'Naked and Afraid' Recap: 'Andrea & Joe' Season 5 Episode 3, 'The Darkest Hour'

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For a new episode of Discovery's Naked and Afraid, Andrea Lopez and Joe Brandl bare it all to see if they have what it takes to survive in Namibia.

Andrea Lopez (Facebook) is 29-year-old female from Moab, Utah who has tough training and a ton of skills from her time spent in law enforcement. She (No Twitter) does not like to be naked and that could make things a little uncomfortable.

Andrea (No Instagram) is looking forward to the experience and wants to see if she has the ability to survive 21 days in the Naked and Afraid challenge.

Her skills include "hunting, fishing, camping, shelter construction, water purification, using a bow drill, cordage, weaving, snare construction, certified EMT and combat/tactical Survival," according to Discovery.

"Andrea was born and raised in the small, outdoorsy town of Moab, Utah.

Moab is home to several of Utah's most diverse National Parks and also hosts the LaSal National Forest and the mighty Colorado River.

With such a breathtaking beauty in her backyard, Andrea's love for the outdoors was more than just a hobby, it was a way of life," according to Discovery.

Joe Brandl is a 55-year-old male from Dubois Wyoming who is ready to take on the Naked and Afraid challenge.

Joe has his own survival page on Facebook and is ready to put his skills to the ultimate test in Namibia. His skills include "knots/lashings, shelters and adaptability," according to Discovery.

"Joe has spent most of his life learning and practicing the old woodcraft skills of both primitive people and through scouting. He says, "It was never really considered surviving way back then, just thriving with your environment," according to Discovery.

Andrea starts with a PSR of 6.6 and Joe starts with a PSR of 7.1. Andrea has been diagnosed with PTSD so she also wants to use this challenge as a healing experience. There shouldn't be any attraction between the two because Andrea is a lesbian.

She brought along a fire starter as revealed when digging through their bags. They will be in Zambezi swamp area and must survive the terrain and the mighty hippopotamus.

As they make their way trough the marsh and on to dry land, both Andrea and Joe seem to be getting along just fine.

Andrea starts a fire without a problem and both she and her partner are rolling through the challenge with high spirits. On the first night the team hears hippos lurking nearby and there was one right behind the shelter. By day two the team admits that the first night was brutal.

They decide that they will go hunting for grubs, minos, birds and other smaller animals. Andrea is grossed out by the idea and it takes a little while before she finally tastes a grub.

On the second night they decide to rub ash on their bodies to protect themselves against ants. At night the two have to use body heat to stay warm. The next day Andrea is very scared to come out as a lesbian because she isn't sure that with his background he would be so understanding.

During the day they weave clothes because Andrea does not feel comfortable being naked. She ends up coming out to Joe who tells her that it doesn't make a difference to him.

He says it doesn't make or break her as a partner or person. To make things lighter Joe jokes that his fiance would probably be excited to know that.

After opening up about her sexuality, Andrea opens up about her time in law enforcement and becomes emotional after tell Joe how she felt like a failure. She says that she learned by sharing her struggles she can give someone else hope. It makes Joe emotional as well and brings him to tears. It's brought them together emotionally and made the team stronger.

Joe ventures off to go into the water and find some snails, while Andrea tries to make a fish basket in week two. Joe found a bunch of snails for them to enjoy.

At night Joe realizes that they need water and the two set out to collect more drinking water. They encounter a hippo and have to make haste.

On day nine Andrea explains that she has not pooped in eight days. Joe catches a chameleon and they have another treat. Joe stumbles upon and egg and the team continues to beat the challenge. At night Joe wakes up because he is cold and finds that the shelter is on fire.

Joe and Andrea escape and watch their hard work go up in flames. The fire reminds Andrea of an emotional event in her life.

On day 15 they look around at what's left in the shelter. Andrea tells the story about a house on fire and running in with a partner to save a man.

They rebuild the shelter and Joe continues to hold a soft spot for Andrea and wants to protect her. They carry on but food is the bigger issue. Joe has to build a cage to catch a ground bird.

Both contestants are losing a lot of weight and Andrea has no fish in her basket.

Joe's trap is empty as well and they are both breaking down mentally but continuing to do the best they can. He decides to check his trap later on and realizes that he has caught a bird.

Andrea is stoked to see the bird and both are very emotional and thankful. They enjoy the meal at night and by extraction day they are ready to make the final journey together. They watch the sunrise then get to work assembling a raft. They will have to brave the big five of Africa's predators if they want to make it out unscathed.

There is a hippo lurking in the water but Andrea and Joe manage to escape. They reach a point where they must abandon the raft and do the rest of the trail on foot.

They come up to the river and just when they think they may have went the wrong way, they see a boat coming up.

Andrea and Joe complete the Naked and Afraid challenge. Andrea finishes with a PSR of 7.5 and Joe finishes with a PSR of 8.

In "The Darkest Hour" the contestants really had to overcome physical, emotional and mental challenges.

It's another great episode with a fiery twist. Fans can catch another all new "Naked and Afraid" next week on Sunday at 10 PM EST on Discovery.

Wanna read more on this? Check these out: 'Naked and Afraid' Season 7 Episode 2 Recap: A Shocking Evacuation (more); 'Naked and Afraid' Recap: 'Christina & Steve' Season 4 Episode 2 'Rumble In The Jungle' (more); Is Honora Bowen of 'Naked and Afraid' Outing The Show for Being Fixed and Contestants? (more); 'Naked and Afraid' Season 7 Episode 1 Recap: Eye of the Storm (more).

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