On the origin of species –my interpretation

The other day I was having discussions with my friends about the “survival of the fittest”. One of my friends felt that homo sapiens were more intelligent than Neanderthals because we managed to survive eventually. I feel that the survival of fittest is sometimes very misunderstood the words “fittest” and “intelligent” are always confused. If just surviving was the criterion then roaches must be very intelligent too. My take is that we humans were at the right place at the right time just like roaches.