Survivor: Africa
Encyclopedia
Survivor: Africa is the third season of the United States reality show Survivor
. It was filmed during 2001 and aired from October 11, 2001 - January 10, 2002 on CBS
. It was set in Kenya
's Shaba National Reserve
on the Africa
n continent.
The two initial tribes were Boran and Samburu (named for the real-life Borana and Samburu tribes). In the fifth episode, after 12 days, three members from each team were switched to the other team, in what became known as the first "twist" in the Survivor series. This emphasized that the players must be ready for the most sudden changes; future seasons would have similar twists. In the seventh episode, the two tribes merged into the Moto Maji (Swahili
for 'fire' and 'water') tribe.
This season was also the first to have a tiebreaker challenge: in the previous season
, the person with the most previous votes was voted out in such a situation, but in Samburu's first tribal council, Carl Bilancione and Lindsey Richter each received four votes. The pair competed in a nature quiz tiebreaker, the loser of which was eliminated.
During the finale, the producers made it appear that the votes were being read at the site of the Final Tribal Council immediately after the votes were cast. Jeff Probst
went to get the voting urn and, when he returned, it appeared he had returned directly to the Tribal Council site to read the votes. However, he was actually on a CBS
sound stage in Hollywood (with a live audience) that was made up to look like the site. This was revealed after he read the votes and announced the winner. The contestants were told to try to make themselves appear as they had looked during the last Tribal Council and the audience was told to hold any cheering or applause until after the winner was announced.
Thirteen episodes were aired, plus a mid-season recap, a live reunion/interview with Bryant Gumbel
after the finale, and a "where are they now" show. The winner, Ethan Zohn
, was revealed on January 10, 2002, where he defeated Kim Johnson by a vote of 5-2.
Ethan Zohn
, Lex van den Berghe, and Tom "Big Tom" Buchanan competed in Survivor: All-Stars
, where they placed 11th, 9th, and 5th respectively.
A DVD release of the season was confirmed on July 28, 2010. It was released Tuesday, October 5, 2010.
, and previous votes will be counted to beak the tie, a nature quiz tiebreaker commenced. In the end, Lindsey edged out Carl, sending him home, and giving power to the younger Samburu alliance. Because of Samburu's lack of unity, momentum changed, as Boran won another Immunity Challenge. Linda was eliminated by the younger Samburus, thus evening up the tribes with six members each.
Despite their rise to power over the Samburu tribe, a new twist shook things up in the younger Samburu alliance. In Day 13, both tribes were given the vaguest Tree Mail yet, asking them to send half of their tribe "to a quest." Boran chose Kelly, Big Tom and Lex, while Silas (the leader of the younger Samburu alliance) sent himself, Frank and Teresa (the only two remaining members of the older alliance) to represent Samburu. Everything turned on its head when Jeff announced that the sent castaways will be switching tribes. When the new Boran tribe lost the fifth Immunity Challenge, Frank and Teresa made a plea to the original Borans that Silas must go. And in that night's Tribal Council, Frank and Teresa did their revenge on Silas, who was unanimously eliminated. Silas' elimination caused a big surprise for remnants of the younger Samburu alliance, who wanted to target one of their new members to even up original tribe members at five each. But after losing the sixth Immunity Challenge, and knowing that Lindsey has previous votes, the former Borans turned on her, thus sending her home.
On Day 19, the two tribes gathered at the Immunity Challenge, where they merged into one tribe. They later decided on the name Moto Maji. The former Samburu members, Teresa, Frank, Kim P, and Brandon entered into the merge in a precarious position being down 4 members to Boran's 6. However, Teresa hatched a plan to turn the former Boran members against each other. First, the entire tribe agreed to vote off Clarence, fearing his physical prowess at challenges. However, unknown to anyone else, Teresa voted with Clarence against Lex. Angered by this mystery vote, Lex swore to track down whoever had cast that vote against him and promptly vote them off. He mistakenly suspected Kelly of treachery and swayed his alliance of Tom, Ethan, and Kim J. to vote against her. In order to save herself, Kelly sided with the former Samburu members and voted against Lex, but Lex managed to convince Brandon to also vote against Kelly, thus eliminating her. Brandon's actions made both his old and new allies, minus Lex, lose trust in him, and the six other people banded together to vote him out. However, this put the former Samburu members in jeopardy, as they were subsequently picked off one-by-one. Teresa, the last original Samburu left, tried to shake things up, but was also eliminated, but not before telling Lex that she was the caster of the mystery vote and not Kelly.
At the final two Immunity Challenges, Kim J shocked everyone by winning both times, causing the men to have to turn on each other. Tom, who had been conspiring to have others vote off Lex earlier, was voted off unanimously. The next day, Lex awoke very sick, and this heavily affected his challenge performance. At Tribal Council, Kim voted off Lex and subsequently brought Ethan with her to the Final Two. Kim indicated she knew she would not win the $1 million against either Lex or Ethan, and chose to take Ethan to the finals because she was closer to him.
At the Final Tribal Council, Kim J. was met with mixed criticism from the Jury. She was praised by the jury for lasting all 39 days, in spite of her age. However, she was perceived as riding the coattails of Ethan, Lex, and Tom for the entirety of the game. Ethan's answers were straightforward, but did cost him a chance at a more lopsided win, as his critical response to Brandon actually turned Brandon (who had been looking for a reason to castigate his non-buddy Frank) into a vote for Kim. The Jury voted 5-2 for Ethan to win due to his more active strategy and congenial personality and was named the third Sole Survivor.
Combined Reward and Immunity challenge.
There was no Reward Challenge due to tribal merge.
Lindsey and Carl were tied 4-4 at Tribal Council, because they had no previous votes, they competed in a nature quiz tiebreaker, which Carl lost.
Lindsey and Tom were tied 3-3 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Tom had no previous votes, but Lindsey had four; therefore, Lindsey was eliminated.
challenge in the final episode. In a "Fallen Comrades" challenge, in which the contestants were quizzed on trivia regarding players in the game who had been voted out, the final question was "Which female contestant has no piercings?" The official answer, given by Kim Johnson to earn the win, was Kelly Goldsmith. Lex van den Berghe answered the question with Lindsey Richter's name, who, unbeknownst to the producers, also had no piercings. Had Lex been given credit for his correct answer, he and Kim Johnson would have been tied in the challenge and would have faced tie-breaker questions. After the producers were alerted to the mistake, both third place finisher van den Berghe and fourth place finisher Tom Buchanan were awarded the $100,000 runner-up prize instead of the traditional third and fourth place earnings.
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
. It was filmed during 2001 and aired from October 11, 2001 - January 10, 2002 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. It was set in Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
's Shaba National Reserve
Shaba National Reserve
Shaba National Reserve is a protected area in northern Kenya to the east of the Samburu and Buffalo Springs national reserves. Together, the three reserves form a large protected area....
on the Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n continent.
The two initial tribes were Boran and Samburu (named for the real-life Borana and Samburu tribes). In the fifth episode, after 12 days, three members from each team were switched to the other team, in what became known as the first "twist" in the Survivor series. This emphasized that the players must be ready for the most sudden changes; future seasons would have similar twists. In the seventh episode, the two tribes merged into the Moto Maji (Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
for 'fire' and 'water') tribe.
This season was also the first to have a tiebreaker challenge: in the previous season
Survivor: The Australian Outback
Survivor: The Australian Outback is the second season of the United States reality show Survivor. Filming took place at Goshen Station in northern Queensland during 2000 and aired from January 28, 2001 to May 3, 2001 on CBS...
, the person with the most previous votes was voted out in such a situation, but in Samburu's first tribal council, Carl Bilancione and Lindsey Richter each received four votes. The pair competed in a nature quiz tiebreaker, the loser of which was eliminated.
During the finale, the producers made it appear that the votes were being read at the site of the Final Tribal Council immediately after the votes were cast. Jeff Probst
Jeff Probst
Jeffrey Lee "Jeff" Probst is an American game show host, executive producer and a reporter. He is best known as the host of the U.S. version of the reality show Survivor.-Biography:...
went to get the voting urn and, when he returned, it appeared he had returned directly to the Tribal Council site to read the votes. However, he was actually on a CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sound stage in Hollywood (with a live audience) that was made up to look like the site. This was revealed after he read the votes and announced the winner. The contestants were told to try to make themselves appear as they had looked during the last Tribal Council and the audience was told to hold any cheering or applause until after the winner was announced.
Thirteen episodes were aired, plus a mid-season recap, a live reunion/interview with Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
after the finale, and a "where are they now" show. The winner, Ethan Zohn
Ethan Zohn
Ethan Zohn is an American reality television series contestant who won $1,000,000 on Survivor: Africa, the third season of the reality TV series Survivor. He also appeared on the All-Stars edition of the show. After winning Survivor he co-founded Grassroot Soccer, which uses soccer to raise money...
, was revealed on January 10, 2002, where he defeated Kim Johnson by a vote of 5-2.
Ethan Zohn
Ethan Zohn
Ethan Zohn is an American reality television series contestant who won $1,000,000 on Survivor: Africa, the third season of the reality TV series Survivor. He also appeared on the All-Stars edition of the show. After winning Survivor he co-founded Grassroot Soccer, which uses soccer to raise money...
, Lex van den Berghe, and Tom "Big Tom" Buchanan competed in Survivor: All-Stars
Survivor: All-Stars
Survivor: All-Stars is the eighth season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2003 and debuted in the United States on CBS on February 1, 2004 after Super Bowl XXXVIII. It was set on the Pearl Islands of Panama, where the previous Survivor: Pearl Islands had just finished...
, where they placed 11th, 9th, and 5th respectively.
A DVD release of the season was confirmed on July 28, 2010. It was released Tuesday, October 5, 2010.
Season summary
16 new castaways were marooned in the outskirts of the Shaba National Reserve, Kenya, Africa. The group was divided into two tribes named after two real-life Kenyan tribes, Samburu and Boran. During the first six days, Samburu dominated in challenges, while the depeleted Boran already lost Diane and Jessie. Despite their early winning streak, Samburu was divided into two existing voting alliances defined by age, the younger members (Silas, Kim P., Brandon and Lindsey) and the older members (Frank, Teresa, Carl and Linda). After losing the third Immunity Challenge, Samburu's age-defined voting blocs resulted into a 4-4 deadlock tie vote between Carl and Lindsey. Since it was the tribe's first Tribal CouncilTribal Council
A Tribal Council is either: an association of Native American bands in the United States or First Nations governments in Canada, or the governing body for certain tribes within the United States or elsewhere...
, and previous votes will be counted to beak the tie, a nature quiz tiebreaker commenced. In the end, Lindsey edged out Carl, sending him home, and giving power to the younger Samburu alliance. Because of Samburu's lack of unity, momentum changed, as Boran won another Immunity Challenge. Linda was eliminated by the younger Samburus, thus evening up the tribes with six members each.
Despite their rise to power over the Samburu tribe, a new twist shook things up in the younger Samburu alliance. In Day 13, both tribes were given the vaguest Tree Mail yet, asking them to send half of their tribe "to a quest." Boran chose Kelly, Big Tom and Lex, while Silas (the leader of the younger Samburu alliance) sent himself, Frank and Teresa (the only two remaining members of the older alliance) to represent Samburu. Everything turned on its head when Jeff announced that the sent castaways will be switching tribes. When the new Boran tribe lost the fifth Immunity Challenge, Frank and Teresa made a plea to the original Borans that Silas must go. And in that night's Tribal Council, Frank and Teresa did their revenge on Silas, who was unanimously eliminated. Silas' elimination caused a big surprise for remnants of the younger Samburu alliance, who wanted to target one of their new members to even up original tribe members at five each. But after losing the sixth Immunity Challenge, and knowing that Lindsey has previous votes, the former Borans turned on her, thus sending her home.
On Day 19, the two tribes gathered at the Immunity Challenge, where they merged into one tribe. They later decided on the name Moto Maji. The former Samburu members, Teresa, Frank, Kim P, and Brandon entered into the merge in a precarious position being down 4 members to Boran's 6. However, Teresa hatched a plan to turn the former Boran members against each other. First, the entire tribe agreed to vote off Clarence, fearing his physical prowess at challenges. However, unknown to anyone else, Teresa voted with Clarence against Lex. Angered by this mystery vote, Lex swore to track down whoever had cast that vote against him and promptly vote them off. He mistakenly suspected Kelly of treachery and swayed his alliance of Tom, Ethan, and Kim J. to vote against her. In order to save herself, Kelly sided with the former Samburu members and voted against Lex, but Lex managed to convince Brandon to also vote against Kelly, thus eliminating her. Brandon's actions made both his old and new allies, minus Lex, lose trust in him, and the six other people banded together to vote him out. However, this put the former Samburu members in jeopardy, as they were subsequently picked off one-by-one. Teresa, the last original Samburu left, tried to shake things up, but was also eliminated, but not before telling Lex that she was the caster of the mystery vote and not Kelly.
At the final two Immunity Challenges, Kim J shocked everyone by winning both times, causing the men to have to turn on each other. Tom, who had been conspiring to have others vote off Lex earlier, was voted off unanimously. The next day, Lex awoke very sick, and this heavily affected his challenge performance. At Tribal Council, Kim voted off Lex and subsequently brought Ethan with her to the Final Two. Kim indicated she knew she would not win the $1 million against either Lex or Ethan, and chose to take Ethan to the finals because she was closer to him.
At the Final Tribal Council, Kim J. was met with mixed criticism from the Jury. She was praised by the jury for lasting all 39 days, in spite of her age. However, she was perceived as riding the coattails of Ethan, Lex, and Tom for the entirety of the game. Ethan's answers were straightforward, but did cost him a chance at a more lopsided win, as his critical response to Brandon actually turned Brandon (who had been looking for a reason to castigate his non-buddy Frank) into a vote for Kim. The Jury voted 5-2 for Ethan to win due to his more active strategy and congenial personality and was named the third Sole Survivor.
Contestants
| Contestant | Original Tribe | Swapped Tribe | Merged Tribe | Finish | Total votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diane Ogden 42, Lincoln, NE |
1st Voted Out Day 3 |
6 | |||
| Jessie Camacho 26, Orlando, FL |
2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
5 | |||
| Carl Bilancione 46, Winter Springs, FL |
3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
4 | |||
| Linda Spencer 44, Cambridge, MA |
4th Voted Out Day 12 |
4 | |||
| Silas Gaither 23, Germantown, TN |
5th Voted Out Day 15 |
8 | |||
| Lindsey Richter 26, Portland, OR |
6th Voted Out Day 18 |
7 | |||
| Clarence Black Clarence Black Clarence Jamil Black is an African American multi-media personality, who currently resides in Rochester, Michigan where he serves as an on-air talent for both WDFN and Comcast Local. He competed on Survivor: Africa in the fall of 2001.-Survivor:Clarence Black was a contestant on Survivor: Africa,... 24, Detroit, MI |
align="center" rowspan=10 | 7th Voted Out Day 21 |
12 | ||
| Kelly Goldsmith 22, Rancho Santa Fe, CA |
8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24 |
5 | |||
| Brandon Quinton 25, Dallas, TX |
9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27 |
6 | |||
| Frank Garrison 43, Odessa, NY |
10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30 |
9 | |||
| Kim Powers 29, Conshohocken, PA |
11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33 |
4 | |||
| Teresa Cooper 42, Jackson, GA |
12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36 |
4 | |||
| Tom Buchanan 45, Rich Valley, VA |
13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37 |
7 | |||
| Lex van den Berghe 38, Santa Cruz, CA |
14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38 |
10 | |||
| Kim Johnson 56, Oyster Bay, NY Oyster Bay (town), New York The Town of Oyster Bay is easternmost of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County that extends from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the town population was... |
Runner-Up | 1 | |||
| Ethan Zohn Ethan Zohn Ethan Zohn is an American reality television series contestant who won $1,000,000 on Survivor: Africa, the third season of the reality TV series Survivor. He also appeared on the All-Stars edition of the show. After winning Survivor he co-founded Grassroot Soccer, which uses soccer to raise money... 27, Lexington, MA |
Sole Survivor | 0 |
- The Total Votes is the number of votes a castaway has received during Tribal Councils where the castaway is eligible to be voted out of the game. It does not include the votes received during the final Tribal Council.
The game
| Episode title | Air date | Challenges | Eliminated | Vote | Finish | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reward | Immunity | ||||||
| "Question of Trust" | October 11, 2001 | colspan=2 | 6−2 | 1st Voted Out Day 3 |
|||
| "Who's Zooming Whom?" | October 18, 2001 | 5−2 | 2nd Voted Out Day 6 |
||||
| "The Gods Are Angry" | October 25, 2001 | 4−4 | 3rd Voted Out Day 9 |
||||
| "The Young and Untrusted" | November 1, 2001 | 4−3 | 4th Voted Out Day 12 |
||||
| "The Twist" | November 8, 2001 | 5−1 | 5th Voted Out Day 15 |
||||
| "I'd Never Do It To You" | November 15, 2001 | 3−3 | 6th Voted Out Day 18 |
||||
| "Will There Be a Feast Tonight?" | November 22, 2001 | None | 8−2 | 7th Voted Out Day 21 |
|||
| "The First 21 Days" | November 29, 2001 | Recap Episode | |||||
| "Smoking Out the Snake" | December 6, 2001 | 5−4 | 8th Voted Out 1st Jury Member Day 24 |
||||
| "Dinner, Movie and a Betrayal" | December 13, 2001 | 6−2 | 9th Voted Out 2nd Jury Member Day 27 |
||||
| "We Are Family" | December 20, 2001 | Survivor Auction | 6−1 | 10th Voted Out 3rd Jury Member Day 30 |
|||
| "The Big Adventure" | December 27, 2001 | 4−2 | 11th Voted Out 4th Jury Member Day 33 |
||||
| "Truth Be Told" | January 3, 2002 | 4−1 | 12th Voted Out 5th Jury Member Day 36 |
||||
| "The Final Four: No Regrets" | January 10, 2002 | None | 3−1 | 13th Voted Out 6th Jury Member Day 37 |
|||
| 1−0 | 14th Voted Out 7th Jury Member Day 38 |
||||||
| "The Reunion" | January 10, 2002 | Jury Vote | 5−2 | Runner-Up | |||
| Sole Survivor | |||||||
- In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets.
Combined Reward and Immunity challenge.
There was no Reward Challenge due to tribal merge.
Voting history
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode #: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | |
| Eliminated: | ||||||||||||||
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| Jury vote | ||
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| Finalist: | ||
| Juror | Vote | |
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Lindsey and Carl were tied 4-4 at Tribal Council, because they had no previous votes, they competed in a nature quiz tiebreaker, which Carl lost.
Lindsey and Tom were tied 3-3 at Tribal Council and in a Tribal Council countback Tom had no previous votes, but Lindsey had four; therefore, Lindsey was eliminated.
U.S. Nielsen ratings
| Episode | Viewers (millions) |
|---|---|
| ""Question of Trust"" | 23.84 |
| "Who's Zooming Whom?" | 18.92 |
| "The Gods Are Angry" | 19.60 |
| "The Young and Untrusted" | 18.40 |
| "Pulling Your Own Weight" | 19.28 |
| "The Twist" | 17.80 |
| "I'd Never Do It To You" | 17.70 |
| "Will There Be a Feast Tonight?" | 19.71 |
| "Smoking Out the Snake" | 20.55 |
| "Dinner, Movie and a Betrayal" | 18.73 |
| "We Are Family" | 20.43 |
| "The Big Adventure" | 19.59 |
| "Truth Be Told" | 23.84 |
| "The Final Four: No Regrets" | 27.26 |
| ""The Reunion" | 19.05 |
Controversy
There was some controversy surrounding an immunityImmunity (reality television)
Immunity in reality television is a concept that is widely used in weekly elimination-type reality television shows by which a contestant participating in such a show may not be "kicked off" or eliminated from competition in a particular time period...
challenge in the final episode. In a "Fallen Comrades" challenge, in which the contestants were quizzed on trivia regarding players in the game who had been voted out, the final question was "Which female contestant has no piercings?" The official answer, given by Kim Johnson to earn the win, was Kelly Goldsmith. Lex van den Berghe answered the question with Lindsey Richter's name, who, unbeknownst to the producers, also had no piercings. Had Lex been given credit for his correct answer, he and Kim Johnson would have been tied in the challenge and would have faced tie-breaker questions. After the producers were alerted to the mistake, both third place finisher van den Berghe and fourth place finisher Tom Buchanan were awarded the $100,000 runner-up prize instead of the traditional third and fourth place earnings.