Survivor #2 - outwit, outplay, outlast

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Finally, rumor has it that Cao Boi, Stephannie, and Candice are the only three cast mates that were not recruits for this season.

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My chats with John Kirhoffer reveals that the experience of having so many tribes was awesome. It required the biggest crew ever to pull it off. Four tribes plus Exile Island meant more cameras, producers, boats, marine staff, etc. For the record book, Mark Burnett insists that every physical challenge must have a complimentary mental puzzle. What a challenge for John and his Dream Team!
I thought it’d be fun and interesting to share some insights from the amazing crew behind our show, Survivor. Each week I’ll share a juicy tidbit from my chats with John Kirhoffer, the Guru genius who leads the amazing Dream Team of designers, carpenters, and artists who build the sets and challenges. Here’s the first of our Base Camp Gossip:
Survivor 13, is filmed on the island of Aitutaki (eye-2-taki) considered the “Jewel of the Cook Islands. It is your basic lush green tropical paradise with crystal blue ocean. It is an atoll completely surrounded by a very shallow reef. It’s too shallow to surf. The crew is in an Island chain smack in the middle between Tahiti and Fiji…and there is no surf! Bummer!
The climate is perfect. The daily highs rarely exceed 85, but it does get down to a chilly 65-70 some nights…so a long sleeve shirt must occasionally be worn. The general work clothing consists of a variety of “Board shorts”, T-shirts and flip-flops.
The population of the island is at 1800 people. There are few cars, but everyone rides a motorized scooter. Walking in the pitch black at 5:30 a.m. is spectacular…the stars in the South Pacific are amazing! And there is no worry about dogs running out…there are no dogs on the island What happened was several years ago a chief’s child was attacked by a feral dog, and then coincidentally the child contracted leprosy. The chief ordered all of the dogs killed and they have never allowed them to come back. They make up for it in chickens, goats, pigs and cats…everywhere.
As with most Polynesian Islands, the people in Aitutaki are very serious about their traditional dancing, music and customs. The local folks all wear traditional “warrior” and Polynesian grass skirts, floral crowns, coconut bikini tops, and dance sing and play drums and traditional instruments. The best part are the little kids. They are beautiful. Little 2-5 year olds, all dress in their “mini-tribal outfits” and dance, looking to the bigger kids to follow their leads and grinning ear to ear because they know they are a part of something special.
All of the land owners live on the big Island, as most all of the outer islands aren’t inhabited. They are just chock full of trees and bush…so other than a little post card or “drive by” beauty, it hasn’t been usable land…until now. The Survivor crew always tread very lightly about getting permission to cut down some trees and clear fields and cut trails. The land-owners love the crew of Survivor! They simply haven’t had the money, tools, or labor resources to clear little spaces. They are very excited to now have usable land to put up fishing huts, and picnic areas for tourists and new nature trails. The land-owners actually petitioned the crew to use their land, so they could get a little free clearing! The show buys the trees that they cut from the land owner, use them to build the challenge structures, and then give the land owner back the lumber used so they can build their own structures. The show also pays the land owner a location fee! The show is famous for traveling the world making small villages better with chainsaws and machetes.