Check out our "Survivor Gabon: Earth's Last Eden" photo gallery here.

Lions and rhinos and elephants, oh my! Reality kingpin "Survivor" embarked on another challenge Thursday night as the show set foot on the African continent for the second time as "Survivor Gabon: Earth's Last Eden" premiered on CBS.

In Gabon, important decisions are made by elders, so the two oldest competitors, Bob Crowley, and Gillian Larson, were appointed as the first to choose their teammates.

Retired nurse Gillian, 61, was the first member of the Fang tribe, and joining her were former Olympic gold medalist Crystal Cox, 29; hairdresser Susie Smith, 47, personal trainer Matty Whitmore, 29; wedding videographer Randy Bailey, 49; lawyer Dan Kay, 32; maintenance man Danny "GC" Brown; professional video game player Ken Hoang, 22; and music production assistant Michelle Chase, 24.

Physics teacher Bob, 58, was the first to pick for the Kota tribe, which ended up including jewelry salesman, Ace Gordon, 27; pin-up model Jessica "Sugar" Kiper, 29; doctor Marcus Lehman, 28; lawyer Charlie Hershel, 29; student Paloma Soto-Castillo, 24; retail salesperson Kelly Czarnecki, 22; medical salesperson Jacquie Berg, 25; and pharmaceutical salesperson Corinne Kaplan, 29.

Fang and Kota were introduced to their new homes early on -- camps featuring dilapidated huts set with a view of a beautiful (but possibly dangerous) lake. Elephants, rhinos, warthogs, and any number of big game could be lurking nearby -- so both teams were happy when they acquired fire early on, and both set to sprucing up their new homes.

The Kota tribe dominated early and completely in the two-hour season opener -- the tribe won the first reward challenge, and the first two immunity challenges.

At the season's first tribal council, Michelle became the first to go home after tribe members complained about her bad attitude. Prior to tribal council, she told teammate Ken that if she was voted off it "would just confirm [her] belief that this tribe [is made up of] the dumbest people on Earth."

After Fang lost their second challenge, the tribe turned to eldest member Jillian as the obvious choice to vote off. She tried to mount an offense with teammate Susie, but in the end, it was for naught as she was voted off.

Despite the newness of the game, one alliance was made early on. Charlie and Marcus were fast friends, with Charlie praising Marcus: "I feel that I have a special bond with Marcus… I just feel this connection in his deep blue beautiful eyes." Marcus responded to Charlie's attention by saying, "I think he's attracted to me. I'll be honest I don't think there's going to be any romance between he and I. … I'm straight," but the lack of mutual attraction didn't stop the men from recruiting teammates Jacquie and Corinne to form an alliance.

Another possible potential romance was scrapped when, Michelle, the object of Ken's attention was voted off. Before being voted off, Michelle ate a termite after Ken told her it would be hot, and he noted that being in the game with an attractive woman like her was a "special moment in life" and mused, "You never know if a romance is going to start."

Other notable developments of the two-hour premiere included the first injury of the game -- Randy was stitched up after scraping his head on a branch climbing into his hut. Also, the first player was sent to Exile -- lawyer Dan was frustrated that despite the analytical tools he picked up in law school, he spun in circles unable to complete the first clue to find the hidden immunity idol. And, the first group yoga session of the game was conducted, with Ace leading his Kota teammates in a group meditation to center their spirits before a challenge.

You can tune in to next week's "Survivor Gabon" at 8 p.m. on CBS.