Punishment in Panama
21 day challenge located in Panama (Central America) – Hot temperatures, high humidity, 80mph winds, and rain. Sharks in the ocean and snakes in the ocean. Requires a raft to be built for extraction.
| Laura Zerra – Primitive Survivalist 27 years old – New Hampshire Personal Item: Machete Starting PSR: 7.9 Ending PSR: 8.2 Lost 17 lbs | Clint Jivoin – Survival Instructor 25 years old – Indiana Personal Item: Swim goggles Starting PSR: 6.9 Ending PSR: 7.3 Lost 40 lbs |
The recommendations will be written in bold italics and the analysis is on the bottom.
Day 1: Walk through jungle
They encounter leaf cutter ants and get bit. They found water apples, and stock up on a few.
2:23pm 93°F – Found coconuts and Laura gets a machete wound. She makes and uses a plant-based paste to stop the bleeding. They find flowing water (potable), and an area to build shelter. Shelter completed.
Day 2: No sleep
85% humidity Both have been eaten alive by sandflies (chitras). Bites can cause issues and some chitras (especially in Panama) carry Leishmaniasis which is a protozoal parasite that can wreak havoc on your skin or internally. Laura’s feet are swollen from all the bites. They both agree that fire will be a necessity. Clint attempts to make fire using the bamboo fire saw method with no success. Bamboo fire saw is an easy way to make a friction fire. What Clint could have done is put one end of the friction board on his hip and the other on a tree parallel to the ground. Then, the friction slide stays flat, you can go faster on the strokes, and smoke would have started. This method should only take a few minutes before the bamboo starts to smoke.
Day 3: 85°F/88% humidity
Starts out as a balmy day and the rain starts.
Day 4-7: Rain
Day 8: Clear – 84°F/88% humidity
Laura is very swollen from all the bites. She heated Noni leaves and wraps her feet to reduce swelling. Noni leaves (also known as Indian mulberry leaves, Bai-Yo leaves, or Mengkudu leaves) can be used to reduce swelling, boils, cuts, as well as stomach aches and dysentery. She did the right thing to reduce the inflammation from the bug bites. Laura tries a bow drill to start a fire. Then, Clint tries, and both fails.
4:15pm 87°F/91% humidity – They try again a few times, and this time Clint stays on the bow drill until it is smoking. Fire started successfully. Bow drill method is much harder to start a fire than the bamboo fire saw method. At least they were finally able to make fire.
Day 11: 85°F/88% humidity
They need food. Clint grabs his spear, and Laura built a lobster basket. Clint floats on his water with his swim goggles, and immediately comes up. Laura uses his goggles to swim down to set the lobster trap. She also grabs a sea urchin before surfacing. Clint will not eat sea urchin, so Laura eats all of it. When you find a protein source, you eat it. 100g or about 3oz of sea urchin can provide almost 20g of protein. It’s also rich with vitamins and omega-3. Get used to eating sea urchin by going to a nice sushi restaurant and ordering Uni. It’s an acquired taste.
Day 13: Raft Building
Clint feels hungry, he has low energy, and he is angry and cranky. They begin arguing. Clint is afraid of sharks. Part of this is they have not had any real protein in their system. Clint walks away.
3:32pm 93°F/95% humidity – Clint returns with coconuts. Meanwhile, Laura had started working on the raft for extraction.
Day 14: Productivity Down
Low productivity from malnourishment causes poor physical endurance.
Day 17: Lobsters
Laura goes to check her lobster basket and finds 2 lobsters inside. She brings it back to cook and eat the lobsters with Clint. They continue the raft building process.
Day 18: Caiman
Clint chickens out on the hunt for caiman. He is concerned about the consequences.
Day 19: Baby Caiman
Clint sees a large caiman, and he sees a small caiman. He kills the small caiman, brings it back to camp to cook and eat.
Palm frond fibers to brush your teeth and floss. Use a bit of charcoal to make it shiny and white.
Day 20: Raft
They finish making the raft and testing it.
Day 21: Extraction
81°F – They get on the raft and head out. The waves are choppy and is becoming difficult to see anything on the horizon as far as an extraction boat goes. Rescue boat picks them up for a successful extraction. Make a mast that is about 6ft high and put a flag or something bright on it. Would be easier for rescuers to find your raft.
My analysis:
They did well, especially Laura. Laura was more comfortable in the water, so she was able to source food from the ocean. She has the knowledge to survive, and her knowledge of plants to make herself feel better was key to her success. They finally decided to talk about the situation and started to eat, which made their spirits rise. I don’t know how useful the swim goggles were, but if I had a choice, I would have brought a fire starter or a saw machete as my personal item. These challenges are much more difficult in real life than it is watching the show and commenting on a couch. I have done many expeditions and adventure outings, and even with the gear I carried, it can be challenging. For these two survivalists to do this for 21 days with a successful extraction, this shows, as a team, that they can survive Naked and Afraid.
