Casaya

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

Although originally comprised of older women, after the first round of competition, the tribe attained new members. Filled with competitive players, Casaya enjoyed success over La Mina several times but suffered from inter-tribal dynamics and personalities.

Original

 * Cirie Fields, a nurse from Walterboro, South Carolina.
 * Melinda Hyder, a Realtor/Singer and Dancer from Sevierville, Tennessee.
 * Ruth-Marie Milliman, a Real Estate Developer from Greenville, South Carolina.
 * Tina Scheer, a lumberjill from Hayward, Wisconsin.

Post-Tribe Swap
On 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.
 * Aras Baskauskas
 * Bobby Mason
 * Cirie Fields
 * Courtney Marit
 * Danielle DiLorenzo
 * Melinda Hyder
 * Shane Powers

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/she 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.


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

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 revealed an embrassing concern, a "phobia on leaves." This gesture irked the tribe, particularly Tina, who targeted her as a weak link.

In the first Immunity Challenge, Casaya initially trailed together with Viveros, but while 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 4, 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 was 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 to 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 were 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, who 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 donned a new purple buff and moved back to camp together with the rest of the Casaya tribe.



With Melinda eliminated, Bruce joined Casaya by the end of Night 6. The next day, Bruce, claiming to have previous camping experiences, proved his worth by improvising a water-filtration system (using the tribe's spare garments) so they need not boil the brackish water should the fire run 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 had 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 went by, dysfunction in Casaya worsened up as Shane threw tantrums to his alliance with no apparent reason. Adding up the long list of Casaya's mishaps:


 * Their bonfire constantly ran out (with no one having the initiative to ignite another one).
 * Bruce made 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 got drunk at 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 (a lawyer, former Viveros member) seemed to create 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, though he gave Casaya their fourth consecutive victory by singlehandedly whacking large fish that as part of a reward challenge. The prize were a sack of rice, beans, and three large fish. Though victrorious, the tribe realized that everything was 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 3-2-1-1 vote, an evidence that Casaya was still dysfunctional 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 of gastrointestinal problems, an event that would lead to his sudden departure in the future. Nonetheless, the once-problematic Casaya felt like they were a team.

By Day 16, the remaining six Casaya members welcomed the remnants of the rival tribe at their camp for a merger. This new tribe stayed at the old Casaya camp for the rest of the game.

Trivia

 * In a rather interesting coincidence, each of the four starting tribes produced a representative in the Final Four. Cirie Fields became the representative of Casaya.
 * The second season of the Israeli version's merged tribe was also named Casaya.
 * None of the original four Casaya members were ever sent to Exile Island.
 * Out of the original Casaya tribe, Cirie was the only one to make the merge.
 * Casaya is the earliest tribe to be reduced to its last member.
 * Thus far, it is the only purple tribe to consist of all females.
 * Casaya is one of five original tribes to start with entirely female castaways, along with Jaburu (Survivor: The Amazon), Yasur (Survivor: Vanuatu), Bayoneta (also of Survivor: Panama), and Salani (Survivor: One World).
 * Casaya is the third purple tribe.