So long, frostbite, wolves, and bears. Hello, sunburn, snakes, and zebras.
The latest season of the History Channel’s “Alone” returns to the southern hemisphere for the second time, and a desert for a first. Billed as one of the most inhospitable places on earth, the Karoo Desert in northern South Africa will bring new challenges to 10 survivalists.
We don’t know any specifics, but we have our eye on certain elements that will add a new twist and drama to a show we’ve come to enjoy.
Why ‘Alone’ Is Different
There are a lot of survival-based shows out there, but “Alone” stands out for its total isolation and lack of contests. The only challenge is to stay the longest. The last one standing takes the prize.
Each contestant can select 10 survival items from a list of 40 approved by the show. These often offer a clue to a contestant’s approach and a source for endless debate among armchair experts at home.
Besides medical check-in, the 10 contestants are left on their own and film themselves. To leave, they either fail a medical check or radio that they want to tap out.
In past seasons, contestants have quit or been eliminated due to inadequate shelter, lack of food, intestinal infections, and well, some just get a little daffy. Animal encounters also sure to spice up things.
All of this for a $500,000 prize and lots of bragging rights.
New Setting, New Drama
Generally, the contestants are dropped off in the same wilderness region in the fall. Nine of the 11 seasons took place in remote areas within Canada, where contestants scrambled to build shelters and secure food before harsh winter conditions set in; seasons in Mongolia and Argentina were the exceptions.
This year, “Alone” flips the script by moving the contest to the Great Karoo in South Africa.
We don’t know what parts of the Karoo the contestants will be dropped off in. Its topography and climate vary across its roughly 250,000 square miles.
Historically, this region has remained desolate due to its extreme fluctuations in heat, frost, and floods. We guess that failed shelters will still send a few contestants home early. We can also assume that animal encounters may lead to some mental toughness tap-outs.
Hydration is obviously going to be a challenge for contestants. The name Karoo comes from an ancient San word meaning “Land of Great Thirst,” according to the Samara Reserve website.
In past seasons, survivalists have weighed the pros and cons of hunting big game, and some contestants instead choose to fish and set traps for smaller game. That could change with this new setting.
The Karoo is a semi-arid plateau basin with plains and mountain ranges, home to a diverse cast of animals. Gone are bears and wild pigs. Now in play will be sightings of, if not encounters with, cheetahs, elephants, warthogs, and wildebeests.
Oh, and the area also has venomous snakes, such as the Cape cobra and puff adder, as well as scorpions.
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