I guess this counts a “when”. In the first leg of TAR4 I saw the time 11:15 on the wristwatch of one of David & Jeff as they started driving their SUV at Dodger Stadium. It’s a huge analog watch on his right arm. Maybe Rinaldo can include this in his big-old timeline post that covers all of TAR4. Someone may have to ring a bell to get his attention back over here; I haven’t seen him post TAR in a while.

I am so excited to get this party started for TAR5

Unless TAR4 comes out as cable repeats (or a DVD!), I think we can say this thread is done. TAR5 Timeline to start after the first show?

Considering Paris in Spring's incredible ability to track down every shred of information about the upcoming TAR5 from the tiniest clues off the promos, I think it's safe to say that this thread (or its successor) will be buzzing in a few weeks!

I naturally want to help out where I can...it's only the darn delay in receiving the tapes which prevented me from hanging around here more often last time! Rest assured, I'm just as much a devotee of TAR minutiae as the rest of you!

Perhaps we ought to come up with a title for the TAR5 "notebookers"? I can see it now - Clear Eye for the TARfly, with "Fantastic Four" specialist areas of information:

TRANSPORT - The routes, timetables and schedules of planes, trains, automobiles and everything in between;
TIMING - When events took place, both within the legs and over the course of the race (a.k.a. Rinaldo's Department);
LOCATION - The mappers, who use every possible clue to go looking for clear, clickable maps of the exact location of everything;
HISTORY - Background information on the locations, tasks and whatever's fit to research.

And of course the mammoth task of trying to tie everything together!

I'm still working on getting old OAGs to confirm flights, so don't give up hope yet! I finally have something to trade with my "source," too -- another copy of the tape of the time he was on The Price Is Right. If I wave the tape in his face and go "neener neener neener!" till he comes up with an OAG, will that be a sufficient sacrifice for my art when he pounds me into the ground, since he outweighs me by about 100 pounds?

And do we have an official "diagrammer" to draw us a timeline, or are we going to have to rely again on verbal descriptions? I mean, if we're going to be as obsessive about it as all appearances would indicate, I think we need to get fancy with our results, too!

I've already been working in the Mapping department, so I can probably help a little with that...

History? We have our trusty travel guidebooks!

Mama Tiger, I've got an Excel spreadsheet that will make timeline diagrams. But, how to put it out to see?

The Australian, This is like high school club sign ups. All the topics look interesting but who has the time? Oh, and thanks for the line about tracking down clues. But, I don't get all the blame. I'll focus on TRANSPORT and TIMING.

I've got webspace not currently being used; I'm just not good at doing anything but uploading photos for linking. (eBay experience showing.) If someone else can prepare a good timeline in Excel format -- or I could, I guess, I've got every program known to man on my computer these days -- I'd be glad to donate the webspace.

Let's not overplan the planning, though. It's worked really well in the past to just keep it openly collaborative. If something gets mentioned that trips a synapse for you, run with it, rather than sticking to an "area". I've gotten some of my best finds when I was just noodling around trying to pin down something that looked familiar, that I wouldn't have been able to explain to anyone else well enough for them to know where to look, or what to look for.

I agree -- with all the creative synapse firing around here, I think the freeform approach will be a thing of beauty. It certainly has been so far! I mean, with bare snippets of commercials, look how much we've figured out already!

Okay, this is SO going to Whimsy.

Miss Alli, I’m looking forward to building the TAR5 timeline wherever it will be. Words are not my bag and I wanted to understand the basis for going to “whimsy” so I found that its first definition is: capricious humor or disposition; extravagant, fanciful, or excessively playful expression. The part that applies here is “extravagant” which has as its first definition: Spending much more than is necessary or wise; wasteful. With that in mind I clearly understand why the timeline is here and I agree with the change. However, what makes me unhappy about it are the other associations of the word as well as the topic’s general description. Since the timeline thread is extravagant in a factual way I am hoping that you may consider a new forum for the thread such as “geeky extravagant stuff”. Just begging.

ETA: I've been looking around Whimsy for a while and I think this will be okay afterall. I also have gotten out and looked around more of TWoP and I see that my request is over-the-top because it looks like most shows only have four forums. Now if I could just get over this lonely feeling... Can't wait until July 6th.

Here it is, July 6th already (and at last). I have access to airline schedules (current ones, not past ones) at work. Would it be helpful for me to post a selection of flights and times tomorrow? If we have an idea of what the approximate date was when the Race started, I can at least post what the flights would be at the same date/same day of the week for the coming year, which might be helpful (but not 100% accurate, in the case of cancelled or discontinued flights). I mention day of the week because some international flights are not daily.

Of course, if we do manage to come up with old OAG guides for the correct time period, it's a moot point. And if there's any interest in coming up with an approximate fare (ie. full coach) per leg, let me know. International rates don't change that much from year to year - maybe 5% increase as a maximum.

I'm still working on getting old OAG guides, but my source is a bit flaky -- well, okay, seriously flaky. I'll renew the nagging today!

Based on things in the spoiler thread that look rock-solid (like filming permits,)
the Race started on Friday, January 30th



{Thanks for your patience.}

Okay, that gives me a starting point. I'm unspoiled for intermediate destinations between start point and end point, so what I'm looking at doesn't make a lot of sense (aside for the Cool Kids like mmmPhil and so on that have to stay ahead of the Racers).

I'll just say that there aren't a lot of choices for Flight of the Doomed right now. So let's hear it for intermediate stopovers!

Here's the starting basics:

Flights:

American LAX to Miami to Buenos Aires(?) Arrive EZE 1:00 pm Saturday
United LAX to Miami to Buenos Aires (?) Arrive 12:35 PM Saturday
Roughly 20-24 hours in transit
The United Flight left LAX later and had a shorter stopover in Miami.

$93.17 I think cash for leg

The Hand, Ferry to Isla Gallito, Trees on Day Two

Overnight stay at Isla Gallito (Tents)

Meat, Zips/Chips Detour both on day three of the Race (Sunday)


Let's rock and roll!

Didn't the planes land in Montevideo, Uruguay?

I just re-watched my tape and it was $97.23 for the first leg.

teams depart from the Santa Monica Pier
take one of two flights from LAX via Miami to Montevideo, Uruguay.
First flight American Airlines, departs first, arrives at 1:00 p.m. the next day in Montevideo
Second flight on United Airlines, departs at some point after 2:37pm, arrives at 12:35pm the next day in Montevideo.
Teams directed to take bus to the beachfront in Montevideo to find “The Hand,” a statute of a partially buried hand in the sand.
At statute, teams travel to Gorriti Island by ferry. At Gorriti Island, teams have to find tickets for one of three ferries the next morning, one-half hour apart, at 8:00 a.m., at 8:30 a.m., and at 9:00 a.m. and directed to the docks of Punta Del Este. The teams spend night in tents on the island.
At the docks, teams are directed to take taxis to a meat market in Mondonaldo. Each team must carry a 55-pound side of beef one-half mile to butcher shop.
The Yield is along the path to the butcher shop but no team elects to use the Yield. At the butcher shop, the teams are directed to take a taxi to a route marker across from the Blue and White Hotel in Punta del Este.
This is the detour
“Zip” -- team members have to ride from the roof of one wing of the hotel to the other wing, and then take a second zip line into the hotel swimming pool. Alison and Donny Linda and Karen, Bob and Joyce, Colin and Christie, Brandon and Nicole, Dennis and Erika, and Jim and Marsha
“Chips,” teams are given 20 gambling chips to play at a roulette wheel in the hotel casino and have to win a bet at the table. Kami and Kari, Marshall and Lance, Chip and Kim, and Charla and Marna
After completing the detour, teams were directed to the first pit stop at Casa Pueblo in Punta Ballena (near Piriapolis, Uruguay. Two teams. Chip and Kim, Kami and Kari, were directed to go back to the detour route marker they missed.
Alison and Donny were first, followed by Marshall and Lance, Linda and Karen, Bob and Joyce, Charla and Marna, Brandon and Nicole, Colin and Christie, Chip and Kim, Kami and Kari, and Jim and Marsha. Dennis and Erika were the last team to arrive, and were eliminated.

Episode 1 (part 1)
Phil opens the episode aboard the yacht Artana. Teams arrive at the Santa Monica Pier aboard Life Guard Transport vehicles.

Phil says "The world is waiting for you. Good Luck. Travel safe." <arches a brow>, and "Go!"
Teams leave from Santa Monica pier. Jim, Colin, and Dennis all trip.
First four teams out leave together: Colin/Christie, Kami/Karli, Lance/Marshall, and Dennis/Erika.
Last team to leave the pier was Bob/Joyce. Mirna/Charla got lost.

Clues direct them to drive to Los Angeles International Airport and take one of two flights (times for flights routed through Miami are about 19 hours) to Montevideo, Uruguay:
AA flight 248 departing at 1:50, via Miami; arriving at 1 p.m. next day (Saturday)
UA flt 288, departing at from gate 75B at 2:40, via Miami, arriving at 12:25 p.m. next day (Saturday)

Colin/Christy arrive first at the American Airlines ticket counter, but fail to find the flag. Lance/Marshall join them. Dennis/Erika arrive at the correct counter first.
Jim/Marsha take an unsanctioned Detour to the Centinela Hospital, compliments of Vincent, the Thrity shuttle driver. And make their flight.

Teams arrive in Uruguay. Here's a map of the country.
On the first departing flight (AA): Colin/Christie, Lance/Marshall, Dennis/Erika, Chip/Kim
On the second departing flight (UA): Kami/Karli, Donny/Allison, Joyce/Bob, Linda/Karen, Charla/Mirna, Brandon/Nicole, Jim/Marsha
UA flight 288 arrives in Montevideo at 12:35 p.m., they all catch a bus to Punta del Este which departs "in 10 minutes"
AA flight 248 arrives at 1:00 p.m.. They catch a bus which leaves at 1:40 p.m.

Clues direct teams to find the cluebox at the "hand in the sand" at Punta del Este. Here are photos of that site, and of the harbor area. And here is a map of the area.

They are directed to take a ferry to Isla Gorrita and find the cluebox at the end of the pier. Some teams go by taxi, some walk. They take ferries: 1st ferry: Joyce/Bob, Donny/Allison, Kami/Karli. 2nd ferry: Jim/Marsha, Charla/Mirna; 3rd ferry (those who walked): Brandon/Nicole, Linda/Karen; Last ferry: Colin/Christie, Lance/Marshall, Dennis/Erika, Chip/Kim.

The next clue directs them to search the nearly 100 marked trees on the island for return ferry tickets for the next morning, leaving at three different times. They must keep the first ticket they take. Tickets are taken:
8:00 -- Donny/Allison, Linda/Karen, Bob/Joyce
8:30 -- Kami/Karli. Charla/Mirna, Jim/Marsha
9:00 -- Brandon/Nicole, Colin/Christie, Lance/Marshall, Dennis/Erika, Chip/Kim

The next clue instructs them to go to the town of Maldonado, to the Jose Francisco Meat Warehouse, get a 55 pound side of beef and carry it to the La Rosada Carneceria, a half-mile away. (this website has a good description of the city of Maldonado on the entry for day 8).

The butcher will give them their next clue when they deliver the beef. Teams arrive at the carneceria: 1) Donny/Allison, 2) Linda/Karen, 3) Joyce/Bob, 4) Charla/Mirna, 5) Kami/Karli, 6) Jim/Marsha, 7) Colin/Christy, 8) Brandon/Nicole, 9) Dennis/Erika, 10) Lance/Marshall, 11) Chip/Kim.
<<continued in next post>>

Thanks for the catch Maddie!

Episode 1 (part 2)
<<continued from above>>
The clue directs them to a cluebox across the street from the blue and white hotel (The Conrad Hilton) in Punta del Este, at Parado 4.

The cluebox holds a
DETOUR: Zips or Chips
Zips: make their way to the 17th floor, pull themselves across a horozontal zip line, 210 feet above the ground. Then, plummet down a second zip line, 18 floors down, landing in the pool. Teams chosing this option: Karen/Linda, Donny/Allison, Joyce/Bob, Brandon/Nicole, Colin/Christie, Jim/Marsha, Dennis/Erika

Chips: Go into the casino, and get 20 chips to play roulette. They can bet the chips (5 at a time), and if their number hits, they'll get their next clue. If they run out of chips, and don't win, they'll have to then go do Zips. Teams chosing this option: Chip/Kim, Charla/Mirna, Lance/Marshall, Kami/Karli

Teams arrive at the cluebox in the following order: 1) Karen/Linda, 2) Donny/Allison (having missed the box when they arrived first), 3) Joyce/Bob, 4) Kami/Karli (who missed the box), 5) Chip/Kim (and missed the box), 6) Lance/Marshall, 7) Brandon/Nicole, 8) Jim/Marsha, 9) Charla/Mirna, 10) Colin/Christie, 11) Dennis/Erika.

Teams must travel 10 miles by taxi to the town of Punta Ballena, and find Casa Pueblo or here, in Punta Ballena, the pit stop for this leg.

They arrive at the pit stop: Chip/Kim & Kami/Karli arrive first and second, but are sent back because they missed a routemarker. Arrival order is: 1) Donny/Allison, 2) Lance/Marshall 3) Karen/Linda, 4) Joyce/Bob, 5) Charla/Mirna, 6) Brandon/Nicole, 7) Colin/Christie, 8) Chip/Kim, 9) Kami/Karli, 10) Jim/Marsha, and 11) Dennis/Erika, who are eliminated.

Any thoughts on an expense report? In general for all? Although we could go specific for a team that goes a different route or uses other resources?

Great job as usual, Enrico. The only thing I can see that you missed is Bob and Joyce on the 8;00 a.m. ferry from Gorriti Island back to the mainland.

You are so thorough. I love it.

That's what I thought at first.

I now notice that in one of the videos on the web site, Linda and Karen tell a story about changing money in Buenos Aires, only realizing they had gotten fleeced once they checked on the plane. This seems to indicate there was a stopover in Buenos Aires that the show didn't mention otherwise.

I briefly asked myself if that story couldn't have come from an interview after a later leg, but the distinctive railing behind them in the interview looks like it belongs to Casa Pueblo.

Since we really don't have any hard info on the flight, perhaps they flew into Montevideo through Buenos Aires. Maps for South America don't seem to be easy to find for me .... but from other people's websites (who may or may not be wrong), it's 140 miles from Buenos Aires to Montevideo. From Montevideo to Punta del Este is listed as being 80 miles. Phil's voiceover said 75 miles. I have to believe it was from the Montevideo airport.

This website has an interesting personal story about his trip to Montevideo, and mentions the bus from the airport to Punta del Este. What I found most interesting was that he said he stayed for four days and three nights, and spent a grand total of $80, including his hotel. What a bargain. Frommer's says the bus trip to Punta del Este from the airport is $15 roundtrip.

This hotel's webpage says 81 miles from Montevideo. Also has a good photo showing the hotel, which is at Parada 11 (the Conrad Hilton was at Parada 4) - you can see the street out front of this hotel real well. For an idea of some of what they were facing with "across the street."

Miss Natalia Rodriguez Lassiy is this week's Greeter, and she is Miss Uruguay 2003. The last photo at the bottom right looks exactly like her.

http://www.santabanta.com/contestants.asp?...icid=676&down=1

The Hand's official name is Los Dedos, and it is on Playa Brava, the side of the peninsula facing the Atlantic. Translated, it's Fierce Beach, no wonder the drowning.

The trip to Isla Gorriti takes place from the Yacht Harbour, facing North on the western side of the peninsula. From Playa Brava to the Boarding Point is about 1.4km/0.87miles as the crow flies. Not very wise to walk. The route goes through half the city and the busiest hotel areas.

My trusty Lonely Planet says that the bus trip to Punta del Este, one-way, is US$6.00. A boat trip to Isla Gorriti costs US$5.75 for adults. With all that added together for two people, that makes US$35.00. That's A LOT of money spent already, with a third of the money gone.

Casa Pueblo charges US$5.00 a person. I'm not sure if the teams had to pay that money. Interesting fact: It wasn't built with any right angles, and thus it looks like Play-Dough.

Total taxi distance calculated was 1.4km (Los Dedos to Yacht Habour) + 10km (Yacht Harbour to Maldonado) + 8km (Maldonado to Conrad Hilton) + 10km (Conrad Hilton to Casa Pueblo). This would mean anywhere from 28km/17.4miles to 49km/30.4miles. The teams taking the bus would have got a cheaper fare.

Has anyone seen any rules or such on what the racers pay for at the pitstops? Are meals and accomodations there paid for by the producers, in the same way the airline tickets are paid for?

Racers have no expenses in the pitstops as far as meals and sleeping accomodations. They're supposed to bring personal items with them.

I also noticed in replaying the episode last night that someone mentions that the United flight was scheduled to depart the LAX gate at 2:40pm, and since we're shown Jim and Marsha making it to the gate at 2:37pm, it seems that the flight wasn't held; they just cut it real, real close.

I've got some "where" info here:

Los Dedos is a statue by Mario Irarrazábal of Chile and can be seen in this photo and as just a spot in this one. It is the bit of lumps to the left of that building on the beach. You can also see the bus station with its modern triangular roof that was so luckily located near Los Dedos. Close ups of Los Dedos were posted as links back in the spoiler days here. This sculpture appears on the show too as teams run from bus station to Los Dedos. The second aerial photo shows how the location of Los Dedos fits in with the Puerto where teams took boats to and from the Isla Gorriti. And this aerial photo shows the Conrad Hotel and Los Dedos in the lower left. BTW the dock on Gorriti is called Puerto Cañon. This is a detailed map of Punta del Esta lacking a scale but from a big map of Uruguay I would guess that the distance from Punta del Esta to Maldonado is 4 miles. When the race was in Maldonado we saw the San Fernando Cathedral. So you can use that 4 miles as a scale since Maldonado is in the detailed map too. With that scale in mind I estimate the street distance from Los Dedos to the Puerto is about 1.5 miles. I just noticed from the map that the bus station is also the train station.

The pit stop at Punta Bellena is just of the left edge of the map. This link is another map (see the one at the bottom of the page) that shows the relation of the pit stop to the Conrad. The Conrad would be located just inland of where the name La Pastora appears in the detailed map. Using the map with Punta Bellena I estimate that the street distance from the Conrad to the Casa Pueblo is about 9 miles. This photo shows the pit stop from above and Punta del Esta in the background. (Here is where the mat was, and this is the view of the ocean. Possibly the nicest pit stop I can remember.

TAR Neobie, I think our distance results are consistent considering my estimates.

ETA: map corrections and

theschnauzers,



Wow, was that ever a miricle. From the camera angle (as they gave their boarding passes) I would say that the camera crew was already officially on board. They may even have helped (for once) Jim and Marsha by stringing out and moving slow until J&M got there.

I need to watch again because I thought J&M zipped from the terminal lobby to the gate awfully fast given security, how far the gates are in the United terminals at LAX (not really far, but not close either), and Jim's knee.

BTW, United has terminals 6 and 7 (6 is international and 7 is domestic, but you can get to the gates for both from either terminal) and American is terminal 4. For those who aren't familiar with the airport, the terminals are set up on a U and buses drive around starting at terminal 1 and ending at terminal 7 - so teams that went directly to United went past the American terminal.

Here is a new problem to sort out. When the teams slept on Isla Goritti the cameras showed us the moon. It was somewhere between a quarter (i.e. one half of the disc) and full. I’d say about halfway between the two. According to weather underground here is the moon, in Montevideo, on Saturday 1/31/04 and here it is on Sunday 2/1/04 (Scroll down to the bottom to see the moon phases.) From these two moon images I think the Goritti shot matches the 2/1/04 moon. But...didn’t they land in Montevideo on Saturday 1/31/04. Because they took off Friday at about 2:00 pm and the flights are 14 to 20 hours long, plus 4 hours for the time zone change, makes an approximate landing of 8:00 am to 2:00 pm on Saturday. Color me confused or have we already lost a day somewhere!!

ETA Thanks theschnauzers, I see your point. I was/am too sleepy to review it now but I suspect that your right.

I can't remember who had found it originally, but the filming permit for the start at Santa Monica pier was uncovered in the pre-season, and appears to confirm Friday, January 30th as the start date. All of the teams took about 24 hours to fly to Montevideo, which means they all arrived in Uruguay on Saturday, January 31st. The teams all spent the night of the 31st- early morning of Sunday, February 1st on Isla Goritti, and reached the pitstop sometime that afternoon. As to the shot of the moon phases, we don't know what time of day exactly that shot was filmed (could have been anytime after it was totally dark until twilight before dawn. But it is consistent with the timing of the SMP filming permit. Paris In Spring, I would look at the moonrise/moonset times given on both days. It's a little confusing, but it looks like to me the time of moonset is given for the moonrise of the previous day (1/30 and 1/31 -- hence the date in parenthesis on the table) and not the moonrise of that current day on the two tables you linked (1/31 and 2/1). My guess is that the illustration on 2/1 is for the moonset of that calendar day (2/1) which rose on the afternoon of the previous day (1/31) and thus, if you are right about what is seen on camera, it fits the overnight stay on 1/31 to 2/1 without any inconsistency. In other words, we haven't already lost a day.

Either that, or it's stock footage.

Found some maps that show the town a lot better. These are great pages, lots of nice photos, but is in Spanish.

This page, has a good maps showing all three cities in relation to one another - Punta del Este, Maldonado, and Punta Ballena.

You can zoom in on specific localities, though.
On this map, you can see the Conrad, on the left side, near the top. The bus station is on the right side, middle.

This map, just south of the above, shows the harbor.

Here's Casa Pueblo, in Punta Ballena. I have to add this fabulous aerial photo of Casa Pueblo, since it really shows their route well. Double click on the two small photos in the bottom right to get large images. Stunning!

It doesn't seem to have any Maldonado detail maps ...

OMG Enrico, where do find such cool stuff. You must have secret google powers. I really like the detail that shows in that map. And the site seems to have a ton of useful info. Pero, Yo necesito saber mas Espanol para entender.
theschnauzers, I'm still looking into the moon phase question. It could still be Feb 1st's moon. I'm hoping someone who is better than me at lunar looking can say when that moon was shot. Part of my drive in checking this out carefully comes from the Linda and Karen video where they talk about being cheated in Buenos Aires at some coffee shop. Was that at EZE during a layover or was it in town? And, wouldn't TPTB pull a big old timeout to make sure Jim's injury was stabilized?

Si, pero comprendo un poco. Muy poco.

Actually my reading comprehension is probably better than my verbal. I'd probably be out on a curb somewhere yelling "Help-o yo need-o a taxi-o!"

I don't know how much you explored that website, but I found it amusing that the only "display in English" option I found was on the real estate pages. Gotta go after that American money. May have been others, but that was the only one I noticed. ; >

Here's a good website for maps: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/index.html

It will not give you detail right down to the level of cities and towns, but a good resource nonetheless.

Another good resource when we are dealing with chain hotels is to use the hotel website. They will always have a locality map and photos.

Conrad Punta del Este Resort & Casino website
Locality info with map and distances to nearby destinations

This map again shows the relative positions of Isla Gorriti, Maldonado, Punta Ballena and places in Punta del Este. The red dot is where the Hand is.

You know it's gonna be a close start the next leg, if almost all the teams came in between Chip & Kim's 'HOWever' scare and their second check-in. The Conrad is on the side of Punta del Este closest to Punta Ballena. Assuming that the taxi travels 80km/h, the trip would take only about 15min. Very very close.

Generally, I'd doubt that TPTB would schedual a 24 hr. break in between pit stops, even if someone's leg is about to fall off. However, Lance & Marshall's comment, something like thank God were getting off this hellhole, makes me think that they might have been there more than a night. In trying to determine if they lost a day on Gorriti Island, the weather might help.

When the American flight lands in Monte Video, there is a lot of water on the runway. Although it doesn't seem to be raining at the time, clearly it was earlier (or they encountered the Urguayan custom of runway washing). At the start of the meat carrying leg, there is some rain on the camera when Allison and Donny are suiting up but its sunny by the time Dennis is done (we get to see the sweat glistening in his hair; why did they have to go?)

I don't know how to figure out hour by hour weather reports for Punta del Este last Feb. but I bet someone here does.

I would conclude that if normal people said it, but these guys strike me as having a very low tolerance for a number of things.

But didn't Lance & Marshall follow up the "Thank God" comment by saying it was "the worst night's sleep I ever had." That would indicate one night to me.

Paris In Spring, in rewatching the episode, I'm now of the opinion that the shot of the moon (which was in vitually full phase) is indeed stock footage. There's nothing to even show that it was filmed in Uruguay, and certainly, not on either the 31st or the 1st.
nck, the Weather Underground site has that information:

Here are links to their pages for Montevideo (including the hourly reports) for January 31, 2004, and for February 1, 2004.
And although there missing hourly information for the 31st, the hourly weather reports for Buenos Aries was quite similar for both days; here's a link to the hourly weather reports for the 31st in Buenos Aires.

As to medical care, from what I recall from what Oswald and Danny said as to Danny's medical problem during TAR 2 filming, there is a doctor that travels with the production staff and provides medical attention as needed at the pit stops. Whether that would have been available at the overnight campout on the island, since it was planned that all the teams would be there, I don't know, but that is also a possibility.

In this case, I sure hope they either had the traveling doctor (and wouldn't that be a fun job?) or a local physician check on Jim's stitches and provide him with lots of clean bandaging and, hopefully, fairly waterproof covering for his knee. Because that big a gash is nothing to take lightly, even if you are a tough Army guy and can deal with pain. No TV show, not even TAR, is worth developing a vicious infection!

Thanks againSchnauzers, the weather information really nails it down that they were at Goritti the night of Saturday the 31st. But I wanted to check one thing about the moon shot. That is that if it were stock footage it would probably look like a moon in the northern hemisphere. They would not know that in South America the moon is upside down would they? Well, if it is stock footage then they got it right. It is shown upside down from what we see here un North America. That makes me suspect that it is borrowed footage from a few days later in the race because, you're right, it is just too full for a moon of 1/31/04.

I've taped over last week's episode, but I'm 99.9% sure that the moon images were stock footage or at least filmed in studio.

The giveaway was the thin, barely visible, wire by which the moon was suspended. It did look a bit off but that was probably because a TAR intern misheard the verbal instructions and accidentally hung the moon in the Paraguayan position. It's always better to write down the instructions rather than pass them on verbally...

At least that's my theory. And I'm sticking with it.

Any educated guesses out there as to the team's departure times in tonight's leg?

It would seem they arrived pretty closely together as others have posted. My guess is that everyone arrived within an hour or two of each other in late morning or early afternoon. If so, we could see some early bunching as everyone leaves in the middle of the night and has to wait for transportation or opening hours.

Departures:

A & D 12:45
M & L 12:54
B & J 1:05
M & C 1:08
B & N 1:13
C & C 1:27
C & K 1:28
K & K 1:29
J & M 1:39

Arrivals:

B & N 1st
M & C 2nd
J & M 3rd
L & K 4th
B & J 5th
C & C 6th
M & L 7th
C & K 8th
K & K 9th
A & D Eliminated (First to Worst)

You can see the rough driving route that they would take from Punta del Este and Montevideo and the route for the ferry here. The company that provides the ferry services, Buquebus, has their route schedule online (in Spanish) which shows the 4:30am departure from Colonia del Sacramento. (Click the link, then click "Salidas de Uruguay" for the departures from Uruguayan ports.)

For Buenos Aires, Recoleta cemetary is to the northwest of the obelisk, and the tango theater should be just a few blocks to the west of the obelisk, if it's the one I'm thinking of. For those that went to the wrong cemetary (Chacarita), it's directly west of the obelisk, and about 2 miles from Recoleta.

I've been to Buenos Aires and Colonia del Sacramento, and took the Busqebus ferry between them. It's interesting that there's a slow ferry (2h45 duration) and a fast ferry (1h duration) that they could have taken, but at 4:30am there wasn't an option. Later in the day that might have been a lot more interesting. This might be the last time they go somewhere I've been, so I might not be able to contribute much more.

ETA: clarification

These are the notes I took during the airing. I missed a couple of times and placements and I haven't had a chance yet to replay the tape:

Pit Stop Casa Pueblo in Uruguay
departure times: Alison and Donny 12:48 am, Marshall and Lance (), Karen and Linda 12:54 am, Bob and Joyce 1:05 am, Charla and Marni 1:08 am, Brandon and Nicole 1:13am, Colin and Christie 1:27am, Chip and Kim 1:28am, Kami and Karli 1:29 am, Jim and Marsha 1:39 am
teams have to drive 75 miles in car to Montevideo Shake Mesa Disco and find balls bouncing on the floor in disco (cash on leg not mentioned?)
Linda and Karen 1st at Disco Alison and Donny 2nd Marshall and Lance 3rd Brandon Nicole 4th Kami and Karli 5th ()6th ()7th Chip and Kim 8th Jim Marsha 9th Charla Marni 10th
teams have to drive 100 miles to Colonia del Sacramento ferry station to take ferry to Argentina
all teams arrive at ferry between 3:30am and 4:30 am – ferry at 4:30am, and Charla-Marni just make ferry.
Teams are directed to find grave of Eva Peron.
Colin has someone write cemetery name down
Recoleta Cemetery arrivals Charla and Marni 1st, Linda Joyce 2nd, Marshall Lance 3rd Brandon Nicole () Alison Donny () Kami Karli 6th,

detour: perro (dog walking of 8 dogs for one mile getting clues) Linda Karen (switch), Alison Donny (switch), Kami Karli, Bob and Joyce,

tango - tango dancing with picture of right man to get clue Marni Charla, Marshall Lance, Brandon Nicole, Colin Christie, Jim Marsha, Chip Kim

complete detour Marni Charla 1st Brandon-Nicole 2nd, Marshall Lance 3rd Alison Donny 4th Jim Marsha 5th Colin Christie 6th Linda Karen 7th Kami Karli 8th Chip Kim 9th , Bob Joyce 10th
Alison Donny Kami Karli, Chip and Kim take bus other teams take taxi

bus or taxi 70 miles to La Invernada traditional farm
roadblock ribbon roping and grab a bandana do roadblock Marni Brandon Marsha Karen Colin Chip Kami Donny Bob Marshall

leave roadblock Brandon Nicole 1st Chara Marni 2nd Jim Marsha 3rd Linda Karen 4th Colin Christie 5th? Bob and Joyce 6th? Marshall Lance 7th Chip and Kim 8th Kami and Karli 9th Alison and Donny 10th

horse drawn carriage 2 miles to to pit stop San ANtonio de Areco.

Brandon-Nicole 1st, Charla Mirna 2nd, Jim Marsha 3rd, Linda Karen 4th Colin Christie 5th? Bob and Joyce 6th? Marshall Lance 7th Chip and Kim 8th Kami and Karli 9th Alison and Donny elimimated

Shake, the disco in Montevideo, is located here.

That literally wore me out, so I'll stop there and leave the rest to Enrico et al.

That map link stopped working for me somehow. If it doesn't find the location and show the map for you, copy the link from your browser and paste into a new browser. Grumble.

dzo, that's great work! I like the map you found (worked fine for me) and the club's website. I hope you can find more. As you noted, it's a bit of work but quite satisfying. Now we gotta find that ranch outside Buenos Aires and check the sanity of teams taking buses. And $50 for the taxi. A bit much. Money is an issue--as long as you're not at the back.