Casaya

Bayoneta (known informally as Older Women) was a tribe on Survivor: Panama.

Original

 * Melinda Hyder
 * Cirie Fields
 * Ruth-Marie Milliman
 * Tina Scheer

Post-Tribe Swap
In Day 4, the four teams that have been split by age and gender were integrated into two new teams. Casaya and La Mina were no longer the older tribes, rather they were used for new ones. These castaways comprised the second revision of Casaya.
 * Melinda Hyder
 * Cirie Fields
 * Danielle DiLorenzo
 * Shane Powers
 * Bobby Mason
 * Courtney Marit
 * Aras Baskauskas

With the tribes integrated with odd numbers (15, Tina was voted out beforehand), the only one not being called for a tribe will be sent to Exile island up until Tribal Council. Meaning that he would be ineligible to compete in the Immunity Challenge, immune from the vote and would join the team that would lose a member by the end of the next Tribal Council. Melinda was voted out in that Tribal Council, and was replaced immediately to even up Casaya and La Mina with seven members each.


 * Bruce Kanegai
 * Cirie Fields
 * Danielle DiLorenzo
 * Shane Powers
 * Bobby Mason
 * Courtney Marit
 * Aras Baskauskas

The Older Women
In spite having a tribe full of the older women (as Viveros member Bobby Mason called them the "Golden Girls"), Casaya's representative in the Reward Challenge Ruth-Marie landed her team in third place. In return, they received flint and with the stipulation that they would not have to send anyone to the dreaded Exile Island.

Casaya prospered early in terms of camp life. Under the leadership of Tina (a lumberjill by profession), the group managed to create a decent shelter and bonfire. Having never camped outdoors, Cirie reveals a embrassing concern, a "phobia on leaves." This gesture irked the tribe, particularly Tina, which targeted her as a weak link.

In the first Immunity Challenge, Casaya initially trailed together with Viveros, but with Casaya continued to stumble, Viveros bagged third place and were safe from the vote together with Bayoneta and La Mina. Tina wanted Cirie out for her weakness, and proved her worth as she caught one large fish (using her bare hands) to feed the hungry tribe. Melinda even admitted that "there's a gazillion reasons to keep Tina." But in their first Tribal Council, Tina harshly accused everyone of their poor work ethic, prompting Melinda and Ruth-Marie to question their allegiance to her. In the end, Tina's outspoken personality met her demise in a 3-1 vote.

The New Casaya


On Day four, the four tribes divided by age and gender were mixed up into two new ones. Viveros and Bayoneta were disbanded, spreading the fifteen remaining casaways into the new Casaya and La Mina tribes. In a schoolyard-style selection, the new Casaya were composed of two former Viveros (Aras and Bobby), two former Bayoneta (Danielle and Courtney), a lone former La Mina (Shane) and two of the three remaining "Older Women (Cirie and Melinda)." Bruce (still wearing his old orange La Mina buff) was sent to Exile Island and would be staying there up until the next Tribal Council to join the losing tribe to replace its lost member. In their first challenge (a reward), the new Casaya managed to close the gap with La Mina, but eventually lost. Exiled castaway Bruce tried to look for the Idol, but failed.

Back at Casaya beach, the remaining "Older Women" Melinda and Cirie wese on the outs, when Shane made an alliance with Aras, Danielle and Courtney. In the second Immunity Challenge, Casaya again failed to defeat La Mina, sending them to Tribal Council. Back in camp, newcomer Shane, still had a hard time adapting to the challenging environment, adding up to his nicotine withdrawal, contemplated quitting initially, but eventually reaffirmed allegiances with Aras, Danielle and Courtney. At Tribal Council, Melinda's fears solidified as she got voted out in a 5-2 vote, leaving Cirie as the lone "Older Woman" Casaya member. After the vote, Bruce (who watched the proceedings at Tribal council) dropped his old buff, and dons a new Purple buff and moved back to camp together with the rest of the Casaya tribe.



With Melinda eliminated, Bruce joins Casaya by the end of Night six. The next day, Bruce, claimed to have previous camping experiences, proved his worth by improvising a water-filtration system (using the tribe's spare garments) so they need not to boil the brackish water should the fire ran out. This gesture boosted morale in the team, but Courtney became unsure of the contraption. At the next Reward Challenge, Casaya still unable to defeat La Mina, lost for the third consectutive time (fourth, counting the first Immunity challenge). La Mina sent Bruce to Exile Island for a second time, believing that his absence would demoralize the tribe, making Casaya fall apart even further and lose more challenges in the process. With the tribe experiencing a losing streak, Shane's alliance fell apart as Shane constantly having petty fights with Courtney and Danielle, angering Aras. This gesture made an opening for Cirie to break through the alliance and keep herself longer in the game. In the physically-punishing Immunity Challenge, Casaya managed to put their differences aside and eventually won their first Immunity Challenge, sending La Mina to their first Tribal Council.

As days go by, disfuntion in Casaya worsened up as Shane throws tantrums to his alliance with no apparent reason. Adding up the long list of Casaya's mishaps:


 * Bonfire constantly run out (with no one had the initiative to ignite another one)
 * Bruce making a "Zen Garden" instead of doing camp chores
 * Bobby seemed to have a strong liking to the outhouse they won from a challenge
 * Bobby and Bruce getting drunk ot one time, drinking up all the wine they won in one Reward Challenge and slept in the outhouse

Despite the tribe's diversity and strong personalities, the tribe managed to win the next four challenges, dwindling the once-strong La Mina's numbers to five, opposing to Casaya's seven.

Bobby Mason (a lawyer, former Viveros member) seemed to made controversy around camp (save for Shane's rampant mood swings) for his disconnected demeanor. Bobby created some friction with his teammates by disagreeing with how the outhouse (a prize from a previous Reward Challenge) should be used. But he gave Casaya their fourth consecutive victory by singlehandedly whacking large fish that are part of the challenge. The prize were a sack of rice, beans and three large fish. Though victrorious, the tribe realized that everything were wet (the challenge was held under rain), and had to eat the fish raw (much to Cirie's dismay). The same night Bobby and Bruce stole all the wine (won in a previous challenge) and drank all of it. The next day, Courtney and Danielle became upset that the wine supposed to be drank by the whole tribe ran out because of them. Giving the obviously vulnerable Cirie a bigger room for breaking up Shane's alliance. She made a voting bloc with Danielle and Courtney to get rid of Bobby. And when La Mina won the fifth Immunity Challenge, Cirie's plan worked, as Bobby got voted out in a confusing 3-2-2-1 vote, an evidence that Casaya is still disfunctional and ununified.

Casaya managed to pull things together by winning the Reward/Immunity Challenge, winning them a trip to a local village, food and temporary contact with society. Shane made amends with Danielle as the tribe enjoyed barbecue, played soccer, and partied throughout the day - while La Mina suffered losing another member and dropping their numbers to four in the process. Though Casaya enjoyed feasting, Bruce complained an gastrointestinal problems, an event that will lead to his sudden departure in the future. Nonetheless, the once-problematic Casaya felt like they are a team.

By Day 17, Casaya (with six members) and La Mina (with four members) merged as the new "Gitanos" tribe, which Bruce named.

Trivia

 * In a rather interesting coincidence, each of the four starting tribes have produced a representative in the Final Four. Cirie Fields became the unofficial representative of Casaya.
 * Cirie (together with nine other previous contestants) competed again in Survivor: Micronesia where she started again in a purple team (Malakal). She placed third, a day longer than her stint on Survivor: Panama. She also appeared in Heroes vs Villains where she was placed 17th.