Zapatera Six

The Zapatera Six was an alliance from

Although not lasting long in the competition due to the success of their rivals. The six are notable for eliminating Russell Hantz, a notorious Villain of Survivor.

Plan to get rid of Russell
When Russell Hantz was revealed that he would be joining the Zapetera tribe, he was not as warmly received as Rob Mariano by his tribe, due to his notorious and villainous game-play in his previous seasons. The plan to get rid of Russell started to form when Russell reverted back to his old strategy by making alliances with Stephanie Valencia and Krista Klumpp and also searching high and low for the Hidden Immunity Idol with the two other girls, raising the suspicions of the six other Zapetera members.

Formation of an alliance
With Russell and his alliance posing a threat towards the tribe, the six remaining Zapetera came together and formed the Zapetera Six, all with a common goal: getting rid of Russell.

Throwing the challenge
While looking for rocks to build a fire, Ralph Kiser accidentally discovered the Hidden Immunity Idol without any clues, much to his delight.

With the Hidden Immunity Idol in one of their members' possession and having a 2-member lead over the Ometepe tribe, the Zapetera Six purposely threw the challenge away, giving the Ometepe tribe their very first immunity win of the season. The move angered Russell and his alliance, who were fully aware that the Six threw the challenge.

A Plan Works
Knowing that his alliance was outnumbered 6 to 3, Russell tried to sway Julie Wolfe to vote for Ralph, promising her the Final Four. Julie considered Russell's plan. However at tribal council, Julie stayed loyal and the Zapetera Six split their votes between Russell and Stephanie (in case Russell found an idol), while Russell's alliance voted for Ralph, forcing a 3-3-3 tie between Russell, Stephanie, and Ralph. In a revote, with the Zapatera Six now knowing that he did not have an idol in his possession, Russell was voted out of the tribe and sent to Redemption Island.

Dismantling Russell's Alliance
With the plan of getting rid of Russell having come to fruition, the next stage of the plan was to get rid of Russell's alliance. As a result, in the next two tribals, Krista was eliminated, followed by Stephanie. However, David tried to lobby for Sarita to be voted off over Stephanie for being the weak link in the tribe. With Stephanie's elimination, Russell's alliance was disintegrated.

The Six Becomes Five
With Russell's alliance gone, the Six knew that they had to win the next challenge to keep the alliance intact. However, the Ometepe tribe easily won the next challenge, sending Zapatera to their third straight tribal council. David lobbied hard for Sarita to be eliminated, while Sarita lobbied for David, as he was seen as condescending and untrustworthy. Thus, The four other members had to choose which member to keep. In the end, the alliance decided that strength was more important than loyalty and voted Sarita off.

The Merge
The Zapetera alliance entered the merge outnumbered by Ometepe 7-5 after Matt won the Redemption Island duel. The Zapetera alliance tried to get Matt to flip and join them in voting out Rob Mariano. However, Matt attempted to vote with Ometepe, only to be blindsided for the second time in a 6-5-1 vote.

"Pagonging"
With the Ometepe Alliance remaining solid and determined to get rid of the remaining five, the Zapetera alliance was picked off one by one, with Steve Wright being the last member sent to Redemption Island. In the end, the highest-placing member of the Six was Mike Chiesl.