Lunda

**Highest Placing Member**:Annaliese (Sole Survivor/20)

Lunda was a tribe from Survivor: The Congo.

Although this tribe was physically stronger than its rivals, a much deeper divide existed between the two factions on Lunda. In particular, one player quit the game due to a confrontation with the enemy about an allegedly stolen Hidden Immunity Idol. Their tribe colour was pink.

## Tribe History

The pink Lunda tribe was formed on Day 1 of *Survivor: The Congo*. When the cast of women first met in their initial opening to the season, Alex shared with the group that they identify as genderfluid. Despite this, Alex felt comfortable using she/her pronouns and felt "proud to represent modern femininity" by participating on this season. As the Lunda tribe was setting up camp, Alex openly spoke about their gender identity and consequently formed a tight alliance with bookworm Erica, strict cheerleading coach Sue and outspoken entrepreneur Sukhvinder. Meanwhile, Alisha, Annaliese, Ashley, Catherine and Sophie formed a close relationship because of their shared histories as models from the United Kingdom. The girls eventually formed The British Invasion alliance and held the majority of the tribe after bringing in Helena. When Lunda lost their first immunity challenge on Day 9, the quartet voted for Helena because she was seen as an easy scapegoat but The British Invasion eliminated Alex.

As Lunda returned to camp from tribal council, Sukhvinder expressed her frustration with the majority alliance and lashed out over losing Alex. She decided to separate herself from the group by sitting near the lake, where she found a clue that the tribes Hidden Immunity Idol would be hidden at the next immunity challenge. This clue was also hidden near Tree Mail, which Annaliese found the morning of the challenge. During this challenge on Day 11, Sukhvinder failed to obtain the idol but was shocked to see Annaliese sneak from the tribe and claim the idol as her own. This caused a huge confrontation back at camp between Sukhvinder and The British Invasion, which left Sukhvinder feeling isolated because her allies kept quiet during the argument to keep the target off their backs. Sue was also convinced that this argument was unnecessary because neither player actually found an idol at the challenge, and were using it as an excuse to argue with each other. The two tribes then met together for a surprise announcement on Day 12, where Sukhvinder elected to quit the game because she was no longer enjoying her *Survivor* experience.

A tribe switch occurred shortly after Sukhvinder's quit, where Annaliese, Ashley, Helena, Sophie and Sue remained on Lunda. They were joined by Ilona and Lemon from the rival Bemba tribe. Although the original Lunda women held a clear majority on this new tribe, Sue was outspoken with Ilona and Lemon that she was not aligned with The British Invasion. Sue also spoke with Helena and apologised for voting her at Lunda's first tribal council, but said the alliance voted for Helena because she was clearly on the outside of The British Invasion. When Lunda lost their first immunity challenge on Day 18, Helena was torn whether she wanted to work with The British Invasion and guarantee she would be voted out at the Final Six or flip on her alliance and potentially forge a path to the end. The British Invasion voted for Lemon, but Helena worked with Ilona, Lemon and Sue to blindside Ashley.

Annaliese and Sophie were upset they lost one of their closest allies and were betrayed by another. Helena privately relished in this newfound power, though she tried to convince Annaliese and Sophie she was open to working with them moving forward. When Lunda lost the following immunity challenge, the new majority decided against splitting the votes and instead voted for Annaliese together because Sue convinced them that neither player had an idol. This proved to be a fatal mistake because Annaliese saved herself with the idol and Sue was voted out with the only two votes that counted from Annaliese and Sophie. The two tribes then merged the following morning on Day 23.

## Trivia

* Lunda and Bemba are the second and third tribes in *Survivor* history to only comprise of female castaways, following Penang from *Survivor: Malaysia*.