Letter 19 - Stranded in the Amazon Jungle - Aloha Wanderwell - Part 2
Hello Bregdan Woman,
It’s time to finish telling you about Aloha being left alone in the uncharted jungle of the Amazon Basin.
There are some women who simply can’t be told about in just one letter. Aloha is one of them. If you didn’t read (or listen to) the last letter, and you want to know what I’m talking about, you want to go back and do that first.
Remember me telling you that Aloha eventually married Captain Wanderwell when she was twenty? She didn’t even have to change her name since she had already been given his last name as her stage name when she joined him at age sixteen.
In the midst of their travels, she had two sons. Reunited with her mother and sister who were living in South Africa, her mother was the one to care for her children when they took off on their next adventure of traveling throughout Africa.
Aloha was just 23 years old when they headed off on an even more extraordinary adventure deep in the Mata Grosso region of the Amazon basin.
I’ve done the geographical research for you…
Most of Mato Grosso lies on the western extension of the Brazilian Plateau in South America, across which runs the watershed that separates the Amazon River basin to the north from the basin of the Río de la Plata system to the south. This elevated region is known as the Mato Grosso Plateau, and its elevation is about 3,000 feet.
Let’s go with the reality that it was in the middle of nowhere!
Add to that the knowledge that it was 1929, and you’ll understand how concerning it was when their seaplane (with the Captain piloting) failed and went down on an unchartered portion of the Amazon River. Miraculously, it landed safely, but it was not going to fly again – at least not without replacement parts.
What were they going to do?
They managed to get it to shore and secure it by ropes, but how were they going to get it back into the air? They weren’t just going to walk away from it for good.
Members of the Bororos tribe had witnessed their plane fall from the sky. It was certainly nothing they had ever seen before. They were intrigued by the white couple who was eager to befriend them and get to know them.
A connection and friendship grew quickly, but the Wanderwells still had to figure out a way to return to their world, and to their children.
The only way to get replacement parts was for them to make their way back to civilization. And no, there were no roads or transportation. It would take several months of walking through the jungle – possibly accessing a canoe or raft to travel one of the rivers. Regardless, the trek was going to be brutal, dangerous, and LONG.
They would go together.
Until… Aloha decided to stay behind – with an indigenous tribe that simply knew they had dropped from the sky in a broken airplane! I’m sure they were fascinated by the tall, blond woman, but she was still taking a risk, and there was no guarantee she would ever see her husband again.
I wonder how Captain Wanderwell really felt about traversing hundreds of miles of jungle by himself. I suspect he was well aware his lovely young wife did things her own way!
When the Captain left on his trek across the jungle, Aloha continued to charm the natives, started filming, and carefully documented their lives.
When the Captain eventually returned with the spare parts that would enable the plane to fly again, she had the footage to create two films; FLIGHT TO THE STONE AGE and THE LAST OF THE BOROROS.
It was two years before she returned home to California with the earliest filmed record of the Bororo tribe. It stands today as a historical and important anthropological resource within the Smithsonian Institute’s Human Studies Archive.
I think you’ll agree that Aloha was a fearless Bregdan Woman!
Just like with any Bregdan Woman, she had to deal with curve balls that threatened to derail everything.
Back in the United States, after her jungle adventure, she and the Captain made plans for future expeditions and films.
Their plans were destroyed when the Captain was murdered by an unknown assailant on their 110’ yacht, “The Carma”, in Long Beach, California. His death remains one of the most famous unsolved cases on the West Coast.
Despite Aloha’s grief, and the intense media scrutiny that followed her husband’s death, she returned to the lecture circuit. The Captain had died, but his legacy would live on.
Aloha remarried one of the expedition photographers and became Aloha Baker. She continued her travels with her new husband to India and Australia. The wanderlust never lost its glitter! She went on to have a long and distinguished career as an explorer, documentary filmmaker, and travel lecturer.
From a restless teenager to the notoriety of Aloha Wanderwell, The World’s Most Traveled Girl, this Bregdan Woman proved what was possible during a time when a woman could scarcely dream of a life without borders.
In 1980, when she was 74, Aloha gave her last known lecture and screening, at the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles. She asked her audience how they traveled.
“By car and plane.”
I can easily imagine her laughing and saying, “Not the way I did!”
She proceeded to dazzle them with movie clips of her travels by car before superhighways existed, and by plane when commercial airlines were in their infancy.
In her later years, Aloha carefully tended to her priceless collection of films, photos, journals, diaries, and artifacts from her travels. Understanding the legacy she had created, she arranged for much of her work to be preserved in the Library of Congress, Smithsonian D.C., and various museums and educational institutions throughout the United States.
Her beloved husband, Walter Baker, died two years after their 60th anniversary.
Aloha died the next year, at age 89.
What a remarkable life! Aloha, from childhood, shunned the world’s expectations. Determined to live life on her own terms, she created a legacy that will exist forever.
Aloha created her legacy with films. My hope is to create a remarkable legacy with my books and the letters I write about memorable Bregdan Women – that will be compiled into books each year!
Aloha will continue to be a powerful inspiration for me.
I hope she does the same for you!
Are you ready for your questions??
What do you want your legacy to be?
How are you going to achieve it?
You don’t have to travel the globe. You don’t have to write novels.
Remember the Bregdan Principle.
Every action you take creates a legacy!
What will you do today to impact history??
I’m on this journey with you!
Ginny