As (prior to Millennials vs. Gen X) the show moved locations, some were more diffucult than others in terms of the survival aspect. The conditions were not just tough on the survivors, but sometimes the film crew as well. Some challenges were also feared by the contestants for various reasons.
Locations and Seasons
- Africa was filmed on a game preserve (meaning the players could not hunt and were limited on food), it was incredibly hot, lions were circling the players (and the film crew!) at night, and what's more the water source(s) all had parasites which made the players very sick.
- Once Marquesas was done, the producers said "Never again" because of the insect bites that tore up the players and film crew alike.
- All-Stars was, according to the players, a little more difficult than some seasons in terms of survival aspect due to the weather being exceedingly warm and muggy.
- Guatemala had temperatures regularly exceeding 37°C / 100°F and humidity of +75%. As a result? Players were constantly getting worn out. Not helping was one team had to conduct an eleven mile hike that left multiple castaways throwing up and exhausted.
- While Fiji has proven to be a very good filming location, the first time the show filmed there, the producers tried a "Haves vs Have Nots". Unfortunately, the "Haves" (Moto) tribe was flourishing, while the "Have Nots" tribe (Ravu) was floundering. Apparently, Rocky blanked out mid-sentence once while talking to someone because he had so little food and the only food they could find were pineapples, some of which were under-ripe, too.
- China had a long rainstorm that left contestants and film crew freezing, especially at night.
- Nicaragua was somewhat deceptive - the editing showed that it was rather standard, just very rainy. But according to the contestants, it was surprisingly harsh. Both tribes suffered losses to food supplies and it got surprisingly cold at night on top of the rain making it even worse. (Allegedly, the cold, rainy nights were one of the reasons the fires were built so close to camp causing the shelter to burn down.) The older tribe burnt out fast.
- Philippines. Allegedly, it was filmed in March-April so they could miss monsoon season. However, it turned out to be unseasonably rainy - which left the contestants haggard, cold, and sleep-deprived. It was so rainy out that the players almost named the merge tribe Fuckinrayne but changed it to Dangrayne so they wouldn't have to censor the tribe name.
- Kaoh-Rong, despite being filmed largely in April, was apparently during a heat wave in the region which contributed to the famous challenge where three players were checked out for heat stroke at once (with Caleb's vitals being so low he almost died) and three players were medically evacuated.
- While Fiji's stable weather (as well as tax breaks) has largely averted this, David vs. Goliath got hit by two tropical cyclones during filming. One caused a player to be evacuated due to turbulent waves, and the other had the entire cast get evacuated and both camps get flattened.
Challenges
- Most Food challenges were dreaded by the castaways. They may have been hungry, they may have been thirsty, but were they hungry enough to eat fermented fish, thirsty enough drink cow's blood, or desperate enough to eat a duck egg? Boston Rob in particular was seen going Oh, Crap! once Probst revealed they were doing an eating challenge in All-stars. Thanks to their reputation amongst players, health risks, as well as an effort to avoid the somewhat unfortunate implications of the challenges playing up to the Foreign Queasine trope, these challenges aren't often done, but they are not unheard of. These challenges are especially bad for vegetarians, such as Kimmi, who had to compete in this challenge twice.
- In Amazon, Fiji, and South Pacific, the teams had their hands tied behind their back, and had to take large chunks of meat off of a huge roast with their teeth and throw it into a bag. The winning team got to keep the meat.
- Any challenge that involves contestants either wrestling or fighting. Multiple contestants get very beaten up by these challenges. One of the worst was in Micronesia in which Penner received a puncture wound so bad it led to his evacuation.
- One challenge in Africa was a quiz on "how well you know your fellow players". What makes it into "that one challenge" was the fact that the players were asked about a castmate who had piercings - Lex and Tom answered correctly, but were counted as incorrect because producers didn't know that their answer(s) were actually correct.
- The boulder rolling challenge resulted in several players literally getting run over by a boulder. While they weren't injured, it sure was quite harrowing.
- "Last Gasp", a challenge in which players are trapped under a metal grate and must stay above water and/or hold their breath as the tide comes in. The challenge itself is simple, but it's very claustrophobic and thalassophobic so contestants often drop out due to sheer panic. It's been compared to Saw in how much agita it induces amongst players. This is one of the reasons why Owen and Karla's win in 43 was so historic: They managed to outlast the tide.
- The first immunity challenge in One World required contestants to jump onto a net about 20-30 feet below. Unfortunately, everyone's instinct was to reach their arm(s) out which would risk breaking them. Multiple castaways landed with their arms out or on their face. Kourtney was one such castaway and broke her arm in three different places. They never did this again for a very good reason.
