The History Channel kicks off Alone season 12 with an episode focusing on just five of the 10 survivalists: Pablo Arguelles, Kelsey Loper, Jit Patel, Will Lamb, and Katie Rydge. The new season, which premiered on June 12, 2025, takes place in South Africa’s Great Karoo Desert, an area known as the Cradle of Mankind. The desert stretches 153,000 square acres and takes up around one-third of South Africa.
By the end of season 12 episode one, one survivalist has snagged their first meat, while another makes a decision to tap out due to health reasons. The following recap, divided up by featured survivalists, is full of spoilers. Read on only if you’ve watched the episode.
Katie Rydge: Age 45, Emerald Beach, AUS
Day 1, Afternoon – Katie wonders what’s going on with everyone else. She sees a fish jump and throws in a line. She admits she hasn’t thought about where to sleep yet.
11:09pm – Katie reels in an orange river mudfish, prepares it, and cooks it up for dinner.
Day 2, 8:31am – She harvests a breakfast of acacia seeds to go with her fish soup. Katie believes she can keep catching fish and will supplement with plant food. She’s a mom of two, and her world revolves around running a school for nature philosophy. Katie’s been passionate about it for 20 years and has bow hunting, fishing, shelter construction, and trap-making skills. As an Aussie, she’s had experience in arid environments.
Winning would allow her to buy a house for her kids.
While plucking seeds, she smells urine in the wind. She spots warthogs, but they run away too quickly. Katie doesn’t want to follow them because they’ll never come back. She spots a well-used trail and knows they’ll be back.
Will Lamb: Age 31, Leakey, Texas
Day 1, 9:43am – Will swears he won’t experience drop shock, but time will tell. He reminds himself to play it cool and decides water is his priority. He’s an exotic trapper by trade and calls himself a “primitive enthusiast.” Will believes his skills hunting, ambushing, and making blinds will take him far. He left his wife and son at home to compete, with the goal of providing for his family.
Will immediately begins processing water to make it safe to drink. It’s 77 degrees as Will explains the water is horrible since animals use it as a restroom. The History Channel (THC) notes the survivalists need to watch out for cholera, salmonella, and E. coli. He sets up a tripod to hang his water bucket and reveals he’ll always have a pot of water boiling or cooling. As his water boils, Will heads off to set up a fishing line.
Day 2, 9:01am – Baboons watch his movements, and he imitates their holler. He decides to take his bow and try and convince them to leave the area. Will’s never interacted with baboons before but knows they are real problems. They have a reputation for messing up camps, so he decides to stay relatively close to his.
While checking out the baboons, he spots what could be two Cape buffalo as well as a herd of kudu. One big kudu bull is particularly close by but runs off. Will’s okay with that because it’s too big of an animal too early in the competition. However, he’s happy this seems to be a popular spot for wildlife.
Kelsey Loper: Age 35, Winnett, Montana
Day 1, 10:26am – Kelsey sets up camp on a little beach and then goes for a walkabout. She reminds herself to be careful of the rocky ground and confesses she can’t believe she’s on Alone. Hunting is her priority, and she spots baboon tracks, which could be a problem. She uses her camera that she named Karen to touch some baboon stool and confirms it’s dry.
Kelsey lives off-grid and has an outhouse for a bathroom. She claims her primary skills are hunting, fishing, and fire building. She’ll use the prize money to rescue more burros and Mustangs. Kelsey, who runs the non-profit Long Acres Rescue, wants to demonstrate that women are stronger than they believe.
Baboons screaming distract her, and she spots a bunch on a nearby ridge. THC points out that baboons have teeth longer than leopards, and Kelsey explains that baboons play dead to lure in prey that others can then attack. The baboons seem to be following her until she screams at them to go away.
Kelsey claims she’s not afraid of any animals other than baboons. When she returns to her camping spot, she’s happy the baboons haven’t paid her a visit. Her camp is under an acacia tree with thorns that should keep the baboons away.
Late Afternoon: She talks to Karen the camera about the moon, admitting it’s wild to sleep under the stars in South Africa. Kelsey grew up in Northern Wisconsin and doesn’t mind the cold.
Day 2, 10:32am – Kelsey’s happy she survived the night without a baboon attack. She does her morning pushups and then heads out for a walk. Kelsey brought a 50 lb. bow, which by the rules means she can only shoot medium and small game. She finds fresh scat and follows the trail. She’s almost at the top of the hill when she sees a waterbuck. Unfortunately, it requires a 60 lb. bow, so she can’t shoot it.
She hears something bark but has no idea what it is. Suddenly, she spots a warthog and reminds herself repeatedly to be patient since they can’t see well but have sharp tusks. Kelsey’s shaking as she takes her first shot.
She hits the warthog, but it’s not a kill shot. Kelsey apologizes as she finishes the job. It’s her first recurve kill ever because she normally uses a compound bow. She’s proud of the kill but concerned over the sun wrecking the meat. The warthog is very heavy, and she needs to get it to camp half a mile away as soon as possible.
Kelsey’s concerned about flies laying eggs on the meat and about it spoiling before she can maneuver the warthog to her camp. The only option is to gut and quarter it where it was shot. She’s determined to be respectful to the animal and not waste anything. THC informs us that Kelsey could get 55 pounds of meat from the warthog.
2:32pm – She manages to eventually get it back to camp and immediately starts working on a smoker. She found part of a bluebush tree and builds an open tripod smoker. She’ll use bluebush sticks as a rack, since they burn slowly.
Kelsey’s going to eat the warthog backstrap for dinner. But first she needs to keep the ants away from the meat. Kelsey decides to sleep next to her meat to protect it and will store it temporarily between two layers of her tarp.
5:07pm – The first bite of warthog confirms it’s a little overcooked, but Kelsey remembers she can use salt to improve the taste. Salt was one of her 10 items. THC reports that 50 grams of warthog contain 11 grams of protein. And it tastes sour and fishy.
Pablo Arguelles: Age 55, Jacksonville, Florida
Day 1, 11:14am – Pablo’s got a walking stick to poke for venomous snakes, since there are 20 types of deadly ones in the area. He finds cape buffalo scat as he reveals he’s originally from Cuba. Pablo can build different types of shelters and is proficient at hunting, trapping, and trapping.
He quit his job to participate in Alone and is proud to be the first Cuban competitor. Pablo points out the nasty water and knows he’ll have to be extremely careful. He makes a coyote well, which is a hole a few feet from the water that fills up and is filtered by the earth. Water begins to seep in, so he hopes it will work.
5:12pm – Pablo creates a temporary lean-to with his tarp, careful to use part as a floor to keep the scorpions away.
8:02pm – He’s kept awake by all the animal noises, as are multiple survivalists.
Day 2, 9:49am – Pablo heads to the water’s edge and discovers his coyote well has been swallowed up by the lake. The water is really contaminated, and he uses his bandana to help filter it while collecting some. It’s still hot when he takes his first sip.
Jit Patel: Age 35, Anakiwa, New Zealand
Day 1, 1:44pm – Jit’s happy with the spot he’s been dropped in since it’s close to water. One of his items is a water bottle, because he’s concerned about always having clean water. He spots a prickly pear, and a rock also catches his eye, but it turns out to be a huge baboon. THC reports baboons can run 30mph.
He’s spent hundreds of nights out in different conditions. Jit connected with nature as a teenager and believes in preparation, patience, and practice. Before going to university, he traveled to Asia and India. Ultimately, he settled down in Anakiwa, New Zealand, and works as an outdoor educator. Jit loves to push himself and will miss his partner, Madi, while he’s competing. “For me, Alone is that real opportunity to learn the things that I haven’t learned about me.”
He walks to what looks to be a prime fishing spot and uses a praying mantis for bait. THC reminds us participants can bring a total of 25 hooks. Jit confesses he will be thinking about clean water all the time and won’t touch a fish and then touch the bottle.
One of his hooks gets stuck in the water, but he’s able to retrieve it fairly easily. He opts for a prickly pear meal that will supply magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium. Jit’s careful not to eat the cactus’ barbed hairs and concentrates on scrubbing them off. He decides the prickly pear doesn’t taste that bad and will give him a boost.
Day 1, evening – Jit makes a quick shelter and won’t waste any energy on building anything better until he knows he can get more food for energy.
Day 3, 9:23am – His belly’s rumbling, so fish is top priority today. Jit scans the riverbank for crabs since 20 live in the area, not sure if they come on land. His stomach is giving him problems, and he’s forced to take a messy restroom break. Jit’s coastline exploring will have to wait because he’s not feeling well. He doesn’t know if it’s something he ate or that he’s not eating.
5:27pm – Jit experiences his first bout of vomiting and worries that he could be dehydrated. His stomach really hurts.
11:42pm – Jit wakes up with a cold head and an aching body. He knows he has to drink water, even though he doesn’t want to.
Day 4, 7:33am – It was a horrible night, and he soiled himself again. The stomach cramps continue, and he’s forced to tap out. He was told to trust his gut, and his partner told him to come back in one piece. Jit realizes he needs to do what’s best for his health. He’s disappointed to be leaving on day four.
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