Nouadhibou Market. Once there, search the market for your next clue.

Phil: Teams must now drive themselves into Nouadhibou where they must search for their next clue in the heart of the Nouadhibou Market, a small trade centre for the townsfolk here.

*Lauren & Cameron begin to drive towards Nouadhibou, and soon Bananas & Wes and Angela & Faith, who both chose Way of Art, depart the berber camp and head towards Nouadhibou. Lauren & Cameron are then shown to be at Nouadhibou Market.*

RB QUESTION: Who wants to get curvaceous?

INSIDE CLUE: Gather items from the market to prepare a gavage - an unusual process used to conform to Mauritanian beauty standards! You must collect all 10 items from the shopping list using your own money and return to the cluegiver who will give you a sample of each item once you have all the items he has asked for. You must consume all 10 items before receiving your next clue. Any item you collect that is not on the shopping list will be disregarded and you will not get your money back.

NOTE: The shopping list is written entirely in Arabic.

Phil: Mauritanian beauty standards are simple - curvy is the best, where the size of an individual determines their wealth. Now, in this Roadblock, one team member must make their way into the crowded small market of Nouadhibou and must collect 10 items from a shopping list written entirely in Arabic, the official language of Mauritania, to use for a gavage - an overindulgent feast used to gain weight, either by choice or by force. Items commonly used include camel milk and dried fish. Once they have collected all 10 items, teams must return to the entrance of the market, where they will be given a sample of each of the 10 items they have collected. Here, they must consume all 10 items before receiving a silver tablet with their next clue.

*Cameron begins the roadblock, trying to get help with translating the shopping list but not having much luck. Bananas and Faith also start walking around the market, not knowing what to do. Slowly, more teams arrive at the market, whilst Tony & Sarah are seen checking into the Pit Stop in first place. After a while, Cameron gets a guide from the market who helps him collect all items from the shopping list. He returns back to the entrance of the market with all 10 items completely correct, and begins to eat and drink all the food he was given, noting that the camel milk in particular is disgusting. Eventually, he finishes eating all 10 items, and receives a silver tablet with his & Lauren's next clue.*

Phil: Teams must now figure out that the silver tablet they have just received is an engraving of the boat Cap Blanche, sitting at the edge of the Nouadhibou Graveyard, the largest ship graveyard in the world. Once here, teams can check in with me at the Pit Stop.

The last team to check-in here... MAY be eliminated!

*Lauren & Cameron leave the market, getting directions from a nearby market salesman. Faith and Kevin are with the cluegiver eating the food with Bananas still struggling trying to find someone to help him. Soon, Lauren & Cameron arrive at Cap Blanche, with Phil telling them to "hold on to the silver tablet as it may become handy later..."*

Wikipedia Summary of Leg

Leg 7 - Nouakchott, Mauritania → Nouadhibou, Mauritania

• Dahklet Nouadhibou (Banc D'Arguin National Park) (Overnight Rest)
• Nouadhibou (Nouadhibou Berber Camp)
• Nouadhibou (Nouadhibou Market)
• Nouadhibou (Cap Blanche - Nouadhibou Graveyard)

The Fast Forward for this leg required teams to clean, descale, gut, and skewer 100 fish to be used for the preparation of fishmeal to be used as feed for the birds of Banc D'Arguin National Park. The first team to complete this task could skip all remaining tasks and proceed directly to the Pit Stop.

The Detour for this leg was Way of Art or Way of Music. In Way of Art, teams had to paint rock art depicting typical Mauritanian designs (for example, cattle or battles) using only their fingers on a 1x1m rock. If the art guide is satisfied with their work, they will receive their next clue. In Way of Music, teams had to make their way to a demonstration of music being played in the two main ways in Mauritania - al-bayda (the white way, associated with delicate or refined music) and al-kahla (the black way, associated with rooted or masculine music). Once teams heard the demonstrations, they had to listen to 15 musicians playing one of the two ways and had to determine which way they were playing. If they correctly categorised all 15 musicians, they would receive their next clue.

The Roadblock for this leg of the Race required teams to find 10 items in Nouadhibou Market for the gavage process, a process which allows a person to gain weight in order to conform to Mauritanian beauty standards. Once teams had collected all 10 items, they had to consume a small amount of each food in order to receive their next clue.

Additional Tasks

• At the Pit Start, teams were instructed to find one of 7 marked jeeps outside Mosque Saudique and drive themselves to Banc D'Arguin National Park.
• After the Roadblock, teams were given a silver tablet with a boat engraved into it with the caption "Find Phil here!" Teams had to figure out that the boat in the picture is the Cap Blanche located at the Nouadhibou Graveyard.

Designers Notes

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Hi everyone! First off I gotta say that Africa is one of my favourite places to design in because it's one of the places where you can always find the hidden gem of a leg if you look in the right places (it was also the continent I got my first round win in Design Challenge back in DC7 with my Ghana leg!). For this leg, my UNESCO World Heritage Site I chose was Banc D'Arguin National Park, which is a beautiful water bird reserve which sits on the coast of Mauritania. I chose Mauritania for two reasons - one, it had my favourite UNESCO site on it from the list (so, duh!) and two because it's a new country TAR has never been to. Since this country is only level 2 on the travel restrictions, I do believe that one day we may be able to  go there on the actual version if it's permitted (which I hope so because this leg was fun to design!). Without further ado, and going as ever in chronological order, please see my notes for this leg.

• This leg is intended to be done during the day with an Hours of Operation from the previous day and is a final 7 elimination leg.
• Once again, Covid travel restrictions strike! I wanted to base the Pit Start somewhere a bit further away than Nouakchott, but I saw the opportunity of having a rare African self-driving leg and took it.
• Teams will be starting outside of the mosque and the jeeps will be in plain sight of the teams, one jeep per team. Teams will be told in the further instructions bit they receive with each clue the directions towards Banc D'Arguin National Park.
• If you are wondering, yes you can actually camp at Banc D'Arguin National Park: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g293815-d323998-Reviews-Banc_d_Arguin_National_Park-Nouakchott.html
• Teams will be told once they get to the ranger's hut that they will have to continue driving to the campsite where there will be 7 marked tents for the evening - I did this so that we could have some beautiful cinematography of the park at sunrise, as per the Trip Advisor link in the previous point!
• Now, here's an admission. I hate Fast Forwards as I think they detract from the game and effectively give a team a free pass to the next leg. It also kinda undermines the whole point of setting up a leg for X number of teams and only X-1 number of teams are actually going to complete the leg. Nevertheless, since you asked for it, I decided to go with something that is true to Banc D'Arguin National Park, which is the production of fishmeal. I decided rather than doing the entire process, I would only ask teams to clean, descale, gut, and skewer the fish. Something similar to Method 1 in this wiki-how article: https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Fish with the skewering being similar to picture 2 for the Fast Forward.
• In addition to my disdain of Fast Forwards, I also think Fast Forwards should take a significant amount of time and should never guarantee a team first place, hence the large number of fish required to complete the task. I also do believe that Fast Forwards are high risk, high reward tasks, so if multiple teams attempted it they would be punished harshly for failing the task. This is done in two ways for the Fast Forward - number one being the amount of time taken to complete the task, and number two the drive towards Nouadhibou after (see maps at the end of the notes!). It is worth noting that there will be enough stations for all teams to attempt the Fast Forward, and the judges will inspect each fish carefully before telling a team it can be skewered; carefully being the key word here - if it's not up to the ranger's standard, it must be fixed!
• Teams who elect to not do the Fast Forward will be told to continue driving towards Nouadhibou and find a berber camp. There will be makeshift signposts close to the campsite to tell teams when to turn.
• For Way of Art, teams will use effectively finger paint to create the rock art in much the same way that Mauritanians of generations past used to. This Detour option is designed to be one where the time it takes is somewhat rigid (though fast finger action may help!) but it is an almost guaranteed success provided they stick at least somewhat close to the prompt they are given.
• For Way of Art, the 7 prompts that teams could be assigned are: cattle, horsemen, circular pattern, camels, wild animals, battle, unmounted horses in rows. These are the most common forms of rock art in Mauritanian. The judges for this will be somewhat lenient, they just want to see that the design brief has been met and covers a significant proportion of the 1x1m rock slab that they are provided with.
• For Way of Music, teams will have to organise 15 musicians who will be playing one of two styles of music, al-bayda or al-kahla. Here is an example of each!
  
  al-bayda
  
  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/uuOFUgArWkE" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/uuOFUgArWkE</a>
  
  al-kahla

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/CleKYOZ0LqI" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/CleKYOZ0LqI</a>

These are the types of music you'd expect to see (though I couldn't find an exact al-bayda musician playing without it being a part of a really long interview, but the style of it is similar to the video linked!)

• For Way of Music, the musicians (both in the demonstration and in the ensemble) will be playing one at a time. They will play for approximately 15 seconds each, meaning that in total the performance will last around 4 minutes. This Detour is designed to be one where if teams have a good ear for music can soar way ahead but it could be very easy to trip up otherwise. If teams guess incorrectly, they will not be told which ones are wrong (as that would make this Detour far too easy!). They will be using a clipboard with musician #1, musician #2 etc (don't worry they'll be marked as musician #1, #2 etc).
• The Roadblock for this leg will require teams to collect items from a market in order to prepare food for gavage. Now, time to dispel maybe some qualms you may have. Gavage is typically associated with force-feeding, which is what geese had done to them in order to produce foie gras. Now, in Mauritanian culture, "gavages" are usually overindulgent feasts in order to make a person (typically a woman but sometimes a man too!) bigger, which is the most desirable beauty in Mauritania. To that end, I wanted to highlight an unusual beauty standard (since western beauty standard are typically thin) which may have a feel-good message attached to it?!
• The shopping list that teams will receive is as follows:
  
  -حليب النوق (camel milk)
  -السمك المجفف (dried fish)
  -تواريخ (dates)
  -جبن كارافان (caravane cheese)
  -أفخاذ الماعز (goat thighs)
  -شراب كركديه (roselle syrup)
  -مشوي (méchoui, or whole roasted lamb)
  -الزبادي (yoghurt)
  -الكسكس (couscous)
  -طماطم (tomato)
  
  All food here are considered staple foods in Mauritania.
• For the Roadblock, teams will have to use their own money. Even though teams only received $8 in this leg, they will have received ~$500 from the previous leg which they would have converted into Mauritanian ouguiya, so the $8 really isn't all that much. Teams will also have to ineract with locals - and who doesn't want to see those types of tasks in Africa?! Translating the list is designed to give the challenge an added kick to make it that much more difficult, we're in the second half of the Race now the difficulty is ramping!
• The feast will be small samples of each - they will be cooked for things that are raw and all prepared nice and lovely for them. All they need to do is eat!
• After the Roadblock, teams will receive a silver tablet similar to the first picture for the Pit Stop. I only decided to reuse that first picture for the silver tablet because I think it's a gorgeous picture and really wanted to highlight that. Phil will slyly tell the teams to hold on to the tablet - but for what, who knows?! :O
• Aaaaaaand finally, here are all the maps for this leg going in chronological order (remember there's an HoO after the first journey here!):
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

[Kamineko]

Design #5 - elthemagnifico
[Cairo & Giza, Egypt]

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15:32 PM
Rapunzel & Eugene is the first time to arrive at the pit stop of the previous leg, Archbishop's Palace, Nicosia, Cyprus

Phil: Rapunzel & Eugene , it's nice to see you here. I'm please to tell you that you are team number 1. (*Rapunzel and eugene cheerfully celebrated it*). However, you gotta prepare yourself now, because the next leg starts now, here is your first clue.



Eugene : Fly to Cairo, Egypt. Once there, drive your way to Cairo Tower to receive the next clue. you have 10$ for this leg.

Phil: Teams have to fly 374 miles to the city of Cairo, Egypt. the historical city that contains ancient egypt legacy, and historical islamic influence in Egypt, also the city of one of the monument included as part of Seven Wonders of the world, that is still standing to this date.



Phil: once they touchdown at Cairo International Airport, they will find the marked car outside the airport, and drive themselves to the tallest building in Africa, Cairo Tower, to receive their next clue.





Phil: All teams now fly on the same flight, 374 miles to Cairo

Hours of operation: 9:00 AM



Go to Observational Deck and use your binocular to locate your next clue or fast forward clue

Phil: Teams now have to go to the observational deck. once arriving there, they will have to use their binocular to spot the route marker flag with the writing in it, that will take them to the next clue, at Al-Azhar Mosque, one of the oldest Mosque in the world.

They will notice that there will be a fast forward on this leg. To opt for the fast forward, using the binocular, they have to spot the green flag, that will guide them to drive to Cairo Opera House, to receive the fast forward clue.


maps

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Hiro & Karmi spot the fast forward flag and drive themselves to the Cairo Opera House.



As the biggest Arabic speaking movie in the world, Egypt stores some of the higlight of the cinemas and becomes the pioneer of Arabic speaking movie accros all of the world


This Fast Forward requires team to become an Egyptian actor or actress for a day. After choosing their acting teacher, they will have to practice a scene for an Egyptian movie. after practicing their acting gestures, and their pronounciation to Arabic speaking dialogues, they will have to perform flawlessly to the director. The first team who gets the approval from the director, will win the fast forward, and can go directly to the pit stop of this leg.
 
notes:

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example of one of the egyptian cinema

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/aeobF02KPeI" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/aeobF02KPeI</a>

Ideally the scene will take for 120 seconds, not too long and not too short, since they have to remember the dialogues in arabic language, not to mention the proper acting gesture

map to the pit stop from the fast forward spot

Luz & Amity spot the route marker and drive themselves to Al-Azhar Mosque.

map

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Who can't get lost in Egypt?

Phil: Islamic legacy has been influencing Egypt, and especially Cairo, since centuries, and this site, Islamic Cairo is the proof. As the part of Africa's Heritage Site, one of the member team will use the opportunity to deep down to this area, by navigating themselves to this historical landmark.
 
This task requires one of member team to locate 3 broken scrolls spread on 3 different spots across Islamic Cairo area. The name of the spot will be written in arabic, so teams have to figure out the translation of it, that will guide them to the spot, through confusing mazes of streets and alleys. Once there, they will have to spot 'the keeper' on each spot, wandering around the spot, and wearing red and yellow fez.
Teams also have to notice that they have to speak a secret code, written in arabic, which turns out to be one of the arabic greetings of 'as-salaam ‘alaykum' (Peace upon with you). They have to speak the 'code' or otherwise the 'keeper' will ignore them. Once they speak the code correctly, the 'keeper' will reply a greeting of "wa ‘alaykum salaam", and give them a broken scroll. Once they collecting three broken scrolls, they can reunite to their partner, and figure out the next clue on those broken scrolls.

maps & notes

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the three landmarks for this task are:

Al-Hussein Mosque ( مسجد الإمام ٱلحُسين )





Madrasa and Dome of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun ( مدرسة و قبة السلطان الناصر محمد بن قلاون )





Beit el Seheimy ( بيت السحيمي )






back to al azhar



the keepers are spotted on the entrance area, and the place's arabic letters will be written in their RB clue, including also the secret code.
 

Put those scrolls together, figure out the location, and locate yourself to the X spot for your next clue

Phil: Teams now have to put three broken scrolls together, and figure out that the scroll is a map of a landmark. Team then have to recognize that the map is a location of Giza Pyramid Complex, an Ancient Egypt legacy landmark, also a landmark of one of the seven wonders sites that is still standing to this date. Driving themselves to the area, teams will find the clue on the X marked area, which is the Great Sphinx of Giza .


maps:

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Detour: Wrapping or Writing

Phil: This Detour gives team opportunities to experience the Ancient Egypt activities here in this historical place of Giza Complex



Wrapping: Go to Western Cemetery, and once wearing ancient egyptian costume, wrap the dummy to become the mummy,  put it to the sarcophagus, and transport it to the tomb to receive the next clue.

Phil: Priests had been mummificating dead bodies for 2.000 years, up until Roman Period, to retain the shape of the dead body. in this detour, team have to do one of the process of ancient mummification on Egypt, Bandage wrapping

This task requires teams to travel to Eastern Cemetery to spot for the station. Once they wearing ancient egyptian costume, they will have to practice the penultimate process of mummification, wrapping the mummy with linen bandage. Teams have to wrap a dummy doll according to example. once the priest deeming that their work meets his satisfactory, they will have to put their 'mummy' to the sarcophagus, and the transport it to the western cemetetry area, once they put their sarcophagus vertically, the priest will hand them their next clue.

videos and notes:

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one of the example of mummy wrapping stuff, can't get the nsfw one because you know

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/8Rw1xkyi4ok" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/8Rw1xkyi4ok</a>

- they will be using linen bandage for the authenticity
- there is a bed so they can put the doll to it and wrap it comfortably. 8 beds is prepared
- also 8 fake sarcophagus is prepared for this task

Writing: Go inside the Pyramid of Khufu, descend yourself to the creation room and retrieve a satchel, once you getting back to the ground, dechiper a hieroglyph inside the papyrus and recite the translation to the egyptologist to receive the next clue.

Phil: Ancient egyptians had been using hieroglyphs to tell messages, either in the wall, or in the papyrus, for thousands yeras. This Detour task requires teams to dechiper a message behind the hieroglyphs.

Once they change their costume to anthropologist costume, Teams have to search for route marker around the Pyramid of Khufu, or known as the Great Pyramid, for the entrance. once they find the route marker, they have to enter inside the the pyramid and descend around 350 feet into a deep cavern known as the Creation Room, to find a satchel contains a papyrus of egyptian hieroglyphs. Once they get back to the outside of the pyramid, they have to dechiper and translate the hieroglyphs' letters, using only two revealed letters as their guide (E & S) to dechiper the message, which will form an Egyptian proverb. Once they solve the message, they have to rewrite the exact translation in blank papyrus, and then give it to the egyptologist. If their translation is correct, they will receive the next clue

notes

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the answer of the this detour task will be:

"An answer brings no illumination unless the question has matured to a point where it gives rise to this answer which thus becomes its fruit. Therefore learn how to put a question."

Detour maps

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Search for Camels station around the Pyramid Khafre, and ride the camel to the pit stop, Pyramid of Queen. Warning, the last team who check in may be eliminated

Phil: Teams now have to search for camels station on the west of Khafre Pyramid, and ride a camel 1,5 km to the pit stop of the race, Pyramid of Queen. this tomb,  is the next pit stop of the race, the last team who checked here, may be eliminated.


map:

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Additional Notes:

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1. Sorry for the late submission I had a tight schedule recently, but i'm trying to submit this leg for the sake of commitment, even if this leg might feel rushed
2. I want to relive the magic of Egypt again, especially Cairo. and i want to have two different cultures, that influenced Egypt for thousand years, for a leg here. IDK if it works, so i hope the judges like this leg
3. Team were told before to wear appropriate clothes for the muslim country, especially there will be sacred spots to be visited that thet have to respect.
4. The flag and the writings will be visible enough to be observed with binocular
5. For the Roadblock, I want to have a classic TAR where teams have to navigate themselves to some locations, and rely with the local. This RB task will also test their eyes since the route marker of fez of the keeper will be a slight smaller, still visible but enough to deceive the performer(s)
6. For the Detour, I want to have such a pretty much ancient mummy task vs dechipering task with some kind of Indiana Jones stuff
7. The Descending to the creation room is actually done in TAR 5 leg 6, but i think it would be cool to be revisited as a part of one of the detour task (Writing), and gives such more adventure vibe to the task. it is worth the visit to be honest
8. for the pit stop, One team will take one camel to ride, also there will be a local to help them guide to the pit stop
9. This leg has 8 teams racing, from previously continue-to-racing leg
10. It is interesting to have a cinema performance task as Fast Forward task, and since egypt is the biggest arabic speaking language in the world, i think this is a good chance to showcase it of course

[Kamineko]

Design #6 - nrh2110
[Luxor, Egypt]

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This is Aswan.



Aswan is one of most significant cities in Southern Egypt, dating back to ancient times where it has served as both a strategic and commercial gateway for Southern Egypt. It is also the world's driest city, averaging less than a millimeter of rainfall annually. But Aswan is no stranger to water, lying on the Nile and home to the famous Aswan Dam.



Completed in 1970, the Aswan Dam is the world's largest embankment dam. It also served as the sixth pit stop in a race around the world.

Having used their Express Pass given to them by Rupert & Michael, Jenna & Elizabeth won the last leg of the race! They will depart first at 11:25 AM.



Jenna: We're leaving in first today!
Elizabeth: Let's keep it that way!

Route Info: Travel by train to the city of Luxor!



Teams will now travel 130 miles north by train to the city of Luxor. Upon arrival in Luxor, teams must travel by taxi to Karnak Temple and find the White Chapel, where they will find the cluebox with their next clue.



Hours of Operation at Karnak Temple are 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM. You have 31 USD for this leg of the race.

Jenna: Egypt you've been good to us so far, let's do this again!


All teams are now on the same train departing a 5:00 PM, arriving in Luxor at 8:20 PM.




Fast Forward: Take part in an annual procession celebrating a 3000-year old ceremony.



Each year two weeks before Ramadan, Luxor celebrates the Moulid of Abu el Haggag—the sheikh who is fabled to have brought Islam to Luxor hundreds of years ago. Despite bearing the name of an Islamic Sheikh, the roots of the festival are based in Egypt's past. Each year, a parade of floats and camels celebrates the annual journey of the priests who brought the celestial basques of Amun, Mut and Khonsu from Karnak Temple to Luxor Temple along the now silted canal. This Fast Forward requires teams to finish painting the god Amun according to the picture provided on a boat-shaped float. Once the judge is satisfied with their paint job, they must rig a camel and dress it up in its finery and prepare it for the parade. Upon approval from the judge, they must help three local kids onto the camel and then load themselves onto the float. The first team to complete all of this will be given approval to begin the two-mile procession to Luxor Temple. Upon arrival at Luxor Temple, the team will be awarded the Fast Forward and may go directly to the pit stop.


Route Info: Make your way to the Isis Papyrus Museum 1.



Teams must now make their way to the Isis Papyrus Museum 1. Upon arrival at the museum, teams will find their clue in the cluebox in front of the museum.


Detour: Reed It or Read It

A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its pros and cons. This detour will require teams to work with papyrus—and they must choose whether they want to Reed It or Read It.



Reed It: Papyrus is a paper native to ancient Egypt and this side of the detour will require teams to take part in the lengthy process of making papyrus. First, they will have to cut papyrus strips from the papyrus plant. They must each cut 15 strips to the judge's satisfaction. Once they have finished cutting the strips, they must submerge them in water to soak for three days. They will then be given 30 already-soaked papyrus strips, which they must use a rolling pin to push out the excess water and sugars, and then weave the papyrus into a 15x15-strip piece of paper. Once they have completed this, they must place the woven piece between linen in between two boards. Once this is all done, they will be given a papyrus scroll with their next clue on it.



Read It: Hieroglyphs were what the ancient Egyptians used as their writing system. In this Detour, teams must carefully translate an English version of a quote by Pharaoh Akhnaton into hieroglyphs on a papyrus scroll. Once they feel their translation is correct, they must run outside to the bank of the Nile where they will find a priest who they must deliver the scroll. If it is incorrect, the priest will take it and they must go back to the museum and start over again. If it is correct, he will exchange it for a papyrus scroll with their next clue on it.


Route Info: Travel by ferry across the Nile River and search for the twins of Luxor.



Teams must now make their way to the ferry point outside Luxor Temple and take a ferry to the west bank. Once there, they must figure out that the location of their next clue is at the Colossi of Memnon—two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III.


Route Info: Travel by taxi to the Valley of Kings.



Teams must now travel by taxi to the Valley of Kings. Once there, they will find their next clue at the entrance.


Roadblock: Who wants to be a tomb raider?



From the 16th to 11th century BC, over 60 tombs were excavated in the Valley of Kings; serving as the final resting place for many pharaohs and nobleman. Despite this, only a select handful of these tombs are open to the public. In this Roadblock, one team member must go on a scavenger hunt in the Valley of Kings. They will be given a set of three questions—each with an answer corresponding to a specific tomb they must locate. At the correct tombs, they will find a cluebox which they must open a clue envelope. If it is a correct tomb, the clue envelope will contain a small red, white or black flag, representing the three national colors of Egypt. However, if it is an incorrect tomb, the clue envelope will contain a clue telling them to try again. Once they have all three flags, they can run back to the entrance of the Valley and give them to the archaeologist, who will give them their next clue in return.


Route Info: Make your way to the next pit stop, the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut!



Queen Hatshepsut is historically considered one of the most important pharaohs in Egypt's history. She was the second historically-confirmed female  pharaoh, taking over the throne after her husband Thutmose II. One of her greatest accomplishments as pharaoh was the construction of the temple here at Deir el-Bahari.

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut is considered one of the architectural wonders of Egypt and is the pit stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here may be eliminated.

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Designer's Notes:

Hello judges! This leg I'm trying to stick with a theme—ancient Egypt. Once of UNESCO's heritage sites is Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis, which encompasses everything visited on this leg of the race. This leg hits close to home for me, as my first real trip outside of North America was to Egypt, and part of that trip was a visit to Luxor.

I figured this leg would be paired with modern Egypt-themed leg in Aswan, so having two legs in Egypt takes care of two important aspects of the country.

There are no planes from Luxor to Aswan, as it is not a long distance, and there is only one daily train from Aswan to Luxor. Especially given the hours of the temples, a night leg was not feasible, so I used the hours of operation at Karnak Temple to bunch the teams up right before the Fast Forward.

Train is here: https://ibb.co/4MsqB8B

Now, I know you may be thinking, Karnak Temple was already visited in TAR 5. While that may be true, Karnak Temple is so significant to Luxor, especially with the Fast Forward, that it had to be revisited—and this isn't unprecedented! Batu Caves is one of the most important tourist attractions in Kuala Lumpur and in the two legs that really focused on KL on TARUS, they both visited Batu Caves.

The Fast Forward was something I came upon when reading about traditional festivals in Luxor, specifically the Moulid of Abu el Haggag, and I figured would be perfect for a Fast Forward. While I could've taken the easy way out by making the Fast Forward a disgusting eating challenge like eating the notorious fesikh, like many fast forwards on the Amazing Race do, but when I saw this, I figured it would be perfect for TV, watching the teams lead the procession from Karnak to Luxor Temple.

The painting of Amun will look like this. It will all be stenciled in already on the parade float, so they just have to paint in the colors according to the picture provided.

The camel should end up looking like this when done.

Now the Detour. Strangely enough, TARUS didn't do anything with papyrus when it went to Egypt on TAR 5, despite it being so important to its history.

Don't think I have to go into detail about the papyrus making since I went pretty in depth on the actual post and it's pretty self-explanatory. For the Detour, if you look at the map here, you will see that the museum is a stone's throw from the banks of the Nile, so it's not that far of a walk to deliver the message at all. The quote they have to translate is:

“To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his care; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not.” – Pharaoh Akhnaton

which looks like this in hieroglyphs:

https://ibb.co/48VTYGf
https://ibb.co/CpjPcFg

If you look at the map of Luxor, the one ferry point to cross the river is right outside of Luxor Temple, which is perfect because all teams, whether they took the Fast Forward or not, will have to take the ferry to get across the Nile to the rest of the tasks or the pit stop, and the Fast Forward brings them right there.

I took note from Pi/ that I need to be less vague with the mystery location, and the Colossi of Memnon is so iconic that any local will know what they're talking about when twins are mentioned.

And now the Roadblock. Here are the questions for the scavenger hunt:

1. Red: The thirteenth son of his father that he succeeded, his throne name meant "The Soul of Ra, Beloved of the Gods" (Merneptah)
2. White: His father's identity is currently unknown, but he was the second to last ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty (Siptah)
3. Black: This pharoah succeeded #1, but #2 succeeded him. (Seti II)

The clue boxes will be in front of each tomb, rather than inside, as to not disrespect the tombs themselves.

Finally, the Valley of the Kings is in a dead end, but I didn't want to have an unceremonious leg finish in the same location as the Roadblock, so Hatshepsut Temple seemed like a great candidate for the pit stop.

Money Breakdown (all through Rome2Rio):

3 USD taxi from Dam to Train Station
8 USD for 4 train tickets (team and sound/camera)
1 USD taxi from Luxor Station to Karnak
1 USD taxi from Karnak to Papyrus Museum
1 USD taxi from Papyrus to ferry
4 USD for 4 ferry tickets
1 USD to colossi
1 USD to Valley
1 USD to Hatshepsut Temple
10 USD for food/other expenses

Hope you all enjoy!

[Kamineko]

Design #7 - Bookworm
[Lalibela, Ethiopia]

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Phil: Dubai seems to be in constant motion. With new skyscrapers reaching the heavens seemingly overnight and new islands emerging from the Persian Gulf, it appears nothing can stop the United Arab Emirates' largest city.



Phil: Even water, though scarce in the desert, has become so plentiful it can be used for recreation. And nowhere can attest to that more than the Dubai Water Canal, an urban promenade along a waterway connecting Dubai Creek and the Persian Gulf. It is from here that seven teams will begin the next Leg in the Amazing Race!

Phil: Katie & Jessica, who were the first to arrive, will depart at 11:06 pm

Katie: Ethiopia?
Jessica: Oh my gosh, that's like, so unfair!
Katie: Ugggghh-uh! Daddy's international business partners can't, like, help us cheat- I mean, like, win- there!
Jessica: Hopefully, like, they have, like, coffee! I, like, stole some dude's credit card, so, like, we can have, like, Starbucks!
Katie: Oh my gosh, so, like, great! The, like, mean producers only, like, gave us a measly 64 USD this Leg!





Phil: Teams must now fly to Lalibela, Ethiopia! Deep in the Ethiopian Highlands, it is nevertheless a center of pilgrimage, as it is one of the holiest cities in Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. Lalibela is renowned for its incredible, rock-hewn churches...





Phil: ... the most famous being the Church of Saint George. Ethiopian Orthodox clergy attest that the churches of Lalibela, which comprise a UNESCO World Heritage Site, represent Jerusalem, and teams will have the chance to find out for themselves as they make their way here upon arriving in Lalibela. Teams will find their clue outside the church, before the staircase descending into the rock.



All teams depart between 11:06 pm and 1:01 am and travel to Dubai International Airport, where they book passage to Lalibela.



Phil: All teams are making their way to Lalibela, Ethiopia. Teams first fly to Addis Ababa at 4:25 am, before splitting up.





Phil: The first flight, connecting through Axum, arrives at 11:10 am, but requires a 30-minute connection. The second flight arrives over an hour after the first, but is direct.

Phil: Teams are traveling by taxi from Lalibela Airport to the Church of Saint George, where their next clue contains a:

Fast Forward: Make your way on foot to the Lalibela's Amhara Market and learn about Ethiopia's linguistic diversity!



Phil: Lalibela's Amhara Market attracts merchants and visitors from all over Ethiopia, who sometimes trek two weeks straight just to purchase livestock. It is therefore the perfect venue for this Leg's Fast Forward.

Phil: A Fast Forward can only be completed by one team and allows that team to skip all remaining tasks and head directly to the Pit Stop. In this Fast Forward, teams must compete to identify languages of Ethiopia, based on the favorite medium of expression- music.



Phil: When teams arrive at the Market, they may choose one of four stations, each featuring a large, upright game board, painted with a Linguistic Map of Ethiopia, a country home to over 100 different languages. At regular intervals, the DJ will announce the name of a CD and play it. As teams listen to music, they must not only find the correct CD, put place it on one of 50 pins across their map. If the CD is placed in the correct linguistic region, the team gets to keep the CD on the board. If multiple teams are competing, only the first to place it correctly will win this right!



Phil: While Ethiopia is home to 100 languages, they can be categorized into four major groups: Nilo-Saharan, Semitic, Omotic, and Cush itic. To help teams, four pairs of men in the immediate vicinity of the game area will be conversing in languages representing each language group. Teams could get an ear for what each language group sounds like by listening to the men, but would have to do so at the expense of the ongoing game.

Phil: The first team with 8 CDs on their board will win the Fast Forward and proceed directly to the Pit Stop. However, the CD player only has room for 50 songs. The game starts as soon as the first team arrives in the arena, and the Fast Forward will end, with or without a winner, as soon as the DJ runs out of songs.

"Congratulations! Make your way to the next Pit Stop, Ben Abeba Restaurant & Lodge."



Phil: Having won the Fast Forward, Dahlia & Jasper can now proceed directly to the Pit Stop, Ben Abeba. This restaurant is an architectural wonder and provides a panoramic view of Lalibela and the surrounding countryside.

The teams that do not pursue the Fast Forward find a:

Roadblock: Who isn't claustrophobic?







Phil: In this Roadblock, one team member must travel back in time and use the tunnel system connecting the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela to recreate three images of the people that inspired the churches in the first place. They will first descend down into the Church of Saint George.

The participating team member must then use the tunnel network to access two more churches...



Phil: ... Bete Amanuel...



Phil: ... and Bete Maryam. Outside each of the three churches, including St. George, sit seven puzzle stations, one for each team. Teams must swap pieces between the puzzle stations at each church, the first of which is right outside the Church of Saint George, to solve three puzzles:



The Ethiopian Orthodox monk, saint, and writer, Giyorgis



King Ezana of Axum, who embraced Christianity and institutionalized it as the official religion of Ethiopia



And the Virgin Mary, known as Maryam in Ethiopia

Phil: Each puzzle consists of 12 pieces, and when team members first encounter the puzzle stations, they will feature four pieces from each puzzle. Racers must properly identify the pieces to their corresponding puzzle and transfer them to the appropriate station. However, teams may only carry four pieces at a time, and may place no more than 12 pieces at any given station. Once teams rearrange the pieces and solve the puzzle, they will receive a pendant.



Phil: Once the team member returns to the Church of Saint George and their partner with three pendants, they may exchange them for their next clue.


This clue reveals a:

Detour: Home-Brewed or Tongue-Tied?

Phil: Ethiopians are known for their hospitality, and beverages are often associated with tradition and performance. In this Detour, teams will explore one of two such performances.



Home-Brewed requires teams to make their way on foot to the Tukul Village Hotel. There, they must find a marked hut, where a woman will be performing a coffee ceremony. Teams must be careful to observe what she does, for they will have to perform the traditional ceremony on their own in an adjacent room.



Phil: When teams are ready, they can attempt this complicated ceremony, making sure to include all relevant details.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/wWuR_NYezhY" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/wWuR_NYezhY</a>

Phil: First, teams must lay out a bed of grasses and burn incense to ward off spirits. Then, they must fill the Jebena, a traditional pot, with water and set it on hot coals. Teams can then start on the coffee beans, washing and cooking them. At regular intervals, teams must remember their roles as hosts and offer the beans to their guests, two experts in the ceremony, to smell.

Phil: Once the beans are ready, teams can grind them in a mortar and pestle and pour them into the Jebena to finish boiling. Teams can then serve the coffee, the most important step. Three cups must be poured for each of the two guests, and when teams serve them, they must remember to tell these judges the meaning of each cup: the first is for pleasure, the second for contemplation, and the third is a blessing. Once the teams can run through the entire ceremony without error, they will receive their next clue.

Phil: This Detour is tedious and requires good memory. Aspects that seem irrelevant to coffee, such as the incense, are a vital part of the ceremony. Teams with good memories and better etiquettes can speed through, but others may find themselves feeling a bit pressed if they have to repeat the ceremony multiple times.



Phil: Tongue-Tied requires teams to find Torpedo Tej, a local bar. Once there, they must sell ten servings of Tej, a local honey wine. However, the task is far from that simple.



Phil: These bars, known as Tejbet, are frequented by Azmaris, Ethiopian musical storytellers akin to bards. Teams must blend these two traditions by selling Tej with music. As teams sell Tej to patrons, they are required to sing to the patron's satisfaction, aiming for flattery.



Phil: One team member would sing, striving to create a short song, upwards of ten lines, with a traditional rhyme scheme, in which every pair of lines rhyme. While one team member sings, the other will have to make an accompanying tune on the Masenqo, a one-stringed fiddle variant. Although teams are not judged on the musical performance, patrons are told to refuse service from bad songs. Furthermore, if teams get stuck halfway through their song, they will be forced to start their song over from the top.

Phil: Once a customer laughs a team off, they can move on to the next order. Once teams sell 10 servings of Tej, the bartender will give teams their next clue.

Phil: While this task is simple enough, teams will have to be observant and think quickly in order to sing rhymes about patrons. Furthermore, teams are ultimately at the patrons' mercy, and could find their cheeky rhymes turning into a serenade quicker than expected.



"Make your way to Selina Restaurant"



Phil: Teams must now make their way to Selina Restaurant, where they'll find their next clue next to the "Daily Specials" sign.

"It's time to become breadwinners. Deliver a stack of Injera uphill to Ben Abeba."



Phil: Teams will now receive a stack of Injera, Ethiopian flatbread, measuring two feet high. Teams must deliver this bread on foot to Ben Abeba Restaurant & Lodge. Injera is the national dish of Ethiopia and is central to every meal.



Phil: When teams arrive at this futuristic restaurant, bread in hand, they'll receive their next clue.

"Time to test those tastebuds."



Phil: While no meal in Ethiopia would be complete without Injera, you've got to have something to eat with the Injera. Ethiopian food is characterized by Wot, a stew meant to be eaten with Injera using one's hands. Teams will be seated at a table with a Wot platter. Using their senses of taste, teams must match each of the 5 stews to the proper Amharic name, using a provided list. However, teams were not told the translations or ingredients of the Ethiopian names.



Phil: Unbeknownst to teams, the Daily Specials blackboard at Selina Restaurant detailed the chief ingredient of each stew. Will teams simply guess, or run downhill and back to get this crucial information? Will any observant teams have already noticed the board and steam ahead? Once teams tasted through the spices to correctly identify each Wot, they would be led up the spiral staircase to the Pit Stop.





Phil: The upper balcony of Ben Abeba Restaurant & Lodge overlooks the incredible Ethiopian Highlands. The last team to check in here may be eliminated.

Judges, I will admit that, unlike most African Heritage Sites listed, the Rock Churches of Lalibela have graced our screens on The Amazing Race before. However, I felt the Leg, while full of beautiful scenery, did little to showcase the cultural history of Ethiopia and the region. We got a Detour relating to huts, which can only go so far in depicting a modern country. Furthermore, it’s been 14 years since Lalibela was visited and the significance of the churches and Ethiopia merit a real visit. I attempted to rectify the generic tasks of the previous visit by celebrating the richness of Ethiopia, from linguistic diversity to a vibrant cuisine and a deep history.

Another thing I tried to do this Leg was test teams’ wit in a variety of ways. Many tasks featured memory; however, each task utilized memory through a different sense. The Fast Forward challenged teams’ auditory memory, whereas the Roadblock tested the senses of direction and visual memory. Visual memory and detail-orientation was again tested in “Home-Brewed,” while quick thinking and powers of observation were rewarded in “Tongue-Tied.” Finally, the Active Route Info tested teams’ powers of perception as they related to taste. The physicality of the Leg is brought on through directing teams on foot once in Lalibela.

I wanted to make the Fast Forward interesting, challenging, and competitive. I believe I did just that. The music is loud enough for all participants to hear, and the 4 pairs are far enough such that the music won't obscure their conversation so teams can listen. Since each song takes about 3 minutes, a team could win in about 20, the maximum time, which I don't think it would get to, would be about 150 min, or over 2 and a half hours. Again, I gave teams plenty of leeway because hearing differences in foreign languages, especially those that teams haven't been exposed to, is quite difficult. But teams have to earn the Fast Forward! I predict a team would win in about 35-45 minutes, assuming they can get the CDs quickly compared to the song length. As an additional note, I had to spell C u s h i t i c as two works to avoid censors (Cu****ic).

As for the Roadblock, the tunnels are wide enough for camera people to safely navigate. Additionally, a lot of the tunnel sections are uncovered, so they’re lit. Even so, the truly subterranean sections are quite short, as the first image after the Roadblock prompt indicates. Teams should be able to run between the churches safely, easily, and without technical impairment. The task should take between 40 and 80 minutes; the churches aren't that far apart, but teams that fail to strategize and go back and forth a lot will waste serious time. I also want to mention that the blue line on the map of the churches refers to a road, which is easily crossable, as opposed to a river.

Like I said, a sign outside Selina Restaurant has a “daily specials” sign with the descriptions of different wot varieties. I felt the task would be pointless if teams new the ingredients in each name, but decided to add a clue along the Racecourse at what I felt was an appropriate venue to ensure that teams have a fair and equal chance at being equipped with enough knowledge such that they aren't taking a shot in the dark. I believe this information provides enough of an advantage such that the task, while simple, has actual potential to shuffle changes last minute. Otherwise, there are 120 possible combinations to guess!

I gave teams 64 USD for this Leg, to cover taxis to Dubai Airport and travel from the Lalibela Airport to the main cluster of churches. From that point on, teams are on foot and therefore don't need money. Additionally, 50 USD is to cover passes for entry into Lalibela's Heritage Site. These tickets could easily be provided by production, but since teams have to pass through the checkpoint to enter the RB, might as well give them the money, to be safe.

Each successful coffee ceremony should take 10 minutes, including boiling water and roasting beans. However, subsequent attempts may take half that time, since the water will already be boiling from a previous attempt. The ceremony is not too complex and I could see a team getting it on their first try, but there are enough minor details that I feel that it balances with Tongue-Tied. This side of the Detour is definitely more fun and gets a different side of local interaction. Locals will be briefed quickly as teams ask them for a Tej order, in order to ensure that a) there's a fair understanding in case of potential language barriers and b) the task does reward charisma and teams can pluck locals off the street. Otherwise, a room full of 40 placed Ethiopians dumbs down the task, as teams don't really have to work to get an order. The bartender will speak English, so even if a patron fails to notice a rhyme (or lack thereof), the bartender will handle it. I predict that Home-Brewed will take anywhere from 20 minutes to 45, while Tongue-Tied can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. I hope your interpretations agree with my estimations!

From Airport to Church of Saint George


Fast Forward map


Detour map


From Home-Brewed to the Pit Stop


From Tongue-Tied to the Pit Stop

Total Leg time: 11:10 or 12:30 arrival + 21 min travel time + 40-80 mins RB + 15 min (HB) - 20 min (TT) to Detour - 20 to 45 min Detour - 27 (TT) - 46 (HB) w/ ARI to Pit Stop + 5 - 40 mins Wot ARI (assuming teams go back to Selina) = teams arrive at the Pit Stop between just before 1 (FF) and 4:30 pm. Teams have plenty of daylight to complete these tasks.

[Kamineko]

Design #8 - ZBC Company
[Fez & Meknes, Morocco]

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Open this link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JvrnfPhHFVdNHu48TB44zSlHPrFDZ_BG0oTDjp1ErFQ/edit

[Kamineko]

Design #9 - redwings8831
[Ouidah & Abomey, Benin]

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ROUND 3

*This is The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, a landlocked country in the heart of Western Europe. Bordered by Belgium, France and Germany and at the crossroads of Germanic and Latin cultures, Luxembourg's successful steel, finance and high technology industry had made this small nation one of the richest in the world and a defacto capital of the European Union. And in the center of the capitol Luxembourg City, is Place de la Constitution. This city square featuring a memorial obelisk dedicated to World War II soldiers, freedom & resistance is the pit start for the next leg of the Amazing Race.*

X&Y, who arrived first at 4:44 PM, will depart at 4:44 AM.

Clue: Fly to the West African nation of Benin. Upon arrival in the capital of Cotonou, travel by taxi to the Temple of Pythons in Ouidah. Search among the pythons in the 12x12 ft. marked room in the temple for your next clue. You have $75 (42,000 West African franc XOF) for this leg of the race.

Teams will travel by taxi from the pit-start to the Luxembourg Airport (~30 EUR). All teams will be on the same flight to Benin, connecting through Paris. Once in Benin, teams will travel by bush taxi to Ouidah (700 XOF).

**Transportation**

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Taxi from the pit start to the Luxembourg Airport

Flight to Benin

Taxi to the Temple of Pythons

In Benin, pythons are reverred and worshiped and in Ouidah, the Temple of Pythons is a voodoo temple and a sacred site that represents historical and modern symbolism and spiritual practice.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/2c-sjY05E20" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/2c-sjY05E20</a>

Clue: Travel by taxi to the sacred forest of Kpasse (100 XOF). Once there, check in and retrieve your departure time for the following morning.

According to legend, this forest marks the location where, in the fourteenth century, King Kpassè, the founder of the city, miraculously disappeared. The forest is sacred precisely because of this tree that embodies the spirit of the king.

Starting at 6 AM, teams will depart in the order they arrived, keeping the time distance in-tact. (For example, if team A arrives at 9:30 PM and team B arrives at 9:37 PM, team A will leave at 6 AM and team B will leave at 6:07 AM). Teams can spend the night at the provided shelter in the forest for free or can book a room at the nearby Hotel DK for 10,000 XOF).

**Transportation**

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6:00 AM, the next morning:

Clue: The Door of No Return is a memorial arch in Ouidah that is dedicated to the victims of the Atlantic slave trade. Travel by taxi (150 XOF) to the arch and then walk through it, retrieve your next clue on the beach, and then walk back through to honor those who were taken to the Americas from the Ouidah slave port during the slave trade.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/ng5ISJZNdGw" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/ng5ISJZNdGw</a>

**Transportation**

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On the beach, teams find a fast forward with their next clue:

Voodoo is one of the worlds most secretive and misunderstood religions and in Benin, the nearly 40% of the population is a follower of it. In this fast forwards, teams will be forced to immerse themselves in the Voodoo culture by going by taxi to the Dantokpa Market in Cotonou (800 XOF). Known simply as Tokpa, this is the largest open-air market in West Africa, covering over 20 hectares and responsible for a commercial turnover of over a billion CFA Francs a day.

Teams will have to find the fetish market (Marché des féticheurs) at the northern edge of the Tokpa. In the West African Voodoo culture, a fetish is an object that is used in animistic religion that carries an magical power. These objects can be anything from tree barks, dried plants, herbs to dried animal parts, such as heads, skins, skulls, etc. Live animals including chickens, fish and rats to be sacrificed can also be found at these markets.

The first team to find the items on the provided list including a live chicken, a dried up snake, a tortoise shell, two raw eggs, and herbs, take them by taxi to the Cotonou Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Miséricorde de Cotonou, 50 XOF) and give them to the priest there will win the fast foward. Before getting the clue, both team members will have to take a shot of Sodabi, a palm spirit that is made from the fermented sap of palm trees. In Voodoo ceremonies, this spirit is poured over celebrants to flush out bad spirits and offered to ancestors to keep them comfortably tipsy in the afterlife.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/uYnwmWv5Xgk" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/uYnwmWv5Xgk</a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/fs3uPShElpI" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/fs3uPShElpI</a>
I know this video shows Voodoo in Togo and not Benin, but it was the most comprehensive video I could find to showcase the fetish markets and the culture/traditions/markets are similar among the two bordering nations.

**Transportation**

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The first team to complete the fast forward will go directly to the pit stop, the Parc Archaeologique d'Agongointo (Underground Town) in Bohicon, Benin. A free limousine provided by Royal American Transportation & Security Services (https://www.ralimo.com/locations/benin/cotonou/) will transport the winning team to the pit stop.

**Transportation**

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For teams that bypass the fast forward:

Clue: Travel by taxi (800 XOF) and boat (1000 XOF) to the floating stilt village of Ganvie. Often called the Venice of Africa and added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 1996, Ganvie is the largest floating village in the world with a population of over 20,000 people. Your next clue will be at the embarkation point for the boat trip to Ganvie, in the town of Abomey Calavi.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/mBV0w9l0nu4" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/mBV0w9l0nu4</a>

**Transportation**

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At the embarkation point:

Detour: Fish Nets or Log Stilts
 
In Fish Nets, teams will have to direct their boat driver to the fishing farm in Ganvie (15 minute boat ride). Once there, they'll have to get into the water and help the local fisherman set up three large nets to capture fish. Once these are done, teams will then go to an already functioning fish farm and collect 5 pounds of fish to take with them to the fish market. When they have unloaded the fish at the market, teams will receive their next clue.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/8V0AU82xI6o" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/8V0AU82xI6o</a>

In Log Stilts, teams will direct their driver to the boat yard in Ganvie (15 minute boat ride). Once there, they will have to help the locals finishing build a dugout canoe. Using the provided equipment and tools, teams will have to put in the log benches and make sure all of the bolts are securely in place. Once the canoe is approved, accompanied by their driver and locals, teams will transport four wooden stilts used for building on the canoe through the canals to the nearby fish market for their next clue.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/HbKxJnKeVHY" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/HbKxJnKeVHY</a>

*Upon completion of the detour:

Clue: Travel by taxi (1600 XOF) to the Royal Palaces of Abomey in Abomey. Retrieve your next clue at the Historical Museum of Abomey, located in what was once the homes of King Ghézo and King Glélé.

Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, this 100 acre site is the home to 12 palaces, each of which was built by a ruler of the Kingdom of Dahomey between 1695 and 1900. The Kingdom was founded in 1625 by the Fon who developed it into a powerful military and commercial empire, which dominated trade with European slave traders on the Slave Coast until 1904, when it was defeated by the French and the country was annexed into a French colony.

**Transportation**

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Roadblock: Who wants to play with clay?

Clue: Serving as a record book as opposed to written documents, Bas-reliefs fill the walls of the royal palaces of Abomey. These pictures, clay sculptures, and other creations are a source of history for the Fon people and the Kingdom of Dahomey, displaying their vast military success, the power of each king and documenting the Fon people's myths, customs and rituals.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/UrnJpArnW1w" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/UrnJpArnW1w</a>

In this roadblock, the chosen team member have to learn how to make a bas-relief. There will be four different designs to choose from and each design can be done by up to three teams, so it is first come first serve to pick. The chosen team member will have to take the provided pencil sketch, roll out the terre de barre clay, and then recreate it using the techniques of stenciling out the clay and then scraping away the excess to create a 3d like sculpture. When their bas-relief is approved by the museum attendant, teams will receive their next clue.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/yrPzvoGLEIc" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/yrPzvoGLEIc</a>

The four Bas-Relief designs are located at the museum. (https://www.virtualmuseum.ca/edu/ViewLoitLo.do;jsessionid=AB99EC5AF2A6FEF5E58041C7139A6C6A?method=preview&lang=EN&id=11478)
1. Aloukiki
2. King Ghézo as an Elephant
3. The Fish That Takes the Hook
4. Royal Victory and the Capture of the Village of Kënglo

Clue: Travel by taxi to the nearby town of Bohicon (100 XOF), and find the pit stop mat in the underground town at the Parc Archaeologique d'Agongointo. Added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List in 1998, the town consists of bunkers and other housing structures about 30 feet underground. The last team to arrive may be eliminated.

**Transportation**

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[Kamineko]

Design #10 - Lemontail
[Praslin, Seychelles]

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Leg 5: Walvis Bay, Namibia → Praslin, Seychelles



This is Walvis Bay, Namibia. The principal port of Namibia, this city is situated on the west coast of southern Africa. This city has had a chequered history, as it had been founded as early as 1487, then in 1795, it was annexed by the British from the Dutch, and in 1910, Walvis Bay became part of the South African Union. The city depends on its natural deep-water harbor for its economy.



This is Flamingo Lagoon, a lagoon in Walvis Bay. This lagoon is home to flamingos and other birds, who flock to there to either eat, live, or breed. This waterfront promenade on this lagoon now serves as the fourth Pit Stop of the race.

The first team to check in, twins and dancers Amara & Zara will depart at 7:38 am.
The other teams depart from 7:44 am to 8:26 am.


Route Info: Fly to Praslin, Seychelles



Praslin is an island in Seychelles, an archipelagic country of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa. It is known for palm-fringed beaches, endemic plants and animals, and its scenery.

Once there, teams must find and choose marked cars in the airport parking lot and make their way to Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve in Praslin National Park. You have US$10 for this leg.



Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Praslin that is also a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its nature, endemic plants and animals, and scenery. It consists of a well-preserved palm forest, with the flagship species made up of the island endemic coco de mer, as well as five other endemic palms.

Warning, a Double U-Turn ahead!

Fast Forward: Decorate three coco de mers



Lodoicea, or known as the sea coconut, coco de mer, or double coconut, is a monotypic genus in the palm family. The sole species, Lodoicea maldivica, is endemic to the islands of Praslin and Curieuse in the Seychelles. The mature coconut contains the largest seed in the plant kingdom, and is known for its unusual shape, of which the fruit looked like a woman's disembodied buttocks on one side, and a woman's belly and thighs on the other side. This plant is one of the reasons that Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as with other plants and the nature around the island.

In this Fast Forward, a team has to decorate three coco de mers with traditional Seychellois decorations, modelling according to an approved model. If they can finish decorating it correctly and in shortest time, they will win the Fast Forward and may skip the rest of this leg’s tasks and proceed directly to the Pit Stop.


Route Info: Make your way to Cote D'Or Beach



Cote D'Or Beach is a long white-sand beach with snorkeling activities, boat excursions, resorts, and restaurants in northeastern Praslin.

Once there, find a clue box at the entrance.


Detour: Arms or Feet

Seychelles is known for its endemic flora and fauna, mishmash of various cultures descended from Indian, European, and other cultures, and scenery. Dancing and cuisine are one of the cultures influenced by a mix of Indian, European, and other cultures, such a characteristic of a Creole culture.



In Arms, teams must go to a marked stall and collect three coco de mers scattered around the beach to make coconut curry, a Seychellois dish made from coconut and rice with some saffron, onions, ginger, garlic and a number of masala spices. This dish is slighty spicy, meaning teams have to eat a small plate of the curry. One thing, is that after eating the dish, teams have to deliver three plates to three lifeguards around the beach as a dinner. Once done, they may receive their next clue.



In Feet, teams must learn and participate in Moutia, a traditional Seychellois dance, which is accompanied by singing and has an African or Madagascan rhythm. Music and dance have always played a major role in the culture of the Seychelles and are still an important part of local festivities. One thing, is that after learning the dance correctly, they have to walk while also dancing to bring three marked coco de mers from the stall to a firepit, a few walks away. After collecting all coco de mer, teams have to make a giant skewer made of collected coco de mers with a provided large spear. Seychellois coco de mers are known for their heaviness, with one fruit weighing up to 25 kg, meaning teams have to carry this fruit while dancing. Once done, they may receive their next clue from the dance instructor.

Additional note:

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A video of the moutia dance is included below, along with a picture of a coconut curry dish.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/zHa7pkX1AC8" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/zHa7pkX1AC8</a>

Route Info: Make your way by foot to Praslin Museum



Praslin Museum is a museum that specializes in the traditions of Seychelles as well as its culture in general. This museum also features a garden of endemic and medicinal plants of Seychelles where visitors can view fruit bats and also enjoy a glass of Citronelle tea or local fruit juice.

At the museum entrance, teams encounter a Double U-Turn.



A team may use the U-Turn to U-Turn another team, forcing the other team to complete the other side of Detour, though a team can only use the U-Turn power once.


Roadblock: Who’s got a great voice?



Seychelles is known for its number of endemic birds, thanks to its island isolation, as Seychelles is an example of a felsic granite microcontinent that broke off from the supercontinent Gondwana within the past 145 million years and became isolated in the Indian Ocean, furthering the evolution of flora and fauna into endemic species.

In this Roadblock, a participant has to hear an audio recording of a trained male Seychelles sunbird, a bird endemic to Seychelles, with a distinctive voice, described as high pitched, noisy and harsh, interspersed with various rasping calls. Then, they must participate in a scavenger hunt to find the three pieces of a route marker following the singing sounds of a male Seychelles sunbird around the museum. Once they find the route marker and put it back in one piece, they must return it to the museum caretaker, which in return will give the teams their next clue.

Additional note:

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A video and an audio of the Seychellois bird singing is included below. The birds are trained and is in their each own cage, as there are three birds to follow and search for. The pieces of the route marker are like this: a yellow marker piece with a thin red line on bottom and on top on another one and a red marker piece. The route marker pieces are located in the trunk of the tree that the bird cage hangs from.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/rdourAw7Wng" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/rdourAw7Wng</a>

https://soundcloud.com/lemontail-676318470/seychelles-sunbird-cinnyris-dussumieri/s-rmkMrzdf7rj

Route Info: Make your way to the Pit Stop at Anse Lazio



Anse Lazio is a famed beach situated in the northwest of Praslin Island, Seychelles, considered to be one of the best beaches in Praslin and Seychellois archipelago, famous for its beauty, white sands, and its boulder formations. This beach will now serve as the fifth Pit Stop of the race.

The last team to check in may be eliminated.

The outcome:

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Botanists Vesper & Jodie came in 1st place, while best friends Spike & Marvin came in last (8th) place and were eliminated.

Notes:

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• Teams departed the Pit Start in The Countyard Hotel in Walvis on October 19th.
• Teams took on production-provided flight to Seychelles on the same day, connecting through Windhoek, Addis Ababa, Dubai, and Mahe (in Seychelles), arriving on the next day on 1:35 pm.
• US$10 (178 Seychelleois rupee or SCR) should be enough to cover the unforeseen costs of the leg, along with money saved from previous legs, though this leg mostly utilizes self-driving and walking on foot, so it doesn’t really matter.
• I chose Seychelles because I admired the country for its beauty and scenery.
• The Fast Forward is located in a UNESCO World Heritage site.
• The Fast Forward is relevant to its UNESCO World Heritage site location as it is home to an endemic coconut palm, which is the center of the task.
• I chose the coconut as a material to be used in the Fast Forward, mainly because of its unusual shape and weight.
• The Fast Forward task isn't very complex as teams simply have to carry, copy, and decorate three coco de mers according to a model.
• The Fast Forward should take no more than 20 minutes.
• The Fast Forward combines detail and physicality, the former more so.
• The Detour’s tasks should be balanced with each other.
• I chose the location for a Detour because of its large size, allowing for various activities to take place there.
• Each side of the Detour should take no more than 40 minutes.
• The Arms Detour combines stamina and detail, the former more so.
• The Feet Detour combines skill and physicality.
• The U-Turn is located on the front entrance of the museum, a short walk from the Detour location.
• The Roadblock should take no more than 30 minutes.
• The Roadblock combines hearing and physicality, the former more so.
• The total transportation time of this leg should be around 36 minutes.
• I chose the Pit Stop at Anse Lazio because it is the arguably most famous beach in Praslin.
• The leg should take at least three hours or more, ending around late afternoon.

Flights:

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Maps:

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[Kamineko]

Design #11 - MikeDodgers
[Lagos & Osogbo, Nigeria]

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Wiki style:

Leg 4 (Spain -> Nigeria)

Pit Start: Egg of Columbus Monument - Sant Antone, Ibiza

- Sant Antone, Ibiza (Ibiza Airport) to Lagos, Nigeria (Murtala Muhammed International Airport)
- Lagos (Lagos Business School) [ROADBLOCK: Who can scam the scammers?]
- Lagos (Jhalobia Recreational Park and Gardens) [ACTIVE ROUTE INFO: Nigerian Wedding Lift Test]
- Lagos (Gypsy's Restaurant) [FAST FORWARD: Prepare and eat Nkwobi]
- Osogbo (Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove) (DETOUR: Cleansing Of Souls or Poetry Prowess?)
- Osogbo (Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove - Ina Olojumerindinlogun) [PIT STOP - ELIMINATION POINT]


This leg's Roadblock required one team member to take part a scam awareness class at Lagos Business School. They had to then use what they learned in order to match the provided scripts to their proper scammer. Once they've busted the scammers, the professor would hand them their next clue. In this leg's Fast Forward, teams were directed to Gypsy's Restaurant. There, after watching a demonstration, they had to prepare and eat Nkwobi - cooked cow legs - in order to obtain the Fast Forward award. This leg's Detour was a choice between Cleansing Of Souls or Poetry Prowess. CLEANSING OF SOULS requires teams to take part in the traditional spiritual cleansing of the town known as Iwopopo, part of the Osun-Osogbo Festival. They would take part in the Iwopopo royal procession, then light 3 of the candles of a replica of the Ina Olojumeringinlogun lamp to get their next clue. In POETRY PROWESS, teams had to write and recite a piece of praise poetry about their teammate. Once the poetry piece was recited to the approval of the tribe chief, he'd hand them their next clue.

Additional Tasks:

At the Jhalobia Park and Gardens, one team member had to dress as a Nigerian bride and their teammate had to carry them along a marked path to the altar in order to get their next clue.


Fantasy Game style:



This is Ibiza - a tiny island off the coast of Valencia, Spain. Known for its wild nightlife, it's also a cultural and spiritual center of Europe. And in the center of the city of Sant Antoni...



...the Egg of Columbus Monument. This is the start of the 4th leg...in a race around the world.



Shawn & Camila won the last leg of the race and will depart first at 7:19 AM.

Other Departing Times:

Milo & Melissa: 7:22 AM
Pete & Jeff: 7:27 AM
Bopper & Mark: 7:36 AM
Amani & Marcus: 7:41 AM
Trey & Lexi: 7:50 AM
Laurie & Melanie: 7:54 AM
Chester & Ephraim: 7:58 AM
Amanda & Kris: 8:09 AM
Doyle & Todd: 8:16 AM


FLY TO LAGOS, NIGERIA! You have $90 for this leg of the race!



Teams must now fly 3,300 miles to the country of Nigeria. When they land in the capital city of Lagos...



...they must make their way to this place - the Lagos Business School - to pick up their next clue.

Arriving first at Lagos Business School, Shawn & Camila find a Roadblock!

ROADBLOCK: WHO CAN SCAM THE SCAMMERS?



Nigeria is one of the consumer centers of Africa. But in the world of consumerism, it's 'buyer beware'. In this Roadblock, one team member's consumer literacy will be put to the test as they look to bust the scammers! They must take part in a scam awareness class, then must use what they learned as they match lines of a script to their proper scammer. Once they've busted the scammers, the professor will hand them their next clue!

Completing the Roadblock in first place, Laurie & Melanie pick up their next piece of Route Info!



Teams must now travel by marked Ford Bronco and locate this place...Gypsy's Restaurant...to pick up their next clue.

Arriving at Gypsy's Restaurant first, Milo and Melissa find a Fast Forward!

FAST FORWARD: PREPARE AND EAT NKWOBI



This is the first of only 2 Fast Forwards on the race. The first team to complete it can skip all remaining tasks and go directly to the Pit Stop. In this Fast Forward, teams must watch a demonstration then properly prepare a classic Nigerian beef dish known as Nkwobi - cooked cow legs. Once the Nkwobi is prepared, the team must then eat it. The first team to polish off their Nkwobi will win the Fast Forward!

They also find Route Info!

TRAVEL BY FORD BRONCO TO JHALOBIA RECREATIONAL PARK AND GARDENS...





Teams must now drive their marked Ford Broncos and find this place...the Jhalobia Recreational Park and Gardens...to pick up their next clue!


Arriving at the Jhalobia Park first, Trey & Lexi find an Active Route Info!

CARRY YOUR NIGERIAN BRIDE ACROSS THE THRESHOLD...




Nigerian weddings are known to be elaborate and large in scale. One of those elaborate traditions is a test of a groom's strength - the lift test. One team member must dress as a Nigerian bride, who their teammate must then carry along a marked path to the altar. Once they're across the threshold, the priest will hand them their next clue.

After finishing the ARI in first, Milo and Melissa find more Route Info!

DRIVE YOURSELVES TO OSOGBO...



Teams must now travel by marked Ford Bronco to the village city of Osogbo and find...



...the Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove. This UNESCO World Heritage site is where teams will find their next clue.

Arriving at the grove first, Pete & Jeff encounter a Detour!

DETOUR: CLEANSING OF SOULS OR POETRY PROWESS?

This Detour requires teams to choose between two activities that are part of a festival in Osogbo dating back thousands of years. Their choice - CLEANSING OF SOULS or POETRY PROWESS.



CLEANSING OF SOULS requires teams to take part in the spiritual cleansing of the town ceremony known is Iwopopo - part of the Osun-Osogbo Festival. They must don traditional tribal outfits and take part in the royal procession and afterwards must light 3 candles of a replica Ina Olojumeringinlogun lamp to get their next clue.



In POETRY PROWESS, teams have to write and recite a traditional piece of literature known as praise poetry. The catch is...it must be about their own teammate. Once the poetry is recited to the satisfaction of the tribe chief, he'll hand them their next clue.

Completing the Detour in first place, Shawn & Camila find their last piece of Route Info!

TRAVEL ON FOOT TO THE NEXT PIT STOP - THE INA OLOJUMERINGINLOGUN LAMP.

Teams must now travel on foot to find this place...



...the Ina Olojumeringinlogun lamp. This lamp, lit at the Osun-Osogbo festival for centuries, is the Pit Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here....MAY BE ELIMINATED!


Flight:




Notes for judges:

- There would be an HoO at the School - opens at 9 AM
- The class would take no more than 20 minutes for the RB and each racer would get their own set of 3 scammer types. Each racer would also get a set of 5 lines per scammer type with a buzzword highlighted in red (the Roadblock color). The RB is inspired by videos from YouTube scambaiters Kitboga, ScammerRevolts and Jim Browning. And yes, the Nigerian prince scam will be featured.
- The procession for the first Detour is about 500 meters and they do need to carry the torch they will be using to light the replica lamp.
- For PRAISE POETRY, they'll need to ad-lib. Poems are not written beforehand.
- Teams were originally meant to travel by train to Osogbo, but I changed to Ford Bronco at the last minute after research.

[Kamineko]

Design #12 - Jimmer
[]

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HAVE NOT SUBMITTED

[Kamineko]

Design #13 - Nuku
[Le Morne, Mauritius]

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Phil: This is Kathmandu, Nepal. The capital and largest city of Nepal, it is also known as the country’s centre of history,
art, culture, and economy. Kathmandu is also famous for its numerous monasteries, palaces, stupas, and pagodas...







And it is from this stupa in the hills of Kathmandu, the Swayambhunath Stupa,
where teams will embark on the sixth leg of The Amazing Race!







Route Info: Fly to the island nation of Mauritius! Warning: Fast Forward ahead!
Phil: Teams will now fly over 3, 800 miles to the African nation of Mauritius. An island nestled in the Indian Ocean, it was once a nation torn by slavery and ruled by the British but is now thriving off of it’s diverse culture. The island attracts many tourists with its biodiversity, ecotourism, surfing conditions, and world class beaches.





All teams will fly from Kathmandu to Mauritius, via Dubai.
Once they touch down, they will have to find taxis which will be their transportation for the ENTIRE leg.



Route Info: Make your way to the oldest horse racing club in the Southern Hemisphere
Phil: When teams land in Mauritius, they will have to figure out that the oldest horse-racing
club in the Southern Hemisphere is actually Champs de Mars located in Port Louis.



Dating all the way back to 1812, and attracting tens of thousands of people on race days, it is where teams will find their next clue.



Fast Forward: Submarine Scooter Scramble
Phil: A Fast Forward is a task that, once completed, allows the team that completes it to bypass all remaining tasks in the leg and proceed directly to the Pitstop. In this Fast Forward, teams will get to experience an adventure that is unique to the island: Submarine Scooters.



If a team wants to attempt the Fast Forward, they will head to Blue Safari Submarines in Trou-aux-Biches.



When they arrive, they will first have to take a short safety class before actually beginning. Once they finish that, teams will suit up into their diving gear and board a subscooter. Finally, they will be sent off into the deep blue sea.



Once teams are submerged, they will have to search the reef for 8 letter boards. They must memorize all 8 letters and unscramble them to get a code. Once they are back on shore, they will have to tell the captain the code: DODO BIRD in order to successfully complete the Fast Forward. If done so, they will proceed directly to the Pitstop: Seven Coloured Earth Geopark



Route Info: Make your way to Chateau de Labourdonnais
Phil: For teams that opt not to take the Fast Forward, they will make their way to Chateau de Labourdonnais. This historic residence is known for its cultural experiences involving Mauritian cuisine, is surrounded by an orchard and is also known for its rum factory.



Roadblock: Who can taste first place?
Phil: Mauritius is known for being such a culturally diverse nation. Since its discovery, it has been under Portugese, Dutch, French, and British rule. Along with a cultural influence from all these nations, it is also known for being similar to Indian culture. In this Roadblock, teams will dive into the Indian cuisine of Mauritius and test the memory of their tastebuds.



The person who elects to do the Roadblock will first have to go into the Chateau and try six different kinds of chutney: an Indian sauce. The kinds were: coconut, coriander, green mango, mango ginger, garlic, and papaya.



After teams had tasted each kind, they will have to run to the nearby orchard and search for the six fruits/vegetables/spices used to make the chutney. Once they had collected all six, they would bring them back into their tasting station and match them with their correct chutney.



If they had all six chutney’s matched to their correct fruit/vegetable/spice, the chef would give them their next clue. If they were incorrect, they would have to completely start over their tasting.







Route Info: Make your way to Le Morne Brabant Cultural Landscape
hil: After completing the Roadblock, teams will be directed to Le Morne Brabant Cultural Landscape. What is now known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was once where the Maroons of the island used to escape to in order to find refuge from slavery.



When teams get to the peninsula, they will have to find the Slave Route Monument and honour the abolition of slavery in Mauritius by laying a wreath around the monument. Once they had done so, they would receive their next clue.



Detour: Dance to the Beat or Sail Through the Sea
Phil: In this legs Detour, teams will get to experience the culture and history of Mauritius.
Its their call: Dance to the Beat, or Sail Through the Sea?



Sega is the most popular genre of music in Mauritius. It has origins to the music of slaves and the Mauritian creole people who used to live on the island before it was settled by the British, who used the music as a way to protest injustice and slavery. In Dance to the Beat, teams will get the chance to immerse themselves in this important part of the island’s culture before receiving their next clue.



First, teams would change into the traditional clothing for the dance which is typically a very colorful shirt or dress. Then they would have to pick an instructor and learn a complicated routine.



Once they felt confident in their dance, they would perform for an audience. If teams could stay on beat and perform the steps correctly, they would be given their next clue by the head dance instructor.



Nowadays, Mauritius is known for its fantastic conditions for surfing, sailing, and windsurfing. But before that, Mauritius was better known for its fishermen who took to the seas in their boats daily to make a living. Over time the fisherman began having regattas in which they would race their own pirogues (a traditional Mauritian boat), decorated with bright colours every year.



Now known as the Mauritius Heritage Regatta, it is a highly anticipated event that brings in tourists every single year and islanders always flock to the shores to watch the bright boats take each other on. In Sail Through the Sea, teams will get a chance to take part in their own regatta to receive their next clue.



First, teams would have to select a work station and properly construct
their sail and make sure it can steer with the help of a local fisherman.



Once they had finished constructing their pirogue, teams would have to set off into the sea and sail through a race course to two different marked buoys (half of their clue at each one).



Once they had collected the two halves of their clues, teams would have to return to shore and disassemble their sail. Once they had done so they could open their clue and continue racing.







Route Info: Make your way to the next Pitstop; Seven Coloured Earth Geopark in Chamarel
Phil: Teams will now make their way to the neighbouring town of Chamarel and find the Seven Coloured Earth Geopark. The geological formation is known for its sand dunes consisting of seven distinct colours and attracts tourists year round. It is here where teams will find the Pitstop for this leg of the Race. The last team to check in here, MAY be eliminated!

Wikipedia style:

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Travel Maps:

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Entire leg:


Fast Forward:

Notes:

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1. Okay here we go Round 3! This time my goal is top 5 and I feel like this is a leg that can do it!
2. So we start in Kathmandu! At first I was starting in Doha, then Dubai, but Kathmandu felt the best ebcause well it would be a cool location anyways and the flights worked out great! Teams are released from the Pitstop i'd say like starting around 12:00pm that should give all teams a chance to get to the airport!
3. Now some reasoning behind my Mauritius location: again, this was my very first pick in the round! But i did hesitate because i felt like it wasnt going to give the true African culture other legs would give so i was heistatnt, but i took a risk and designed what i think is a fantatstic leg that showcases the nation perfectly!!!
4. Let's talk about the lenght of the leg: teams arrive at 9:10. The roadblock and detour should both take like anywhere between an hour or 2 or maybe even 3 for some teams so id just say 4 for those tasks and 3 for driving brings us to around the mid afternoon which means my leg will definitely be finished before dark and should work out great!!!
5. The transportation for the leg is designated taxis! Almost like a chauffeur ig! The teams get them from the airport and thats how they get around for the entire leg! I considered self driving, but i already designed 2 of them. This leg can easily be made a self drive tho so that is a possibility!
6. Okay so finally first task is a riddle to find the odlest horse-racing club in the southern hemisphere which is the Mauritius Turf Club in CHamps de Mars. Horse racing is pretty popular in Mauritius so there obviously other race courses they could get confused with! Teams just get a clue like at the front gate or somethign they dont watch a race or stuff like that, althought there are horse races happenign which will give some interesting shots
7. Now our Fast Forward. Yeesh this was a struggle. I knew i wanted to include the submarine scooter and i felt like it would fit a Fast Forward well! But then i had to come up with a task and i wanted it to be somewhat of a challenge so teams have to unscramble the word Dodo Bird from crates or signs on the ocean floor. If teams researched the island before hand, this should be fairly easy because they would know the importance of the Dodo Bird. The sub scooters can only last 40 minutes, but im thinking that shouldnt be an issue!
8. Next up our Roadblock. This task i had difficulty coming up with an idea, but i knew i wanted to acknolwedge the indian culture of the country. So the cuisine is where i went with it!! Chutney is popular in mauritius and i think it would be cool! There have been tasks kind of like this, but the orchard search makes it more difficult! The flavours are pretty distinct but the mago ginger and green mango will hopefully cause trouble, and papaya could maybe be confused with other fruits?? all in all i felt liek the task worked and its a cool location even though they dont create any chutney there LOL!! It just worked and will be super fun!
9. So now we have our world heritage site! This is hands down what made me reconsider designing in Mauriitus, but it worked out!
10. I used an ARI to really highlight the histroy, but the detour fills the requirements for task at the location because it is the landscape at a whole not just the mountain! The detour alos kind of highlights history of the area with sega being created by slaves and the regattas being so traditional! The dance is gonna be cool to watch on tv with the colours and scenery of the beach and i think it will eb sper tough because it is a lot of hip movement! The sailing seems straight forward so i added in that they build the sail and have to go to 2 different spots! While the regatta dont typically happen in the area, again, the location worked and i dont think it is all that big of a deal!
11. Finally the pitstop and i couldnt go to mauritius without going to seven coloured earth! Great scenery and will be a super cool pit stop!!
12. SO that is my leg in mauritius and i hope u all enjoy it!!! I hope i get naother chance ot design because i think this is wayyyy better than my other legs!!! Ill keep improving!!! Thank u and i cant wait to hear back abt ur comments!

So here are some links to videos and websites to provide you with further information:
Fast Forward website: https://www.blue-safari.com/
Fast Forward video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUtBvM2FcFs
Roadblock website: https://domainedelabourdonnais.com/
Dance video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBBpgIa_ZCI
Regatta website: https://domainedelabourdonnais.com/
Regatta video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qioz0ahjtgM

[Kamineko]

You now can reply.

For elthemagnifico, ZBC Company, and Jimmer, we're still waiting for your submission. Thanks!

[Declive]

Such cool tasks! Congrats everyone! I'm not the biggest fan of the African legs but i loved this round.

[ZBC Company]

You now can reply.

For elthemagnifico, ZBC Company, and Jimmer, we're still waiting for your submission. Thanks!

i send you my leg

[Kamineko]

ZBC Company's leg has been edited in.

[Bookworm]

Lots of great designs this round and everyone showed serious creativity!

[ZBC Company]

i hope race have security

[ZBC Company]

https://imgur.com/a/5dLswVP

Here my leg graphics, i am not able to put in

[smiley]

so many language tasks 

[Glamazon Racer]

Great job guys! I'll post my comments and feedback probably around Friday, give or take, and hopefully everyone else is able to submit too!

[ZouLy]

Been a while since TAR DC II,
really proud to have this franchise keep continuing its legacy,
Great work for everyone, 
I'll be voting if there's any poll being put up on this thread

[Glamazon Racer]

Been a while since TAR DC II,
really proud to have this franchise keep continuing its legacy,
Great work for everyone, 
I'll be voting if there's any poll being put up on this thread

DC II represent!

[elthemagnifico]

I'll try to finish it tommorow morning.