For the first time, reality TV survival show Alone was filmed in Africa, in South Africa’s Karoo.
“I’ve never been to any place that is so desolated, that is like a desert and so vast and beautiful,” season 12 contestant Baha Mahmutov told The Citizen.
The 50 year old, who was born in Kyrgyzstan when it was still part of the USSR, said this was his first time on the African continent and says that the vastness of the Karoo took him aback.
“One thing that was absolutely mesmerising is that vastness. The mix of the vastness and the silence of the country is so mesmerising, it’s so meditative. At one point I climbed up on a rock where I could see 360 degrees around me in such a far distance, all I could hear is a bit of wind in my ears, it’s so peaceful. The time just stopped,” he said.
Season 12 of Alone will air on the History Channel starting this Thursday.
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Karoo’s hot days and cold nights
Mahmutov moved to Canada in 1999 with his wife and has lived there ever since.
Canada is known for its freezing temperatures. However, Mahmutov was surprised by how drastically temperatures changed between night and day in the Karoo.
“Of course, it gets cold here in Canada but for some reason I believe it’s the expectation and preparedness for it that makes half of the challenge,” he said.
“So, being so hot during the day where you take the shirt off and you’re still hot and dropping at night to zero or below zero degrees sometimes, is very sudden and [a] huge change in temperature which presents a huge challenge for somebody who is trying to survive without comfort things.”
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Mahmutov’s ten items
Before the show started, Mahmutov shared the 10 items he brought, including a shovel, a bow, a block of Himalayan salt and soap. However, he said he wasn’t sufficiently prepared.
“Absolutely not, I did not prepare sufficiently with the 10 items. If I would’ve been allowed, I would’ve brought 15, 20 items with me,” he says chuckling.
“But 10 items was five items less than I would’ve wanted to bring with me. It was a huge struggle [to decide] what item to bring. One of the things that make it difficult is not knowing what’s waiting for me in the wilderness there, what skills should I rely on and what items should I choose regardless of my skills. It was a huge struggle,” he shares.
He says that, given the opportunity, he would choose different items than the ones he chose.
“I would’ve tried really hard to bring some fishing items because I didn’t bring any fishing line or fishing hooks with me, so I would’ve tried to bring some of that instead of other items.”
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City life vs the wilderness
Together with his family, Mahmutov has embraced life in the wilderness in Canada. Before adopting this life, they lived in the city for several years.
During that time, he took his dog camping in the wilderness for about a week, during which he noticed some of the differences between city life and wilderness life.
“Living in the city, we just go so crazy. We get stuck in the mentality of getting ahead; that constant work, earn, spend and it’s just…like a rat race, that you’re constantly in that circle you cannot get out of,” he says.
“I realised that if I don’t get out of the city, I’ll be stuck in that life forever. Moving out into the wilderness changed it all. I have so much time to just sit and reflect, enjoy nature, enjoy my time, think about myself, think about my life, think about everything…I no longer chase in that rat race.”
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