Today's tree-mail reads:

Feeling lost and out of touch?
Or think you know so very much?
To make your tribe last til the end,
let words become your friend.
Reward challenge Tonight

Each tribe dons their matching tribal clothes, for some a skirt, others grab shorts, and for some a pareo dress, and each has a long wraparound cloth as well in their tribe's primary color; red for Ocono, blue for Nicarong.

The march to Challenge Beach is long but everyone seems too nervous to talk much. This is the first competition since splitting into the 2 tribes!

Ocono	& Nicarong
Duke it out in the first Reward Challenge
	Gia is waiting at challenge beach for everyone. In front of her is a pile of interesting items.
"I hear things have been a little tough at camp. How would you like a few things to spice it up? Tonight's winners will get a set of spices, cinnamon, salt, pepper, sugar, plus they will get fishhooks, a frying pan, and a fishing net. The biggest prize to take back with you though is a hand-pump water filter that will clear all those nasty little bacteria from the streamwater for you. And just so you don't get hungry and thirsty on the walk back, we've got a case of sodapop and some cookies. Oh yes, we heard the bugs might be a problem, so also included is some mosquito netting and a bottle of insect repellent. and finally, for more comfortable naps, we have sleeping bags. The only problem? You've got to beat the other tribe to get them...."
Everyone is given a book containing maps and geographical information as well as history and wildlife data on the islands of the Pacific then Gia continues... "You all had a nice long flight here from Honolulu, but I'll bet you didn't know that you are standing on a United States Commonwealth. This island only became its own district or state in 1977, and in 1978 it and 3 other districts became a commonwealth instead of the Trust Territory it had previously been. This island is the only one in its area with no outlying islets or atolls. It is the easternmost island in the entire Caroline Island chain. This island is in the central Pacific and is called the "Island of the Sleeping Lady" because of the unique profile is that of a woman laying on her back. She has 3 peaks of which Mt. Finkol is the tallest at over 2000 ft. tall. We are right now, just about halfway between Hawaii and Guam. You did just pass the international dateline on your trip here, so don't be surprised if you meet yourself coming here on the way back home. This island is know for its diving, the pristine coral reefs, the rainforests, and for a famous pirate's shipwreck found in the southern harbor."
Each member frantically tries to listen to Gia and skim the book at the same time. Gia continues... "The Japanese occupied it during the war, whalers and missionaries found it before and after the war, and even now its waters provide Chinese and Taiwanese fisherman with some of the world's largest tuna hauls. Mountains account for 70% of its total land area, so virtually all of the population (approximately 8,000) lives in five coastal villages. What is your challenge you may ask? Why to name the island and make as many 3 letter words as possible out of the letters in the island's name. No proper nouns, spelling counts, and a wrong guess for the island will subtract 3 words from your team's total!!!! You have 30 minutes. The timer starts now. Good luck!"
After Gia announces time is up, she calls the players up one by one to write their answers on paper. She then scores them and calls off each person's points, 5 for getting the island right,1 point for each word. The island is Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia. There are roughly 12 words possible for a maximum score for any one person of 17 points.
Lola scores 12 points, Wanda scores 9.	Laura scores zero points, Marissa scores 11.
Mandy scores 13 points, Roxie scores 10.	Inita scores 13 points, Trey scores 11.
Halfway through the challenge the score is Nicarong 35 points, Ocono 44 points.
Lyda Ruth scores 9 points, Cobra scores 10.	Moon scores 11 points, Meghan scores 13.
CJ scores zero points, Brooke scores zero.	Aggie scores 8 points, Pierre scores 8.
And the Final Score is! Nicarong 75 points, Ocono 63 points. Nicarong wins the reward!!!!
Nicarong celebrates and high-fives one another, and gleefully inspects their new supplies...
	Ocono is sent home in defeat