The Amazing Race All-Stars: Episode 5

Aspiring beauticians take heed: the women of Mozambique have very low standards when it comes to their manicures.

Teams remained in Ushuaia, Argentina, for the first task of this leg, searching the Martial Glacier for a clue. Ozzy & Danny had trouble figuring out how to use their avalanche beacon to locate a clue buried in the snow, and even finished behind Beauty Queens Dustin & Kandice, who originally ran straight to the glacier without picking up a beacon.

Luckily for Ozzy & Danny, their deficient search-and-rescue skills didn't hurt them. All of the teams ended up on the same flight to their next destination: Maputo, Mozambique.

For their first task in Africa, one member of each team completed a Roadblock involving rats. And we're not talking your typical New York subway-type rats. These rats were the size of cats and cuter than their American cousins, with cool names like Xena and Tupac.

In Mozambique, rats are trained to sniff out undetonated mines buried in the ground. Racers attached adorable little harnesses to their rats and guided them along a short course. When the rat began to dig, a man with a metal detector confirmed the presence of a mine (already disabled, of course) and dug up a buried clue.

The racers seemed to form attachments quickly to their rats. Ian was encouraging: "C'mon, Tupac, find me a mine!" And Ozzy promised to liberate his rat: "I'll set you free after, and take you to a nice lab, where they'll apply make-up to you."

Joe's rat, Nelson, found the clue first. It directed teams to look for a cluebox at Praca Dos Trabalhadores in Maputo.

Charla's rat was more interested in grooming himself than hunting for mines, and the cousins were the last team to leave the Roadblock. But they weren't out of the running, yet.

While most of the teams took a circuitous route back to Maputo, Charla & Mirna followed a road that led them straight to the heart of the city. They reached the cluebox in third place.

The clue was a Detour: Pamper or Porter. In Pamper, teams drove to a market and picked up a manicure kit. They needed to earn 30 Meticals (US$1) by convincing women to let them paint their nails.

In Porter, teams drove to a different market where they filled ten 45 lb. bags with coal and sewed the bags shut. Then they carried one bag to a nearby address to receive their next clue.

Most of the teams chose Porter, assuming that the more physically demanding task is usually the more straightforward. What they didn't know is that many women at the market were willing to pay at least 10 Meticals for a polish application, making Pamper the much faster of the two Detours.

Bill & Joe and Ozzy & Danny, the two teams most likely to discuss their own manicures, chose Porter -- and quickly regretted it. They worked under the hot sun, and filling the bags was hard, messy work.

The men's arms were covered in soot, and as they rubbed the sweat from their faces, Joe & Bill inadvertently gave themselves Hitler-style moustaches. His own face covered in soot, Danny asked Ozzy, "Do I look like Rambo?" Ozzy replied, "You look like a faggy raccoon."

At the other market, Charla & Mirna got right to work, even soliciting men for manicures. After a couple of men took them up on their offer, Mirna said, "I'm glad they have metrosexuals everywhere in the world."

After earning more than enough money, Charla & Mirna received a clue directing them to the Pit Stop at Fortaleza, the oldest building in Maputo. The cousins arrived in first place and won a trip to Aruba.

The Beauty Queens also (fittingly) chose to give manicures. Kandice gave a free manicure to a cute little girl who didn't have the money to pay. Their smart Detour choice got them to the Pit Stop in second place.

Uchenna & Joyce and Eric & Danielle decided to do Porter. Teri & Ian had intended to do the same, but their driver took them to the market featuring the Pamper Detour. Ian was skeptical about their chance of success and wanted to leave. But Teri convinced him to spend five minutes trying to drum up business.

It paid off, as they earned all the money they needed from just two manicures. Teri gave two of the sloppiest polish jobs I've ever seen -- almost worth the 50 cents they each cost. Thanks to their driver's error, Teri & Ian finished the leg in third place.

One by one, the teams from the Porter task filtered in to the Pit Stop. Ozzy & Danny finished in fourth place, checking in only after Oswald spent a few minutes chasing host Phil Keoghan, threatening him with sooty hugs.

They were followed by Joe & Bill, who beat Eric & Danielle in a footrace to the finish mat.

Uchenna & Joyce arrived last but were not eliminated. Instead, they were Marked for Elimination, meaning that they'll face a 30-minute penalty if they fail to finish the next leg in first place.

Next week, things look bleak for Uchenna & Joyce, as Uchenna struggles during a Roadblock. And Danielle threatens to quit racing after she and Eric are removed from a plane.