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Jungle Temple Ghosts

For the first part of the episode the team heads to Thailand to investigate giant spirits haunting a jungle temple. Dozens of people claim to see these entities and there is even some (typically blurry) footage of something moving around one of the local buildings.

As Josh looks into the matter he learns the spirits are being punished and that’s why they have to remain among the living. He’s also told they can be extremely dangerous and can even kill.

In usual fashion we start things off with a trip to the market where you can basically buy anything. The one thing they seem to be lacking is a medallion to keep Ryder from falling over all the time. Alas, this would have been handy as several minutes later we see Ryder take a pretty severe tumble on her motorcycle as they’re taking the back roads to the temple. It’s one hell of a spill, which of course they play in slow motion so you can get the full experience of the impact. Ryder needs some stitches but she carries on like a trooper and they set up camp at the temple.

The team sees some strange lights in the sky like lightning or fireworks off in the distance. There is also some sort of light anomaly at the temple entrance. It looks like someone with a flashing light but no one from the team is supposed to be in that area.

There are plenty of odd sounds coming from the jungle and at one point there appears to be something moving around. It’s only on the thermal for a second but when Josh gives chase he comes up empty handed.

The big experience for the night is Rex getting chocked. He feels like he’s got some hands wrapped around his neck and nearly falls over. Is he actually being choked by these ill tempered spirits or did he just swallow a massive bug?

Evidence was a little on the light side. There is the thermal hit, the odd lights which could have been anything and the small light at the entrance. But what about Rex? Did he get choked? Interesting stuff to be sure.

And what about the footage taken by the witness? Oddly, you would expect something so noticeable as spirits climbing a building to be seen by hundreds of witnesses. But the reports seem a little low. And strangely that figure moving looks an awful lot like a moth.

Namibian Night Stalker

For the second part Josh and the team out to Namibia to hunt down what sounds like El Chupacabra. It’s the Namibian Night Stalker that sinks it’s fangs into its victim then drains out all the blood.

They talk with many people who claim to have seen the creature and who’ve had animals attacked by it. They claim it rips the animal apart and then disappears without leaving traces. It all sounds quite gruesome.

As they head out into the bush they come across a dead giraffe. Oddly, it has marks on the neck and has been torn apart. There are also a couple of footprints they take pictures of for later analysis.

They set up base camp and head out among the goats to see what they can find. Once again there are plenty of animal sounds but no real evidence of the creature they’re looking for. Jael joins the hunt and she and Josh come across a village that looks to have been abandoned. It doesn’t look to have been attacked, the people just seem to have left. Perhaps they moved on to their summer home.

The team does come across a dead goat which looks to have met a pretty violent end. There’s not much to be done about it and there’s no animal tracks they can follow.

Plenty of things are moving in the bushes but all in all they don’t capture much. The evidence they do have is taken back and we find out that the giraffe was killed by lions. The other carcass is a little harder to determine. It may have been the same thing, perhaps it’s just rotting away in the desert.

Is there some blood sucking creature lurking in Namibia? Sort of looks more like the standard animals like lions and hyenas.

Again the best part of this show is them getting there. The markets are wildly entertaining and their little side trips make it all worthwhile.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
• Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
• Destination Truth – Sandstorm Spirits Cerro Azul – S04E11
• Destination Truth Spirits Of Angkor Wat/Canadian Lake Monster S04E02
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Cannibal Village and Kapre – S05E03
• Destination Truth – Haunted Island Ruins / Moroccan Succubus S04E07
• Destination Truth – Spirits of Tikal and Creature From the Black Lagoon – S05E05
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06
• Destination Truth – Jersey Devil/The Yeren S03E12
• Destination Truth – Haunted Mining Town/Taniwha S03E13

Sandstorm Sprits

For the start of this adventure we head off to Namibia to investigate an abandoned town which has all but been buried by the sands of time. It used to be a mining town where the conditions were harsh before it all went bust. As with any mining town there was plenty of danger and death. The claims are that workers are still there and you can see, hear and feel them.

Our adventure starts off in the market with Rex getting a new outfit has to be seen to be believed. Dare I say, that is a lot of pink! But not to be outdone, the team tries some of the local food fair with Allie showing some really poor taste by going in for seconds on the bugs.

Once they get to the area they do some aerial recon. Was there any sort of doubt there would be a problem with the plane? After all these seasons I’m surprised anyone actually gets into a plane with Josh.

After touching back down they head out by car on a long journey to the city. Bored with the car ride Ryder feels she is ready to take on the native animals in a foot race. Jael does nothing to bring her back to reality and soon Ryder is trying to match her speed against an ostrich. There are no points to be given for figuring out how that ends.

But the investigation’s the thing and soon they arrive at the town, by dune buggy no less. It’s been completely abandoned and the sand is piled up like a massive snow drift. There are clearly no people here and no electricity. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were plenty of animals around the place though.

Jael and Ryder start by putting the tri-field meter near the window and start to get activity on the lights. They hear some noise and Jael nearly soils her pants. She and Ryder come bolting out of the building to find absolutely nothing going on.

Now that they’re back together with Josh they do an EVP session and get some activity on the meter lights. Right at this point Ryder starts having problems breathing and says something is squeezing her chest. They head out before something bad happens.

Meanwhile, Rex finds a basement or crawl space while checking out the school so he goes down to see what’s going on. As he sits he hears footsteps right above him. When he starts to go back up the stairs he too soils himself when he supposedly sees something. Instead of staying calm and checking it out he basically throws himself down the stairs. He also gets a nosebleed which I’m sure has nothing to do with the dry air and all the dirt floating around.

The big fun is in the butchery where Jael swears something is whispering to her. She keeps swatting at her hair like something is trying to touch her. She gets pretty unnerved and wants to get out of there.

Honestly, this part of the episode bugged the hell out of me. They are going out to hunt the paranormal, but every time something happens they completely lose themselves and go running from what they came to find. Rex runs back down the stairs and Jael can’t wait to get away from the whispers. After four seasons you would think these people would be a little more tolerant of the strange and unusual. Stop flipping out when you find what you’re looking for!

Cerro Azul

The second adventure returns to Panama to investigate a bizarre, hairless animal that some local boys claim to have killed and took pictures of. They claim it came after them and they were defending themselves. Josh is on the trail to find out what it is.

In typical style they get a fancy ride in the form of the Magic School Bus. I think Josh needs to bring that back to the States or at least keep it around for other adventures. That bus was a beauty.

But on with the investigation as Josh hooks up with the kids who actually had the encounter. They claim it came after them and they were scared of it. They think plenty more are living in the jungle.

They go and see the Embra tribe who also believe other animals like that may be lurking in the jungle. It seems awfully convenient that Josh just happens to have a zip line in his bag. Apparently he has the bag of many things.

Out into the jungle they go to search for evidence. There are plenty of wild sounds and even a Pit Viper out for a midnight stroll.

Josh finds a cave so of course they head in. Something is living there since the fish are being eaten and the carcasses cast aside. And just then, something happens in the water and the whole team comes unglued. There is a slew of yelling and screaming and total panic. I’m just really surprised at the lack of composure going on here.

Then the perimeter alarm goes off, but it turns out to be nothing except a sloth roaming around in the trees. I’m surprised that little guy moved fast enough to set it off.

And that is the basic gist of the night. When they get the photograph of the dead animal back to Mike Dees he immediately comes up with the answer to the mystery. The creature shown in the photo is nothing more than a hairless sloth. If that is true and it certainly sounds like it is, those boys killed one of the slowest moving creatures on the planet. To hell with the idea that they were attacked and in danger. And quite frankly why did we go on this adventure to begin with?

But it does go to show that when we see something out of the ordinary we jump to conclusions rather than looking for the simplest explanation.

This was still a really fun episode from the travel aspect but I have never seen the team this jumpy. After all this time I wouldn’t expect them to have these kinds of jitters. I have to say, this one disappointed me a little.

Other Articles of Interest:

• Destination Truth – Jungle Temple Ghosts & Namibian Night Stalker – S04E12
• Destination Truth – Vietnam’s Bigfoot – S05E01
• Destination Truth – Live from Ireland – S04E09
• Destination Truth – Naree Pon/Aiya Napa – S04E13
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Cannibal Village and Kapre – S05E03
• Destination Truth – Vampire Monster and Island of the Damned – S05E06
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Masada/The Leprechaun S03E10
• Destination Truth – Haunted Mining Town/Taniwha S03E13
• Josh Gates and Erin Ryder on the Radio
• Destination Truth – Ghosts of Menengai Crater / Kalanoro S04E06