Survivor South Africa - the first casualties...

I never really got into the first Survivor S.A. - I think my expectations were way too high after being addicted to the original CBS show for too long.

After watching the Yanks do their thing for so long, sitting through an episode of the first season of Survivor S.A. was like trying to get out of quicksand... I can't really put my finger on it - whether it was the presenter, the audio quality (lack thereof...?), or the ridiculous background music - it all just killed it for me and I can't say that I expected much more from the second season of Survivor S.A.

So I was in for a pleasant surprise this evening when I sat (rather painlessly) through the entire first episode of the new season!

Big kudos has to go to the new presenter Nico Panagio (of Top Billing fame) - he just looks more the part, and it doesn't feel like he is trying too hard to be Jeff Probst :)

I mean Jeff Probst is one tough act to follow, but I think that Nico does a fine job of it.

Jeff Probst flashing his signature Survivor grin

Nico Panagio trying to out-suave Jeff Probst

As for the contestants, it's a mixed bag of local celebs all roughing it on a deserted island somewhere off Mozambique.

First to go (voluntarily) was supermodel Christina Storm - understandably she was missing her child, but as they say - she knew what she was in for so why did she bother getting involved?

Also, rather unlike the American series, there seemed to be little resistance to her early departure - in the past on Survivor (CBS), contestants were put through hell if they tried to wuss out of the game early.

Not so for Christina - she just had to shed a few tears and thats was it. Gone.

Next off (surprisingly) was Garth Collins, better known to some as "Granite" of Gladiator fame.

I felt a bit sad to see this hulk of a man limping around helplessly, after sustaining a leg injury during the opening stages of the game.

Not surprisingly though, his teammates figured that a semi-functional giant may be more of a liability than an asset.

Goodbye Garth.

Can't wait to see what next week holds in store!