This is Panama City, launching point for the exploration and conquest of Peru and a transit point for gold and silver headed back to Spain through the Isthmus. Founded in 1519, by Pedro Arias de Avila, also known as Pedrarias Davila, it is the eleventh Pet Stop in a race around the world.

In Panama City, each team gets a surprise: a “tape from home” to share with the rest of the teams.

Bella and Douglas get to see their owners.

Ibrahim and Omara watch a tape of “Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey” and Omara cries.

The bulls show off last year’s “Running of the Bulls,” and Monty and Holly watch their famous owners at the annual Trooping of the Color.

Will the team of Ibrahim and Omara be able to keep up with the more experienced teams of Bella and Douglas, and Monty and Holly? And will the Spanish team of Ernesto and Fermin be at a disadvantage, in the final stretches, because of their comparatively larger sizes?

The corgis Monty and Holly, who were the first to arrive in Panama, are the first to leave. They receive their clue:

Fly to Mexico City, Mexico, and look for “El Caballito.”

Teams must travel more than 1,400 miles to Mexico City, and find El Caballito. What the teams don’t realize is that El Caballito is a giant modern sculpture, in the shape of a yellow horse.

The teams run like mad through the Panama City airport, and all manage to get on the same flight to Mexico City. The cats sleep it off, but the burros and toros – I mean, the donkeys and bulls – are excited to be going to Mexico. The ever-restless Fermin patrols the aisles of the plane until he finds someone with flowers, which he sits down and sniffs. Is that what smart travelers do, Fermin?
 
Los gatos – I mean, the cats are the first out the door of the Mexico City airport, but their cab driver has trouble finding El Caballito, so the bulls arrive first. They find their clue:

Fly to Las Vegas, Nevada, and then on to the Grand Canyon.

Teams must now travel almost 3,000 miles to the entertainment capital of the world, the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Once there, they will have to take their Land Rover vehicles approximately 300 miles - to Grand Canyon National Park. There, they will receive their next clue.

The bulls rush back to the airport, passing the corgis, the donkeys, and the trailing cats, but wouldn’t you know, they all get on the same Las Vegas flight, with no production delays. This flight is much livelier. Fermin drinks a whole keg of Corona and gets sick to his stomachs, while a smarter Douglas knows to stick with just one pina colada.
 
The flight descends over a castle, a pyramid, a giant replica of the Eiffel Tower, and a Roman coliseum into the Las Vegas airport. Bella enjoys looking out and seeing the Bellagio fountains.

While the cats, bulls, and corgis find their Land Rovers right away, a tired Ibrahim and Omara can’t decide which way to look for their cars. They bray, run around, bray some more, until they finally spot their Land Rover – but they’re a half-hour behind the others.
 
The corgis are the first to arrive at the Grand Canyon, and they receive a Detour.

A Detour is a choice between two tasks, each with its own pros and cons.

In this Detour, teams must choose between "On the Trail", and "Geronimo!".

In “On the Trail,” teams make their way to the bottom of the Grand Canyon on paw, or hoof, down a marked pathway. It’s not scary, but it will take a long time.

In “Geronimo!,” teams must fly in one of these charter planes and skydive to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It’s scary, but it will get them to the bottom faster.
 
The corgis opt for “Geronimo!” and are followed by the bulls. Bella and Douglas hesitate for a bit, but the tired Bella would rather skydive and they follow the other two pairs into the sky.

Grand Canyon visitors are quite surprised to see dogs, bulls, and cats jumping out of planes!

Ibrahim and Omara arrive and, as so many other donkeys and mules before them have done, decide to walk down the path. As Ferde Grofe’s “On the Trail” from his “Grand Canyon Suite” plays on the soundtrack, the donkeys slowly but surely make their way down the trail.

Ibrahim has to stop for a rest, and he sees the cats plummeting from the plane. Not knowing their position, the donkeys persevere.
 
As Monty and Holly and friends untangle themselves from their parachutes, they receive their next clues:

Take a charter plane to Telluride, Colorado, and find Telluride Town Park, the Pet Stop for the night.

Teams must fly more than 300 miles to the town of Telluride, in southwestern Colorado. This historic mining village, nestled in a picturesque box canyon, and the home to the annual Telluride Film and Bluegrass Festivals, is the Pet Stop for this leg of the race. The last team to check in here, may be eliminated.

Ibrahim and Omara are still, slowly, making their way down the trail. The three planes take off, as Ibrahim, lost again, looks around.
 
It’s a mad scramble at the Telluride airport as Bella and Douglas catch a cab first and run to the Town Park, site of the famous Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The cats come running in first and are greeted by Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, the only Native American currently in Congress, with an Appaloosa.

“Welcome to Telluride! Bella and Douglas, you’re Team Number One. You’ve won a trip to the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival, which you can enjoy after the Race is over.

"Come on in, Ernesto and Fermin! You’re team Number Two.

The corgis are thrown off by the scent of English tea brewing, and momentarily get lost. But they soon find their way to Town Park.

"Monty and Holly, you little guys are team Number Three.”
 
And it came to pass on that day, that there went out a decree from Phil Kiwi, to the donkeys from the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. And Phil Kiwi said unto them, “Ibrahim and Omara, you’re the last team to arrive. I’m sorry that I don’t bring you tidings of great joy…instead, I’m sorry to tell you that you’ve been eliminated from the Amanxing Race.” And suddenly there was with the kiwi a multitude of their Amanxing Race friends, bidding them goodbye, and one saying, “Koko sad. Koko love little horses.”

WRITTEN BY BECKY BANFIELD
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS DAVE HUNTER & BELLA T. MANX
Inspired by The Amazing Race on CBS
Dedicated to Bella T. Manx

Special Midseason episode > | Racers react to Bella