Amazing Race update – Back to Africa

Well since my readership has dwindled into the triple-digits, I need to diversify my content. So it's back to Amazing Race updates! Yay! I missed last week's season premiere so here's the quick update: teams went from Gloucester, MA to London, England then Stonehenge then Eastnor Castle. There was only one black team and they were eliminated in the first leg when they got hopelessly lost; the remaining teams are decidedly white. The team that came in first received the "Express Pass" – a new feature that allows the team to skip any challenge (Detour, Roadblock, etc.) if they get stuck. I think this is a pretty cool addition to the Race since there have been many times where teams simply cannot finish a task and end up eliminated.

This week, the ten remaining teams headed out from jolly old England to Accra, Ghana. From the airport, teams took taxis (which all appear to have cracked windshields) to a monument honoring Kwame Nkrumah, the leader of Ghanan independence.

This clue led teams to a marketplace and the Roadblock: one team member needed to sell about $10 worth of sunglasses. One team (Brook and Claire) are hosts of a television shopping channel and put their bubbly personalities in play to sell glasses and leave in first place.

After the market, teams hit the Detour: Tune In or Check Out. Tune In involved setting up a television antenna while Check Out required teams to move a novelty coffin from one place to another. There didn't seem to be anything particular difficult about either task although the self-named Team Glee (a capella singers from Princeton) switched off the antenna Detour for the coffins. After completing the detour, teams headed off for the Pit Stop at the massive Kaneshie Market.

Team QVC, who jumped out to a lead at the sunglass Roadblock, finished first. Meanwhile, Team Kentucky, Team Surgeons, and Team New Mom all had taxi drivers who took them to the wrong part of town, so it looked like one of these teams was heading home. Sure enough, the newly reunited birth mother and adopted daughter team of Andie & Jenna couldn't overcome their multiple tasks and a bad cab driver and were eliminated.

Final results:

#1 – Team QVC – Brook & Claire
#2 – Team Volleyball – Katie & Rachel
#3 – Team YouTube – Michael & Kevin
(six other teams)
Eliminated – Team New Mom – Andie & Jenna

Next week – Tempers flare in the African sun.

In case you missed it – The watermelon recoil from the season premiere, otherwise known as the "Amazing Face - shot."

That's why I say: "Hey man, nice shot."