The History Channel’s Alone season 12 episode three begins with eight participants attempting to live on their own in South Africa’s Great Karoo Desert and ends with just six. The action takes place from day three through day five, and focuses on Will, Kelsey, Pablo, and Douglas.
The following is a detailed recap of episode three, “Thirst Trap,” which means there are spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned!
Kelsey Loper: Age 35, Winnett, Montana
Day 3, 3:48pm – Kelsey lectures herself and the audience that we need to drink more water. She gets to work building a water cache and finds a frog. If she was hungry, she’d catch him for bait, but the warthog has supplied a lot of food. Kelsey doesn’t plan on shooting anything else until she only has two days worth of jerky left.
She’s been drinking a two-quart pot of water a day but knows that’s not enough. The four-quart cache will allow her to stop spending half an hour a day boiling water. She uses rocks and a piece of her tarp to build the cache. As she’s working, Kelsey explains that she is able to separate her life of saving animals as a vet tech with her life as a hunter.
Kelsey finds two waterbuck skeletons while walking near the river.
Day 4, 1:57pm – She starts work on her shelter using two bluebush trees as main beams with a tarp over them. Kelsey strips them down and sets up two tripods to lay them across. It’ll work, unless a giant storm sweeps through. (THC says the area normally gets just 10 inches of rain a year.) Setting up in the dry riverbedmeans she won’t have to worry about snakes and other creatures hiding under rocks. It’s a small tent, but Kelsey’s not worried since she doesn’t think she’ll be in there much. She’s aware the temperature is going to fall to the twenties, so she covers the floor with bedding material.
4:55pm – It’s getting colder as Kelsey sets out to look at white-fronted bee-eaters. She loves watching the birds and imitates Sir David Attenborough as she watches them tuck themselves into little holes on the side of a hill.
Douglas Meyer: Age 57, Kannapolis, NC
Day 4, 9:17am – Douglas hasn’t had time to go hunting or fishing because he’s been busy boiling water. He decides to make a drink container to store it. Dehydration is a real possibility in this environment, and he burns an agave root ball in half instead of wasting energy chopping it.
Only three survivalists, including Douglas, brought a canteen as one of their 10 items. As he works, Douglas reveals he had three father figures who taught him about life, and he wants to win Alone for them.
He finishes carving his container and it’s ready to hold his excess water.
Pablo Arguelles: Age 55, Jacksonville, Florida
Day 5, 7:57am – Pablo sets out to fish and says he loved fishing as a young boy in Cuba. By 8:42am, he still hasn’t caught anything. He gained 40 pounds for the competition, and now his energy is draining. It’s getting hot (it’s 77), so he takes a break and boils more water.
10:41am – He almost spills his pot when he tries to open the lid. It’s now 81 degrees and staying hydrated is a huge task.
11:26am – Pablo starts work on his permanent shelter. He’s going to make a dome and begins digging holes to stick the branches in. The heat’s taking a toll on his energy, and he feels as though he’s becoming dehydrated. He’s forced to take a break and rest.
1:37pm – Pablo confesses he’s running out of steam. He’s physically weak and is having negative thoughts.
3:37pm – It’s been a difficult day and he’s still feeling nauseous when he heads down to the lake. He’s always thirsty, and he warns viewers that this is harder than it looks. Pablo opts to tap out because he can’t stay hydrated. It’s a hard decision, but he feels he has no choice. Pablo’s disappointed he didn’t win the grand prize but isn’t willing to risk his health.
He has a new perspective on the sacrifices his parents made. Pablo vows not to take anything for granted and will appreciate what he has.
Will Lamb: Age 31, Leakey, Texas
Day 3, 3:41am – Will’s up early and ready to use a scorpion as bait. He shows off the UV light The History Channel provided, and the scorpion glows in the dark.
3:57am – Catfish are active at night so Will’s hopeful that he’ll catch a meal.
6:59am – He still hasn’t caught a fish and moves to a new spot. Will lands a decent-sized sharptooth catfish immediately after moving.
7:29am – While he’s preparing his catfish, Will admits he doesn’t like fish, crabs, or shrimp but knows he needs to power through it. He needs the protein.
8:11am – Will takes a bite of his freshly cooked catfish and although there are bones everywhere, he’s actually surprised it tastes so good. It’s the first catfish he’s ever eaten.
Day 4, 11:03am – Will chucks a rock at a bird and misses. He’s feeling pretty good, even though he hasn’t eaten much. He heads up the mountain and spots a waterbuck bull, cow, and young one. Will follows them while explaining he doesn’t want to be like his dad and hopes to do something great and leave a positive legacy for his son.
A gemsbok catches his attention but runs off before he can take a shot. Will realizes that there are herds of different animals nearby and that they’re alerting each other to his presence.
12:57pm – He returns to camp and regrets not killing a kudu when he had a chance on day two.
Day 5, 3:27pm – Will cooks up prickly pear, burning off the needles. It doesn’t taste good, but he needs more than acacia seeds. He’s caught one catfish thus far.
4:22pm – He calls the cactus and acacia seeds desert survival food. THC says the seeds taste like a mix of chocolate, coffee, and raisins. This is the first day since the catfish that he’s had anything substantial. After eating, he’ll put up his tarp and then figure out what’s next. Will’s a little worried about eating this much cactus, and THC warns that it can cause diarrhea, nausea, and bloating.
11:01pm – Will wakes up and vomits blood. He doesn’t know if it’s the cactus because it didn’t have enough time to go through him. Will lies back down, but it’s obvious he’s in pain.
The action shifts to the Alone home base where an announcement goes out that there’s a red button alert. (Every participant has an emergency rescue beacon for life-threatening situations.) The medical team heads over to Will’s camp and he’s in bad shape. He’s sweating but feels cold and apologizes for making them come out in the middle of the night. Will explains what he ate today and reveals his head hurts. He’s been experiencing cold chills, vomiting, and body aches. (The body aches came first.)
A stretcher is brought to his camp to take him out, and the medical team starts an IV. Will’s barely able to stay awake.
In a voiceover, Will says he’s tired of starting over and making bad choices. Alone was an important chapter in his life, and without the series, he never would have had the chance to visit Africa. He wants his son to grow up with more than he had and hopes that there are more triumphs than failures.
The episode ends with the news that Will was diagnosed with acute colitis and received four liters of IV fluids, antibiotics, and steroids before being released.
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