Desert Island Escape: Advanced level discussion

I am about halfway through the advanced levels of Desert Island Escape. For the most part I am finding these levels to be only moderately more challenging than the beginner and intermediate levels. HOWEVER, stage 3 of the Advanced levels took me AGES to finish, and when I did finally beat it, it was through a bit of strategy, but mostly luck.

I am curious as to how other people felt about Advanced level 3. Did you beat it? How many tries did it take? Who did you use?

I tried every type of animal, in various combinations, from all wolves to all horses, to horses and chickens, to horses and bulls... lions and wolves... you name it, I tried it.

What wound up being my dream team was a bear in first position and two horses in the rear. The bear's better eyesight cleared the way, and his extra moves to grab honey helped harvest food points. Plus he's a better fighter than the horses. The combination used up only 4 food a day, which is pretty low. But no matter how I sliced things, the wide distribution of the raft parts on this level made it next to impossible to get all four pieces with more than five days to spare, meaning I never made it to 60K. That's when I realized that the golden fishing rod was a game changer.

My Dream team consistently through all the levels was a dog,(for the ability to see what is in the immediate surrounding squares) an elephant (for stomping down mountain obstacles and fighting ability) and a whimsy (for the seven moves and great fighting abilities)
The golden slingshot was great for eliminating unseen enemies but has to be carefully aimed. (Shep, Eugene, and Ella)
I have completed all levels and am now going to go back an replay some for high scores and more prizes.