Survivor: Guatemala

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Survivor: Guatemala
Filming location	Laguna Yaxhá, Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park, Petén, Guatemala
Winner	Danni Boatwright (6-1)
Original run	September 15, 2005 – December 11, 2005
Filming dates	June 22, 2005 – August 05, 2005
No. of episodes	14
No. of days	39
No. of survivors	18
Tribes	Nakúm Yaxhá Xhakúm
Season chronology
Previous	Survivor: Palau
Next	Survivor: Panama

Survivor: Guatemala - The Mayan Empire (also known as Survivor: Guatemala for short) is the eleventh season of Survivor, and it is set inside of the ruins of the Maya civilization. Specifically, the series is in Yaxhá-Nakum-Naranjo National Park near the more popular Tikal National Park, located in northern Guatemala. A preview of the show's location was shown during the finale of Survivor: Palau. The season premiered on September 15, 2005 on CBS. The finale was on Sunday, December 11, 2005 on CBS. Danni Boatwright became the sole survivor by defeating Stephenie LaGrossa by a vote of 6-1. This season also features the return of Palau contestants Stephenie LaGrossa and Bobby Jon Drinkard.

In this season, the second of the early stages of the future Exile Island was completed. After the merge, production placed a tiny immunity idol in the Xhakum tribe. Gary Hogeboom found it up in a tree, protecting him for that Tribal Council. Unlike future seasons, this idol could only be used before the vote instead of after, and once it was exposed, it wouldn't be used anymore. However, it could be used until the Final 4.

This season is being talked about as one of the toughest seasons for a group of castaways. According to Jeff Probst, temperatures appeared to be well over 110 degrees with high humidity, as he talked about it during some of the competitions. Challenges like the 11-mile hike through the jungle and Mayan basketball showed how exhausted all the castaways were. In Day 1, many of the Nakúm men were sick after the hike, and had a tough time recovering.

The tribes were Yaxhá (blue buffs) and Nakúm (yellow buffs). Both of these tribes were named after two former Mayan cities. The last ten members merged into the Xhakúm tribe (red buffs) marking the 3rd time that all names in previous tribe were blended into one.

The contestants arrived on June 22nd and began filming on June 27th. Filming ended on August 4th and contestants returned home August 5th. (Source from Survivor Fever)

[edit] Contestants

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.

[edit] The game

[edit] Tribes

• Nakum: yellow buffs, living adjacent to the Mayan ruins
• Yaxha: teal buffs, living in a shelter in the jungle
• Xhakum: red buffs, living at Nakum camp

[edit] Elimination notes

• Jim - Although he was a good leader at first, he was eliminated after tearing a muscle in his arm, which made him detrimental to the progress of the tribe. On the morning after this episode aired, Jim appeared on the Early Show still wearing a sling.
• Morgan - Lydia was the target, but she had allies in Brian and Jamie. Brian spoke up in her defense, and convinced her to do the same. Gary and Stephenie suggested that Morgan didn't pull her weight at camp, and ultimately she was eliminated.
• Brianna - Brianna was eliminated for not performing well in the Mayan basketball challenge.
• Brooke - Brooke was eliminated for being the weakest link of the members of Nakum who had not swapped tribes. The team had 4 Nakum and 4 Yaxha, and the 4 Yaxha members managed to form an alliance with Judd, thus eliminating Brooke.
• Blake - Blake was voted off to improve team unity, and because he annoyed the other tribe members by continually talking about himself. Brian was able to successfully lead Blake into telling stories about himself that alienated Danni and Bobby Jon from him, and the two of them voted with the three original Yaxha to get rid of Blake.
• Margaret - Margaret was voted out in a 6-1 vote due to her being on the outside of Nakum's majority alliance and due to her personality conflicts with Judd.
• Brian - Brian was one of the more physically weak Yaxha members, and was seen as being too smart (being an Ivy League student) to keep in the game. Brian devised an elaborate plan to split the votes of the former Nakum and vote out Bobby Jon, but Amy regarded it as " too complicated " and she and Gary helped vote him out.
• Amy - Although Yaxha did not want to vote anyone out, they lost the immunity challenge, and Amy was seen as the weakest.
• Brandon - The tribes merged, and Brandon was both in the minority alliance as well as a challenge threat. He was voted out 6-4. He also was voted off because of Bobby Jon's appeal to Stephenie to keep him around long enough to make the jury this time around. She honored his request and pushed for her alliance to take out Brandon.
• Bobby Jon - Because Gary had picked up the individual immunity idol, the power core was forced to shift gears. Bobby Jon was considered more threatening physically than Danni and thus voted out 6-2-1.
• Jamie - Jamie was very cocky after the merge. Although he calmed down, he was still a major physical threat and increasingly paranoid and spreading lies among his alliance. Rafe came up with the idea to vote him out because Jamie repeatedly approached him about their alliance and Rafe couldn't deal with him anymore.
• Gary - Gary was not in the five person alliance, and was one of the strongest competitors remaining. Though Gary exposed Judd's lie about the hidden immunity idol, it wasn't enough and he was the next to go.
• Judd - Danni was able to break up the four person alliance by raising doubts with Rafe and Stephenie about Judd's trustworthiness.
• Cindy - Cindy alienated Rafe and Danni when deciding to keep the car she won for herself instead of giving everybody one through an offer from Jeff at the reward challenge. Stephenie also apparently decided to vote for Cindy, even after previously stating she didn't want to betray another alliance member, and Cindy became the first female juror and the 10th victim of the Survivor "car curse".
• Lydia - Lydia was voted off because Stephenie, Rafe and Danni felt she was well-liked by the jury and could possibly win.
• Rafe - After Danni won immunity, Rafe said their deal was done and to vote with her heart. Danni felt she could most likely win against Stephenie so she voted her close friend, Rafe out of the game.
• Stephenie - Danni decided to take Steph to the final two instead of Rafe, knowing she could beat her. Steph lost because she had already played the game before and because she had backstabbed many of her alliance members while playing this time. Her sole jury vote came from Rafe, the one person in her alliance she did not have a hand in voting out.
• Danni - Danni fought back from a minority alliance and became the Sole Survivor without backstabbing anyone. Danni got votes from 6 of the 7 jurors: Bobby Jon, Jamie, Gary, Judd, Cindy, and Lydia all voted for Danni to win the million dollars.

[edit] Voting history

Here is a chart showing who voted for who at each tribal council.

[edit] Episode summaries

Episode 1: The sixteen new contestants learned upon arriving in the Guatemalan jungle that they would be joined by Bobby Jon Drinkard and Stephenie LaGrossa from Survivor: Palau. They were also told that their first reward challenge would be an 11-mile hike to a campsite near some Mayan ruins. Nakum won, and Yaxha was instructed to find a new campsite. At the Immunity Challenge, Yaxha won the first immunity, and as a result of his injuries attained during the Reward Challenge, Jim was voted out (8-1).

Episode 2: Before the Reward Challenge, Blake suffered cramps and hyperventilation. Nakum won fishing gear as their reward, and later won Immunity as well. Morgan was voted out for her lack of physical strength and perceived laziness. (8-1).

Episode 3: At the Reward Challenge, Nakum won a reward of pillows, blankets and a tarp before going on to win their fourth challenge in a row, the Immunity Challenge. At Tribal Council, Brianna of Yaxha was voted out for her perceived lack of athletic ability (7-1).

Episode 4: At the Reward Challenge, contestants were quizzed about their tribemates. Brooke, Cindy, Judd, Margaret, Amy, Brian and Gary were deemed to have the most tribal loyalty, and were sent on a reward, while the others switched tribes. After the new Yaxha tribe won the Immunity Challenge, Brooke was voted out as a result of being a former Nakum member (5-3).

Episode 5: At the Reward Challenge, Yaxha won chips, drinks and a crocodile-proof swimming cage. Nakum won immunity and Blake was voted out as a result of his cocky attitude, (5-2).

Episode 6: Nakum won their second challenge in a row, and it was revealed that both tribes would be attending Tribal Council. As part of their reward, Nakum competed in an individual Immunity Challenge, which was won by Rafe. He was also able to watch part of the Yaxha tribal council. Margaret was voted out of Nakum because of her personality conflicts (6-1), and Yaxha voted out Brian (5-1).

Episode 7: Yaxha won the reward of a jungle canopy zipline ride, then invited Nakum to camp for Danni's birthday. They swam together in the croc-proof cage. At the Immunity Challenge, Yaxha came off second-best, and Amy was a victim of her minority alliance (4-1). After the vote, the four remaining Yaxha moved to the Nakum camp for the merger.

Episode 8: It was revealed that there was a Hidden Immunity Idol located near the camp of the new Xhakum tribe (formerly of Nakum). The tribes merged into one and took the name Xhakum. At the Challenge, Jeff explained that it would be both for Reward and Immunity. However, only those who didn't feel they needed immunity would partake in the food reward while the others competed for immunity. Gary ended up winning the individual immunity, in effect saving himself because the former Nakum members, Stephenie, Jamie, Judd, Rafe, Lydia, and Cindy, all allied together. Bobby Jon was on the chopping block, but Stephenie convinced the others to keep him in the game, and instead Brandon, the strongest player remaining, was ousted (6-4).

Episode 9: Gary found the Hidden Immunity Idol. Judd won reward (shared with Bobby Jon and Stephenie), and Jamie won immunity. Gary surprised the tribe with the Idol at Tribal Council, and Bobby Jon was voted out (6-2-1). He lasted three days longer than he did on Survivor: Palau, and was announced as the first member of the Jury.

Episode 10: At the very messy reward challenge, the team of Danni, Gary, Stephenie & Judd won a night away from camp and videos from home. After Rafe's second Immunity win, the paranoid Jamie was voted out (6-2).

Episode 11: Cindy won the reward challenge, and took Rafe with her on a reward of a feast, waterfall pool and massage. Rafe continued his immunity streak, winning his third overall and second consecutive immunity. Gary, the biggest physical threat remaining among the two former Yaxha members (he and Danni), was eliminated (6-1).

Episode 12: The final six's loved ones arrived at camp after the Survivor Auction. Danni won an Immunity Challenge advantage, and Judd's wife, Cindy's twin sister and Stephenie's boyfriend were permitted to stay overnight at camp. As a result of her advantage, Danni won the Immunity Challenge. Safe with immunity, Danni also succeeded in turning the game around for herself by convincing Stephenie, Rafe, and Lydia that Judd was untrustworthy and too much of a threat to keep around. In a (4-2) vote, Judd was sent packing, but not before uttering a parting shot to the remaining contestants, quote "Bye guys. Hope you get eaten by a freakin' crocodile. Scumbags."

Episode 13: At the Reward Challenge, Cindy was given the option of keeping her newly won 2006 Pontiac Torrent or giving one to each of the other survivors. She chose to keep the car, which ultimately let to her ousting after Stephenie's first immunity win in two seasons of Survivor. She was voted out (4-1).

Episode 14: In the final four, Rafe won his fourth individual immunity, and Lydia was voted out as a result of her popularity with the jury. (3-1). After a two hour, 38 minute challenge, Danni won the final immunity challenge. She chose to vote out Rafe, because she felt she would have a better chance in the final two against Stephenie. (1-0). At the live reunion and finale, it was revealed that Danni beat Stephenie in a (6-1) vote. Stephenie had lasted 9 days longer than she did on Survivor: Palau.

[edit] Filming Locations

Survivor: Guatemala was filmed on and around the Laguna Yaxhá. The Nakúm tribe (later Xhakúm) lived in the ruins of Topoxte, while the Yaxhá tribe camped across the lagoon in the jungle. Tribal Council and several challenges were filmed in the Yaxhá archaeological site. Other challenges took place on beaches around the lagoon.

[edit] External links

• Official CBS Survivor Guatemala Website