Naked and Afraid: Maine native Cheeny Plante survives 21 days alone in South African desert

SANFORD, Maine — Ever eat a grub? You know, those pre-beetle worms that are always trying to kill your lawn.

Cheeny Plante has eaten a grub. Quite a few of them, actually. Eating those larval pests is something Plante did to make it through all 21 days in the freezing desert and grasslands of South Africa during a spinoff season of the “Naked and Afraid” franchise on The Discovery Channel.

That spinoff, “Naked and Afraid: Solo,” wrapped up with its final episode on Sunday, April 30. For Plante, the show was her second successful stint on “Naked and Afraid.” Last year, she soldiered through her first three weeks in a challenging part of South Africa. In that case, she was paired with fellow adventurers. In the spinoff, however, she was on her own.

During an interview on Monday, May 1, Plante said she prefers teaming up with someone to survive those 21 days, instead of taking on the challenge alone.

“I love having a partner,” she answered. “When you have a good partner, it’s the best.”

As for the grubs? “They’re not bad,” Plante said. “They eat wood, so their butts are full of wood pulp. You have to squeeze it out. They taste kind of buttery. I boiled them because I wanted to keep them plump like little sausages. Then I drank the broth, which tasted like old tea.”

It wasn’t all-grubs-all-the-time. She ate a lot of catfish too. She caught them with her fishing kit — the item she chose when told she could bring just one thing from home with her to help her survive in the wild.

One catfish she caught likely weighed about 40 pounds, according to Plante.

“I ate that thing for six days,” she said. “I couldn’t believe how full I was. I wish I could have shared some.”

Previous story: Maine woman returns to South Africa desert for Discovery spinoff

Surviving Karoo High Desert

Plante was one of eight participants in “Solo” who braved the elements in different places on the globe. She spent her three weeks in the cold and unforgiving Karoo High Desert. Nights were a nightmare, with temperatures plunging into the teens.

“It was so cold that I couldn’t even sleep because I had to keep feeding the fire,” she said. “Night was my enemy.”

The “Naked and Afraid” crew gave Plante an animal pelt for a blanket — though she found many other uses for it. She used part of the pelt to make shoes, a headband, a kilt, and a backpack. These projects not only kept her warm, clothed and able to carry things around, they helped her keep busy, too.

“I was bored,” she said. “I had the time. I had the fishing wire.”

Plante said exhaustion was the greatest physical and mental toll she experienced during those three weeks.

“The bags under my eyes had bags under them,” she said.

Since nights were an exercise in sleep deprivation, Plante caught up on her sleep once the sun rose and a fire was no longer needed. The “Naked and Afraid” crews, eager to start that day’s filming, had to wait.

It wasn’t all grubs and catfish out there in the desert, according to Plante. She saw her fair share of game in the African wilds.

“There were otters everywhere,” she said. “I could hear them all night. They’re cute.”

She heard jackals but never saw them.

A sable antelope took her breath away.

“It was magnificent — as big as a moose and as muscular as a Doberman,” she said. “It was the super athlete of the grasslands.”

Plante is no stranger to physical feats. The 2008 graduate of Sanford High School joined the Air Force and became a SERE specialist — someone who trains others in matters of survival, evasion, resistance and escape.

She enjoys fishing, hiking, camping and traveling. And sometimes she even contemplates having her own personal “Naked and Afraid” type of adventure, without the crews, cameras and medics nearby.

“I’ve kind of thought about it,” she said. “I own land in The Forks in Maine. I can go there any time I want and make it as hard as I want.”

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‘Naked and Afraid’ one more time

Not that she is finished with “Naked and Afraid.” Plante will be back again this Sunday, May 7, with yet a third go at that 21-day challenge. These upcoming episodes also are a spinoff, called “Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing,” and involves 12 people — Plante among them — who are competing against each other in a series of survivalist challenges in the Oribi Gorge in South Africa. The winner will get a cash prize of $100,000.

“That buys a lot of home heating oil,” Plante quipped.

The episodes already have been filmed, so Plante knows who won that grand prize. But, of course, she has to remain mum until after the final episode airs in several weeks.

Would Plante be up for a fourth “Naked and Afraid” challenge in the future? Not likely, she said.

“I really like my life,” she said. “I don’t need to run away from it. I have a huge garden. I have chickens. New England summers are the best kept secret in the world.”

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Next adventure: Back to school

Her adventures will continue, though. For her next one, she said she plans to go back to school. She is considering learning about marine systems and boat building at The Landing School in Arundel. She also is thinking about pursuing a degree in sustainable agriculture.

Currently, she has her own property-maintenance business, Black Cap Services.

Plante said she is not sure where in her family tree she gets her adventurousness, but she does know she finds inspiration from characters in lots of the books that she has read. The two sisters who find themselves in occupied France during World War II in “The Nightingale,” by Kristin Hannah, are one example. The family that faces the Alaskan wilderness in “The Great Alone,” also by Hannah, also has provided her with examples of mastering adversity.

Out there in the Karoo Desert, Plante drew on the real-life stories she knew about prisoners of war and others who have suffered enormous physical and mental trials. Considering their lives helped her keep perspective, no matter how cold and uncomfortable she got.

“You’re doing a TV show,” she would remind herself.

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But still, she said, she had to be strong. She said she did not want to be that person who “whines on the show” when the going gets tough because those would be the scenes that would be worked into the program.

“You have to set an example,” she said. “Young people are watching.”

And if any of them — or anyone of any age — are wondering how to break free from the ordinariness of life, or from the habits and constraints that hold them back, Plante has a simple pointer.

“You have to take that first step,” she said. “Make it small. Change is scary, but necessary. Don’t be hard on yourself. You’re human. Humans are a mess. We’re messy. Keep moving forward.

“You just have to start small — and start now.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Naked and Afraid Solo: Sanford, Maine native Cheeny Plante survives African desert