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Leg 23.12 – “Ibang palenquera yun!”
Only a few more Legs left until the Finish Line. But teams will have to get through Leg 12 first. Teams will hop onto the Philippine Airlines Airbus A350 to fly to Cartagena.
And teams will begin the Leg at Puerta del Reloj in Cartagena at 7:30am.
Teams must grab a taxi to take them to El Totumo, an active mud volcano near the municipality of Santa Catalina.
And here, teams will encounter a Road Block: Who can pool it out? For this Road Block, teams must hop into the mud bath pool to search for the next clue.
That clue directs teams to La Boquilla. Here, teams will hop onto a boat and make their way to a spot in the mangroves.
They must then get in the water and properly throw and set the fishing nets. Once approved, the fishermen will hand them the next clue.
Teams must now make their way to Café San Alberto in Cartagena for another Road Block: Who can grind it out? For this Road Block, teams must learn how to distinguish between coffee grounds and their flavors. When teams can correctly match four grounds with the brewed cups, they will receive the next clue.
Teams will now head to San Basilio de Palenque, the first free town of escaped slaves in the Americas in the 17th century. It is also now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Here, teams will learn and then correctly perform an African dance.
After getting the thumbs up, teams must head to the vibrant streets of Getsemani in Cartagena and find the walled city where they will encounter the Detour: Palenqueras or Carruaje.
In Palenqueras, teams must become a palenquera for the day and deliver fruits in the traditional way to provided addresses.
In Carruaje, teams must take care of a horse and then go on a ride around the city in a carriage looking for flags according to a provided rudimentary map.
After the Detour, teams can make their way on foot to the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas. And through the tunnels will be the Pit Stop for this Leg of the Race.
The first team to check-in here will win P200,000 courtesy of Shell V-Power Nitro+.
The last team to check-in here WILL be eliminated.
^Click here to follow the teams through the Leg!
“Director’s” Commentary
This would’ve been a good early Race Leg. But in switching the two halves of this route, it ended up here as Leg 12. It’s okay though as I think it can still be a competitive Leg.
First, of course we will visit El Totumo when we’re in the area. A simple recycled task from TAR28. And we haven’t had tasks where teams get literally dirty this season. So it’s nice to have here.
Next, Google scouting was a little more difficult for this Leg. But I was able to find out about the mangroves nearby and the fishing nets. So this should be a good task, hopefully challenging for the teams. And again, getting teams into the water.
When in Colombia, a coffee task is definitely required. Google scouting brought me to the coffee tasting and I think it should be a tricky task for the teams.
Google scouting also led me to San Basilio de Palenque. Such an interesting and historic location. It would be great to have more than just a dancing task here though.
Finally, the Detour is something simple and straightforward. Balancing fruit on your head is definitely a familiar TAR task. So teams might choose it rather than the seemingly long and tedious carriage ride. But for some teams, maybe the horse and carriage will be the faster Detour. Interesting choice to have at the end of the Leg.
And especially when it is a run to the Mat, it could provide some nice, exciting tension for the end of the Leg too.
Overall, a solid Leg. Probably better for the beginning of the Race with more teams. But okay here.