OFFICIAL WEBSITE & OFFICIAL PROFILES

For 39 days, 16 castaways were stranded in Asia.  Every 3 days on the island became a 1-hour show.  The first contestant eliminated pockets $2500.  Each successive eliminated contestant wins more money, through the next-to-last Survivor, who receives $100,000.  The final Survivor wins a million dollars!

Images (C) 2003 CBS, Inc. and Mark Burnett Productions. This page is in no way associated with CBS, Mark Burnett Productions, or the Survivor production.

Day 1: The first twist...

After traveling down the Rio Negro for quite a while, game master Jeff begins with the cutting-our-losses part of the game, in which the tribes are officially formed. "When I call your name, climb down the rope ladder and into your boats."

Jeanne Hebert; 41; Marketing director; North Attleboro, MA

Heidi Strobel; 24; Gym teacher; Buffalo, MO

JoAnna Ward; 31; Guidance counselor; Orangeburg, SC

Jenna Morasca; 21; Swimsuit model; Pittsburgh

At this moment, eyebrows begin to start twitching. But then Jeff calls out the next castaway and drops a bomb...

Christy Smith; 24; Children's guide; Basalt, CO

"When Jeff called the fifth girl, I knew it instantly -- this is an all-women tribe," Heidi informs. The other three women that I'll be ... recapping... are:

Deena Bennett; 35; Deputy DA; Riverside, CA

Janet Koth; 47; Travel agent; Manchester, MO

Shawna Mitchell; 23; Retail clothing sales; Redwood City, CA

As the newly-christened Jaburu tribe, clad in yellow, celebrate their new tribe being all women ("We can pee in front of each other," Janet says), Jeff informs both tribes to "SHOVE OFF!" So if you want to find out what happens with the guys, then you'll have to head over to Gordon's half.

Later that day: Later... uh, yeah.

Jenna finds that she is at a disadvantage with this new tribal setup. She finds that now that she is in a tribe of women, she "can't use her woman powers." Already a weakness. Not a good sign.

And there is camp, at the Jaburu flag. Everyone is anxious to get off their dinghy. Almost immediately, Christy revealed to the tribe that she is deaf, but can read lips and has a hearing aid in one ear, "so talk slowly." "I needed to get if off my chest. I couldn't keep it in any longer," Christy said.

"I'm just wondering how she'll be able to work with the group if she really can't hear well," Jenna questioned.

After the initial revelation, the tribe started on their work... or what appeared as work. They try to get started on a fire, and therein lies the problem. Heidi thought that Deena had "more of a bossy side to her." They manage to get a fire going somehow, but that's about it. It only lasts five seconds.

As the sun set, the women were still struggling to find a semblance of hominess in the jungle. They lit their kerosene lamp to supply the camp with a much-needed light. The tribe spends the night around their fire talking about the guys. Jeanne was being either too optimistic or too na�ve in saying that "it's okay, we are Amazon women, and we'll make it. We will toughen up and make it through to the end and kick the guys' butts."

But not everyone was in high spirits, as Christy becomes frustrated with the rapid speed of the chatter. "As soon as it gets dark, that's where my communication breaks down, because I can't see to read their lips. I am missing out on a lot of information. I am totally different from them, but this always happens, and I am at a big disadvantage," she disappointedly exuded.

Day 2: Gone Fishin'... without Christy.

Jaburu is in a shambles. Well, not really, as you would have to start out in some order before you could be in a shambles. Disorganized and tattered, the Jaburu ladies labored over tribal priorities. Basically, the choices are food, shelter, and... laundry? "The flies are swarming around us because we stink, so we are boiling our buffs and our underwear that aren't clean," explained Jenna.

Meanwhile, Deena and Christy are sharing looks of disappointment, and not just because Christy was completely lost in the process of who does what where and when early on. Thinking that this is what a deaf person goes through every day, Christy notes that she doesn't want it to become an issue, "because if it becomes an issue, people will start to think, 'Why are we keeping this person?'" Christy begins chopping up wood for structural purposes (am I the only one who sees something fundamentally wrong with that, especially in an Amazon rainforest? -C)

Day 3: Today's special: kipper slivers.

Janet, apparently, is about ready to pass out. "She's not doing well at all," Jenna noted. Janet said as Heidi and Jenna took her fishing, "I don't think I can make it through the Challenge, or anything else if I don't get something to eat. This is too hard." Janet did nothing but complain even as they were on the river looking for some freshwater fish. "That's going to hurt her," Jenna prognosticated. "If we lose a challenge, she'll probably be the one to go." But it's more than just weakness on her part; Janet is getting sick. Or maybe it is, as Heidi tells Jenna that she herself is about to keel over any second.

On the next round, Jeanne and Joanna take the line out for a spin, and catch a nipper. But that's it. One... lousy... nipper. Cut eight ways. "I think I got THAT much," Heidi said while giving the appropriate "teeny-weeny" finger motion. But it's enough to put a song in Joanna's heart: "Hallelujah! Oh, glory!" Jeanne says that she just has this spirit about her that everyone feels. Joanna gathers the group for grace: "Father, we thank you for this opportunity to come together like civilized women and eat like... barbarian women."

Meanwhile, there's mail:

"Working together from the start,
As time goes by, you'll surely part.
Use balance, agility, and a bit of wit.
Be the one to fall short, and tonight could be it."

"Jaburu Jaburu Jaburu rock!"

I-CHALLENGE: Unchained

Jeff introduces our castaways to the only man that the Jaburu will want around camp: the Immunity Idol (woo-woo-woo). The teams will be chained in groups of eight, then four, then two, then unchained. Each tribe must, after the embellishment of stories, traverse a maze of sighs and get a key that will pick a lock and divide the tribe in half. One half must climb over a cargo net and then figure out a code that will translate into a clue: "thirteen minus eleven plus four equals..." The numbered key of six will divide the team in half again. Two people at a time will balance on a beam (Legends of the Hidden Temple rules apply: if they fall, they must return to the start and start again). Two people must then solve a puzzle with the words: "Avoid Tribal Council by picking the right key. Solve this puzzle and choose number THREE". Then, unwrap a key which will unlock everyone. One person will then race up a ladder, fly down a flying fox, grab a key, and free the rest of the tribe. First team to do that takes home Mr. Ugly.

It's a dead heat in the beginning, but the men would take the first code first, pulling out to a huge lead. That lead would be blown by two of the men as the Jaburu successfully navigate the balance beam first. From then on out, it was all women, as Heidi zooms to the rescue and the win.