Survivor Caramoan?

I have made predictions about where Survivor would film, accurately, for several seasons in a row. It looks like I did get this one wrong. I predicted that the American Survivor would film here. Survivor 23 will be called "Survivor South Pacific". With such a generic title, it could be filmed just about anywhere. The Israeli Survivor is likely to be filmed in the Caramoan Islands this summer.

Survivor is a television show that has several different international versions. This summer, one of the international versions of Survivor, probably the Israeli version, will probably film a season of Survivor in the Caramoan Islands, located in the Philippines. It looked like CBS would be filming their American version here, based on one report, but they are filming in the South Pacific instead (somewhere). The Caramoan Islands would make a beautiful location to film the American version of Survivor though.

Not the First Season of Survivor Filmed Here

Survivor has been filmed in Caramoan before. Israel has filmed their version of Survivor here in two previous seasons. The Bulgarian, Swedish, and French versions of the game have also filmed here before. The sandy beaches, coconuts, and wild surroundings are part of the attraction that the Survivor franchise has with the island.

Natural Features

Caramoan has a lot of natural beauty; in fact, it is the location of one of the Philippines' national parks. The location has many small lakes, underwater caves, and small beaches that are accessible via kayak (perhaps the contestants will end up paddling to some of their challenges). There are also limestone cliffs that are excellent for rock climbing. Film crews that go to the Caramoan Islands have plenty of beautiful beach views to film, and have plenty of beautiful places to take the cast members as rewards.

Some of the animals that inhabit the region include monkeys, birds, rodents, and iguanas. Bats live in many of the caves, and in one cave on the island, Umang Cave, millions of bats live over a hill of petrified guano. Wild boars also live in the area; if the tribes get lucky, perhaps someone will catch one for dinner.

Native People

The native people that live in Caramoan are the Bicol people. They like to eat foods with spicy peppers, coconuts, and other vegetables. When Survivor is filmed in the Caramoan Islands, they might decide not to have a nasty food challenge, but if they do, more than likely it would involve eating very spicy food. Most of the Bicol people are Catholic, but some are still animists.

Seasons Filmed Here Have Promise

When Survivor crews choose to film at the Caramoan Islands, they can ensure that they will have a beautiful location to look at while the drama unfolds. Location is only part of what makes a Survivor season great, however. Picking out a great cast full of interesting people (whether crazy like Phillip or a villain like Russell Hantz), choosing interesting challenges, and throwing in some twists to keep the Survivor contestants on their toes will also go a long way to ensuring that any season of Survivor ends up being great.

Sources:

Camarines Government. "Official Web Site for Camarines Sur"

Escandor, Juan Jr. "'Survivor' Won't Desert Caramoan" Philippine Daily Inquirer, 27 January 2010.

Wikipedia. "Bicolano People"

Wikipedia. "Caramoan, Camarines Sur"