['The Amazing Race' - 'In Phil We Trust']

OK, teams ... who's ready for a geography quiz? Not just any old quiz, but one on African geography. Any takers? After all, you are on the continent. The very least we'd expect is that you have an inkling about where you might be.

No, don't try to turn this on us. We're not on the show. If we're totally ignorant regarding what country is where on the African continent, the world won't see our epic failure and mock us. For the price of a map, perhaps the kingdom will be lost.

Although the race never left Ghana tonight, we saw treasured glimpses into the culture and people, once again making this the best show ever for vicariously traveling to strange lands. Perhaps that's why 'The Amazing Race' has won so many Emmy Awards. It's not just a typical reality show: The local people take part in it and, unless there are the "Ugly American" team nastiness, it can only be a goodwill ambassador.

Once set loose from the Pit Stop with only about a half-hour between the first and last teams, it was off to a boxing academy. For some the trip was easier than for others. Bad cabbies abound no matter the country. Of course, New York City cabs don't have to deal with herds of yak crossing the road, but Ghana is a different world. Yet boxing seems pretty similar all over the map. In the boxing Roadblock, one team member had to first tape their hands to specification, then hit a speed bag and jump rope, both for 60 seconds.

Chad might have had a rather obnoxious first leg, but he's redeemed himself. Oh, well, that is until he tried to show off jumping the rope and had to start all over! Brook and Claire continued their Superwomen personas and blasted through the boxing. It wasn't the most challenging task ever, but it was interesting to see how the teams approached it.

Before each season, the teams need to repeat to themselves: "Read. The. Clue." They should greet each other in the morning with, "Read the clue." Yep, once again, not reading clues cost teams time. After the boxing the teams had specific directions to deliver supplies to a local primary school. How many in a pair? Apparently one according to many of the teams. They were instructed to take a pair of wheelbarrows with other supplies, but half the teams took only one wheelbarrow. Yikes! "Read the clue!"

The lack of paying attention ("Read the clue!") caused some of the teams to lose ground before they made it to the Detour. While I originally liked the Dumb Ones (Nick & Vicki), his reactions tonight were over the edge. He was the only racer to blame his teammate for making the supplies error. Boo, bad boy, boo -- bad style.

The geography lesson was embarrassing for many. The Princeton boys took their failure in their stride and laughed at themselves, as they may have been the worst of all at locating Ghana on the map. However, what they didn't do in the geography quiz was overshadowed by their success at the Detour -- a choice between "Bicycle Parts" or "Language Arts." The bicycle one, rolling a rim with a stick, looked incredibly tough in the heat. The language one was more cerebral, but easily solved if you read the clue and figured out that the huge decoder on the side of a building gave you all the symbols you need to solve what ended up being a word search puzzle.

The boys sailed through that one and seemed to make incredible time, coming in first at the Pit Stop. The other teams all struggled by not seeing the decoder and switched to the bicycle tire rim task, thus giving Nick the opportunity to blame Vicki a bit more, then catch himself and realize he was being a jerk when her asthma acted up.

There were two very touching moments in tonight's leg. The first had to do with the Ghanaian children. They touched the hearts of all of the teams and their simple games hearkened back to days gone by in our own fast lane technological world. The teams will return to the school after staying overnight at the Pit Stop and work on renovations. Good for the show! Even though simply going through a country helps support local economies, this is one step further.

The second touching moment was Kevin's support of his father as Michael struggled in the bicycle tire rim rolling. Medics had to be called as Michael all but collapsed. The bond between this father and son is amazing. Kevin is the youngest on the race while Michael is the oldest. Kevin encouraged Michael to go on, but he seemed so concerned and went every step of the way with him. If I had to pick a team I want to win (who probably won't), it would be those two. Thankfully, it was the rather standard third leg non-Philimination leg, so they're still in it.

'The Amazing Race' airs Sun., 8PM ET on CBS.