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00:00Expedition Overland's Pan American Series is presented by General Tire. Anywhere is possible.
00:40The Expedition is currently under investigation at the Nicaraguan border. Camera work has
00:46forced a search on our vehicles and our cameras from rolling. Our documentary has never come
00:52closer to being shut down. I can't stress enough how hard it can be to film in these
00:58countries sometimes. Years of experience filming all over the world has built a tolerance to
01:03the risk, but every now and then you're reminded how vulnerable you really are.
01:07That was close. I think that was close. I hope we don't get any closer to production shutdown
01:13than that right there.
01:14I definitely felt a strong hesitancy to not record, to not film, and I didn't go with my
01:22gut on it. And that was the cause of all of that chaos. And I think everyone sat back
01:29in the saddle a bit and just showed them the bare minimum of what they needed to see. Hiding
01:35our most important assets, our hard drives. Cards were hidden, safe, in secure pockets
01:40and pants. That kind of thing right there was really awesome to see.
01:44They didn't even look at some of our drawers. Yeah. They didn't touch them. They didn't see
01:48our helicopters. They didn't see. They never had me open up the back of Apollo, which would
01:53have totally saw us. Oh yeah. I mean all of our pelican cases were right there. If they
01:57would have saw a chopper, it would have been bad news bears. I think our team really needed
02:02like that border crossing because we kind of came relaxed. But the reality is like this
02:09could be in every single one. You know, we could have this guy open up every single time. So we've
02:15had some good ones and having this one bad one is like a good wake up call for us. We're
02:19here to
02:20kind of film this and record and document our adventure. So it's all part of the game. They did
02:23keep copies of all our passports, even above and beyond the ones they normally keep. A little
02:29worried about what the repercussions there are when we get to the next border, perhaps, or when
02:33coming through another time. Who knows? We may get looked at a little harder, but we passed the test
02:38this time. They were happy with what they saw and we're good and we're on our way. And we're
02:42now on Nicaraguan soil, just a few miles from the border. So we're going to get to bed for the
02:46night.
02:46It's starting to get late. It's time to go to get some rest and relaxation.
02:51While we sleep through the night, across the world in Morocco, the girls of Expedition Overland
02:56are on leg four of the Raleiasha Day Gazelles. It's a technical nine-day all-women's
03:01map and compass navigation race across the Sahara. I can vouch that she is not driven in a way that
03:06has
03:07required the breaking of a king coil. Thankfully, the mechanics were able to replace their broken
03:14coil and the usual challenges are back to being tackled.
03:24I'll remind you that speed is not the object of the rally. Instead, precise navigation and
03:29teamwork between driver and navigator is what puts you on the podium.
03:37Rochelle and Rhonda have found a roadblock, a deep ditch dug across the desert while heading
03:42toward their fifth checkpoint of the day.
03:45Okay, we're going to see if we can make a bridge with our max tracks, see if they're long enough.
03:52If not, this is going to really suck. We're going to have to go way far out of our way.
03:57Maybe if the girls want to help us, they're right behind us.
04:00Fellow American racers Jessie Combs and Nicole Patel-Vaughn arrive on a similar course,
04:06to dive into action to make the ditch passable and keep the girls on course toward their next checkpoint.
04:24All right, clean up. Oh, this part sucks. So not at all. Do you have a shower?
04:33Yeah. What? In the truck?
04:37Of course you do. Yeah, seriously. Hold up your pinky when you drive that thing, you know.
04:44I'm sorry. I'm just going to do that. Yeah, here. Right, get the towel wet.
04:52Okay.
04:55The girls are moving up to the higher rankings, but it's not going to be easy to stay there.
05:02That's cauliflower. Break your tire. It's a plant, but it's as hard as a rock.
05:13It sounded just like a plant was stuck under the tire.
05:17Well, we're stopped right now because as we were driving along, we heard a clunking and I realized I had
05:25broken a shock mount on our truck.
05:27It's the right front shock mount.
05:31This shock mount right here is snapped up. It's push-punching up here.
05:36That's not good. Tore it right here.
05:41Decided we're going to try to actually ratchet the spring, the shock, out of the way.
05:45I'm going to try to wrap around one of these. The top and the coil. Okay.
05:50And it needs to come through here. Okay. And come to this.
05:53This thing is beefy. Yeah, it's...
05:58What we did was we ratcheted as tight as I could physically do. What we could do is this.
06:05And it didn't bring it down too far, but we got it down just enough to where at least it
06:12won't continue hitting things.
06:14It at least keeps it in one place so it's not going to keep wanting to punch through the metal.
06:19And I'm just going to have to go really, really, really, really slow.
06:23And I'm going to have to drive around a lot of things.
06:26If we can get it back to the BIV tonight, I think the mechanics can weld and fix it.
06:33But we are a long ways away from the BIV right now.
06:37And we're only, I mean, it's the still beginning of the day. It's only 11 o'clock in the morning.
06:41If they call for assistance, they'll be disqualified.
06:44They'll have to race the rest of the day on the broken shock and their temporary fix.
06:49It's going to be a long day.
06:57The next morning we found ourselves waking up at the base of a volcano.
07:01The apocalyptic landscape offered a stark contrast to our time in the jungle.
07:06That's one small step for man.
07:11One giant leap for mankind.
07:18And it looks warm out in the sun out there.
07:21Is it warm?
07:23Yeah, it's a nod, camera nod.
07:25Yeah.
07:26Cinematic trick.
07:27Yeah.
07:29You can just use your sandal to dig a hole.
07:32Keep going.
07:34Keep walking.
07:35That's not far enough yet.
07:36I'll be just ready to go when I get there.
07:39It'll be in half an hour.
07:42We're going to go slide down a volcano on makeshift snowboards.
07:46So this is exciting.
07:48The sledding objective is speed.
07:51Lots of it.
07:52And Steve has a few reservations.
07:54I ain't going to lie.
07:55I mean, you come off that and it's bad news bears.
08:00I think I can hit the terminal velocity faster than anybody here.
08:04I'm in the mood to watch someone fall down.
08:08No, I'm always in that mood.
08:10You like to laugh.
08:12I like to laugh.
08:12Hey, man.
08:13How's it going?
08:14Toby.
08:15That's me.
08:16I'm Joe.
08:16Joe.
08:17This is Joe.
08:18If you want to head over, I can do a talk about how to do it quickly.
08:21Yeah.
08:22If you want to put your feet either here, or if you want to go even quicker,
08:25lean back as far as possible.
08:26Almost lay down and put your feet in the air.
08:29The record, I know Bigfoot is 95 kilometers an hour.
08:33So you can get up some serious speed.
08:35This is actually also where they set the world record for cycle speed on gravel.
08:40So a guy in 2000 sighted from the top where we board down and he hit,
08:45I think it was 177 kilometers an hour.
08:48Oh, my God.
08:49172.
08:49What a funny story, though.
08:50In the process, he fell off and broke three ribs and dissipated his shoulder.
08:56And ended up in a hospital in Managua, where he fell in love with his nurse
09:01and is now married, living in...
09:03There's a love story for you.
09:05Delivered from Brad Pitt himself.
09:08I'm going to be in trouble.
09:09I'm not going to lie.
09:10A little bit nervous.
09:12You know?
09:12You know, I got a little thing going against me called gravity.
09:16And I'm really concerned about hitting maybe Mach 1, Mach 2.
09:20Leaving a streak of molten glass as I go down the slope.
09:30Biggest in Nicaragua?
09:31Yeah, yeah.
09:32Biggest volcano in Nicaragua there.
09:34Brought to you by Puente Pira.
09:38As we make our way to the top, the winds hit hurricane levels, making it hard to stand.
09:59We attempt to refresh Steve and his spirits before his dreaded sled ride from hell.
10:07Competition is in the air, and Jeff and Toby make wagers to see who will reach the bottom
10:11first.
10:12You and I are going to compete here today.
10:14Race of the ages.
10:15That's right.
10:16And so we have to make sure that our boards are equal.
10:21Meet the standards.
10:22He hasn't weighted it with lead.
10:24Brad Pitt waves a green, and the two are off.
10:44Tobey makes it about three feet, and then crashes.
10:49Yeah, that wasn't fair!
10:50He then loses his grip and chases his board the rest of the way.
10:57Brad waves on Steve Toulacchi, the human torpedo.
11:05Steve's sled is pointed one direction, straight towards a hospital bed.
11:13Whoa!
11:17That was a dirty tie!
11:19Hold on, here I go!
11:25There's no life without intensity.
11:28It's going to be intense.
11:38Kyle nearly breaks the sound barrier with imperfect technique, destroying a camera lens in the
11:53process.
11:59Scott hits ludicrous speed and takes the kick.
12:04I think Warren Miller would say that sledding this once is a great experience, but to do it twice would
12:10be a dumb experience.
12:12Worth the hike.
12:13Do it every time.
12:22On our way out, the rigs conquered the heat of the day, which has made the volcanic rock loose, like
12:28marbles under the tire.
12:30Traction control and lockers make quick work of it.
12:54You know, not many folks can say that they've taken a sled down a volcano and gone off road over
13:00volcanic rock and ash in the same day.
13:03We steer the rigs to take on our second volcano, an active volcano known as Talika.
13:09We are inbound to meet up with another group of Quetzal trekkers where we hope to make camp for the
13:13night after hiking the mountain.
13:16Now we're headed up to Talika, the volcano that we can hike to the ridge of and look down into
13:23the caldera.
13:24Pretty tired after hiking the first volcano and sliding down it.
13:29It's 100 degrees right now, so I think we're kind of all a little apprehensive of walking furthermore into the
13:39heat, but I think it'll be worth it.
13:41So we're following our guide here. He's in a nice high top, ambulance door, land cruiser.
13:47This road's pretty rough. I've got it in four low. It's set to mud, sand and loose rock.
13:55And we got a nice ride through all this. I'm having a blast.
14:32Another fun tip. When Kurt says it's in reverse, it's in reverse.
14:38That is all.
14:39Did you mix that up?
14:40Huh?
14:41Did you mix that up?
14:42Maybe. I won't admit it.
14:44I'm just saying that when you're going up a steep incline and there's another vehicle behind you,
14:50when your navigator and co-driver says, hey, by the way, you accidentally have that in reverse,
14:54you should probably listen.
14:55Everyone put their hand in here.
14:57When I say hike volcanoes, you say help kids, okay?
15:00Okay.
15:01On three, one, two, three, hike volcanoes!
15:04Help kids!
15:07So basically, Ketzal Trekkers is a non-profit tour operator run by volunteers.
15:12So we do all this hike with tourists.
15:16And like all our guides and volunteers that commit three months.
15:19And all the profits of the hikes go to projects to pay for teachers, supplies, also like for food for
15:26the kids.
15:27We've been hiking for five hours.
15:31That's all the water we have left.
15:33I don't know if we're going to make it.
15:34The volcano is daunting and set in a majestic landscape.
15:39So over there is San Cristobal.
15:41That's the tallest volcano in Nicaragua.
15:44And the latest explosion was 15 days ago.
15:49We're eight hours in.
15:52Water's running even lower.
15:55And the sun's going down.
15:57Things are getting grim.
16:00We'll start praying.
16:00Yeah.
16:04Here we are.
16:06At the base of the cauldron of an active volcano.
16:10We're going to eat up here and watch the moon rise.
16:15It's full moon.
16:15So we're going to have a fun night.
16:18So behind my finger here is Cerro Negro, which is where we did our volcano boarding this morning.
16:23You can see it off in the distance there.
16:25It kind of looks like a shadow.
16:26It's got the little flat top height in the shadow of the mountains there.
16:29And now we're on Telika, which is an active volcano or somewhat active.
16:35It's off-gassing right now.
16:36I consider that active.
16:37Lava is imminent any minute.
16:39So be prepared to run.
16:41Well, it's a good thing we're eight hours in.
16:42Totally.
16:43Yeah, we're a long hike in.
16:45But I can run pretty fast downhill.
16:47I'll be okay.
16:49Not too worried.
16:50I won't pay anybody back if there's a fourth one in there.
16:57We've been on the road a long time.
17:00Long time.
17:02How often do you get to climb to the top of a volcano and get a Coca-Cola?
17:06I don't know.
17:07But I'll tell you one thing.
17:09It tastes so good when it touches your lips.
17:11This is blatant advertising, but we don't freaking care right now.
17:17It tastes happiness.
17:19It's pretty cool.
17:20It's kind of overwhelming because it's so big.
17:31It's 160 down and 160 wider.
17:37What's the picture?
17:39Pesky.
17:40That's like 400 feet.
17:44And now we're hiking down to a bat cave around the corner.
17:48My thoughts so they can reset the smoke bombs down in that crater and throw some flares down there.
17:54So when we get back, it looks like there's lava.
17:56I'm not buying their story.
17:58I'm not a believer.
17:59I don't believe in volcanoes.
18:00But I'm here anyway.
18:02We're having a good time.
18:03It's a great hike.
18:04How many hours are in are we?
18:06We're 10-12 hours in at least.
18:0940 clicks.
18:1140 clicks out.
18:16We're walking into the bat cave.
18:19The species here is the first most deadliest bat in the world.
18:24A single bite puts a man flat.
18:40I'm finding my inner Batman right now.
18:43I'm getting several nervouses with bites, just saying.
18:56As darkness falls, we sit in awe, peering into one of the best sunsets of our lives.
19:07Top five sunsets in my life.
19:11I think surreal is the word I should use.
19:18So we just sunset, came back to the crater because you can see the lava at night through all the
19:25off-gassing.
19:26And then just behind you is a full moon. The full moon is coming up tonight.
19:30So this is a very special night.
19:33I think that was the best sunset I've ever seen in my life.
19:38Two years ago, my grandparents started telling me about these four blood moons that were going to be coming up.
19:44And here we are. We just found out that the full moon that's going to be happening is going to
19:50be the third blood moon.
19:51Every time there's been one blood moon, there's always been something significant.
19:55For us to be able to be here watching this full moon on a volcano, it's pretty amazing.
20:00So this is the third one. The next one that's going to come is in the fall.
20:03I think they're leaving.
20:05They are leaving.
20:07Are our guides leaving?
20:10Leave us.
20:11As we head down to camp for the night, the girls are early into their next day.
20:17And things are not well.
20:20Rhonda has come down with some serious symptoms of exertion from the eight days of racing in the Moroccan sun.
20:26She's in survival mode.
20:28So I'm kind of navigating and driving today.
20:31And I'm hoping I don't, I'm hoping we can actually make it home with me doing that.
20:37So she's pretty sick.
20:41We'll take her to the med tent when we get back, maybe get an IV in her.
20:44But she needs some electrolytes and fluids, I think.
20:48The good news is that the broken shock mount had been repaired by the beginning of this leg.
20:53That's a small problem compared to what the girls are facing now.
20:57We hit all of our checkpoints and all of our checkpoints today.
21:01Rhonda, at about yesterday afternoon, didn't feel well.
21:04Started not feeling well.
21:06And then all day today she's been throwing up and not keeping anything down.
21:11She drank a lot of water, which is good.
21:12But we got here and she was worried she wouldn't be able to walk.
21:16So I went and grabbed the doctor and he went to help walk her in and she just passed out
21:20right on the ground.
21:21Montana girls just aren't used to the heat.
21:23Serious, it was so hot today.
21:25It was hot.
21:27And it sucks when you're that sick to have to sit in a jogsling car all day.
21:30And she did it all day long and went through dunes.
21:33So she needs to just chill out for a while.
21:36So, yeah.
21:41The rally begins at its usual time, but the girls are not on the starting line.
21:48Rhonda's condition has become a challenge as French and English translators clash on proper treatment.
21:53Like they don't think it's because of the dehydration that she's nauseous.
21:58I don't have a gallbladder.
22:00So I don't have a gallbladder.
22:01I could have a gallbladder.
22:03The gallbladder.
22:05French for gallbladder.
22:06Ah.
22:08After you left, no one came here until five minutes before you came back.
22:13Again.
22:14She's almost fucked out.
22:19I feel better, but I'm still really messed up.
22:21Yeah.
22:23Michelle there is good.
22:24Yep.
22:27The race continues on as Rhonda fights to recover.
22:32What time is it?
22:349.45.
22:369.45 and most people leave the race line at 6 a.m.
22:42And I physically couldn't.
22:43I had absolutely no choice, so.
22:46Rhonda musters everything she has and takes her seat in the truck.
22:50The girls know that if they don't race, they have come all this way for nothing.
22:55I am still not 100%, not even close, but we are in 14th place.
23:03And it is the last day of the rally and Rochelle and I have decided that our mantra for today
23:08is, we are more stubborn than the gazelle rally.
23:12So, we may be really slow and not the tightest lines because we are choosing roads, but we will get
23:21all our checkpoints.
23:22Yes.
23:24We'll see.
23:25We will.
23:26However you feel.
23:28Depends on how you're feeling.
23:29I feel great.
23:31They are four hours behind everyone else and making all the checkpoints today will be next to impossible.
23:40It's time to push it and make it happen.
23:44Rochelle covers both navigator and driving as Rhonda supervises the navigation decisions.
23:50Okay, so we'll have to go around heavyweight.
23:52Okay.
23:52Thank you very much.
23:56In order to be gazelles this year, they must complete all checkpoints before sunset to
24:01complete the rally.
24:03There's a strategy to this race and it's, if you miss one checkpoint, you're penalized like
24:0860 or 90 kilometers.
24:10Or more.
24:11Or more.
24:11So, it's actually worse to miss a checkpoint than to take the straightest line before it closes.
24:17So when it gets to be like the end of the day and you know you're tired, you just need
24:20to get all your checkpoints because you're going to do better than if you took a straight
24:24line and missed one at the end.
24:28With time running out and the sun nearly touching the horizon, tension rises as fear
24:33of not finding the rally's final flag sets in.
24:37Exactly.
24:38On the map where we just were.
24:40Which is just a second behind us.
24:42So let's go there and take a heading.
24:43Okay.
24:46It's so stressful, but it's still 71 degrees.
24:52Okay.
24:53I'll take a heading of that and see where it goes.
24:56Okay.
25:13So frustrated.
25:15We're at 6.6 now.
25:17Exactly.
25:19And all I can think of is it's like maybe just around that bend.
25:23Let's go there.
25:32There's our flag.
25:34Oh my gosh.
25:35Oh my gosh.
25:38We should have kept going.
25:40Oh my gosh.
25:41We have 14 minutes to get this last flag.
25:44We should have kept going, no way.
25:49So he's not sure.
25:59Oh my gosh.
26:03We should have kept going.
26:06Go faster.
26:07Ha ha ha.
26:11Go away.
26:22I can't believe we had to do that, and we started at 10 a.m., four hours after it finished.
26:31I'm kind of in shock.
26:35That was the most stressful 15 minutes of my life, I think.
26:39That was pretty stressful.
26:43In the dark, the X-cells find their way back to the bivouac to an amazed group of fellow American
26:49racers.
26:49Yo-ho!
27:03Yo-ho!
27:05Yo-ho!
27:06Yo!
27:07Yo-ho!
27:07Yo-ho-ho-ho!
27:09Yo-ho-ho!
27:11Hi, Sam, Heart.
27:12No, I know.
27:13No, I know.
27:14You're all all all up.
27:22This is the hardest part when you're finished and you know that your family is on the other
27:27side of the world still and you still, you can't just hop on a plane in one day and go
27:32see them, it still takes.
27:33It's a whole journey just to get home.
27:34It is.
27:35I'm feeling very proud of what we accomplished and I'm really excited that we hit our goal.
27:41Our goal is to get all of our checkpoints.
27:43It was more Rhonda's goal, I thought it was crazy, I was like, okay.
27:47And top 20.
27:48And top 20.
27:50I was like, yeah, okay, we'll see how that goes.
27:53I think we got top 20.
27:53I really think we got top 20.
27:54I think so too.
27:56But no problems are only solutions.
27:59It's true.
28:00Well, and I think we also both realize that the rally isn't about giving you new tools.
28:04It's about helping you unpack the tools you didn't know you already had.
28:07Yeah.
28:08And I think that's true for every single woman who's ever done the rally.
28:11No matter how good they've placed, it doesn't matter.
28:13You still did nine days through the Sahara Desert with one other woman.
28:17You just realize that you had a lot more tools and you need to vote than you were even...
28:21There's no reason to know they're there until you're put in a test to figure out that you
28:25need to use them.
28:33Over the last couple of days, we have made our way south to just outside San George on
28:38the shore of Lake Nicaragua.
28:42Steve is tackling the hardest meal of the trip so far.
28:46So tonight for dinner, what we're doing is doing hot dogs to keep it simple.
28:50And your favorite and mine is the creamiest, it's the cheesiest.
28:58It's Kraft macaroni and cheese, must have.
29:02Waiting for us at camp at a data price of a squillion dollars a megabyte is the NBC news
29:07story just released on Scott and I's wives.
29:10The NBC nightly news where our wives, Rhonda and Rochelle, were featured on the Ralliation
29:18des Gazelles race.
29:19So, we're seeing footage that we haven't seen yet as well.
29:23It's pretty exciting to be on the NBC nightly news, that's kind of a big deal.
29:26Two American moms ventured out for a spring break like no other.
29:30In the dunes of Morocco last week, Rhonda Cahill and Rochelle Croft are plotting their
29:36next, well, expedition.
29:38The two working moms are embarking on a unique adventure, putting their friendship to the
29:43test as they trade the mountains of Montana for this.
29:46I don't know.
29:48Morocco's Sahara Desert.
29:50I'm so glad we pushed through it because it feels so good on the other side to know
29:53that you conquered something that was really, really hard.
29:57We're going to cry.
30:00She's trying not to cry.
30:01A journey like no other on the face of the globe that is empowering women one dune at
30:07a time.
30:08That's pretty cool.
30:09Pretty cool.
30:09And in case you were wondering, the Montana moms finished 14th out of 125 teams.
30:14Watching that and then being here at the same time.
30:18Knowing how well they did and everything that they overcame over there with all the breakdowns
30:25that they had and being sick and everything like that.
30:30That's some pretty cool chicks.
30:32That's awesome.
30:34I'm a proud husband.
30:37That's for sure.
30:40That's really cool.
30:45Tomorrow, we will cross into the beautiful and much anticipated country of Costa Rica.
30:59Costa Rica is about to push our team and the rigs to the very limit between adventure
31:06and disaster.
31:07anja-sister.
31:09Thanks for your очes and imagination.
31:10Thanks.
31:29Thanks, Ben
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