TV: Amazing Race: All-Stars Ep 5

The key to this leg of the race was depending on the kindness of strangers. Charla and Mirna moved from last to first [as opposed to Romber who fell from first to last in the previous leg] by getting a local to give them directions around Maputo. They also were quick to find both men and women willing to pay to have their nails painted. Meanwhile, Joyce and Uchenna showed that nice guys can finish last and live to see another leg. I think they were saved by at least one non-elimination leg in the season where they ended up winning the race.

The teams were separated by as much as two or three hours at the start of the leg, but the first challenge and airline schedules caused a bunching situation as the teams raced to Africa.

It was good that the Amazing Race raised a tiny bit of awareness of a couple of problems being dealt with in Mozambique (and many other places around the world for that matter). The first is the high number of landmines buried during a civil war. It's encouraging to learn that trained rats could be used to sniff mines vs. using expensive anti-mine equipment. The second issue was the high rate of AIDS.

In lighter news, the Beauty Queens gained some karma points by taking time to paint the nails of a young girl who had no money. It may have helped them to a second place finish, but in general the task they chose was much easier and faster than filling large bags of charcoal. It helped Teri and Ian finish third.

It was also funny watching Phil avoid a hug from the coal laden Team Cha Cha Cha. That is probably the most we have ever seen him move in the history of this show. It would have been interesting to see how the Miners (David and Mary) would have done in that task.