'I fell in love with an Amazonian but was banned from being near pregnant women over 'bad omen''

A 23-year-old man who left the United States to live deep in the Amazon rainforest says falling in love there completely changed the course of his life.

Justin Alvo, who is half Amazonian through his father, grew up in the US but always felt ‘something was missing’ in his life.

His dad had grown up in a remote part of the eastern Ecuadorian Amazon called Tres de Noviembre, a place so isolated that he didn't see a radio until he was fourteen and the community didn't track birthdays at all.

Eventually, Justin's father left in search of a better life, meeting Justin's mom in an unlikely setting: a Chinese restaurant in the USA.

Years later, Justin decided to return to his father's homeland to document the culture he'd always felt disconnected from on his YouTube channel.

That's when he met Maria, the woman who would become his wife, while she was working as a chef at an Amazonian restaurant.

"I basically said, 'Hey, I like you a lot, you're really cute, and I want to make documentaries and videos about the Shuar people,'" Justin told UNILAD. "She said yes, let's do it."

Getting her number wasn't exactly straightforward either. Maria had one of those ‘$20 phones that barely works,’ he explained, the kind mostly used to call family members in emergencies rather than for texting.

She gave him her number anyway, and the pair began messaging back and forth before agreeing to meet up in person.

What is it like meeting an Amazonian tribe for the first time?

Justin admitted he was genuinely nervous walking into that first meeting.

"I genuinely thought I might get kidnapped, we were meeting in the middle of nowhere," he said. It wasn't until the pair headed down to a river to film their first video together that things started to click.

Despite being half Amazonian himself, Justin said stepping into tribal life for real was like landing in ‘an alien world.’

Having grown up in the towns of the Amazon rather than deep in the jungle, he had no idea which plants were dangerous, which insects to avoid, or which snakes could kill him.

The tribe quickly set about educating him on some of the more dangerous aspects of life in the Amazon, including a highly venomous snake called the macanche, which he says can kill a person within two minutes.

But his lack of jungle knowledge didn't stop him from testing the water...

Why was Justin banned from being near pregnant women?

While out in the jungle one day, Justin and the tribe came across a boa slithering nearby. He was told firmly to leave it alone, but couldn't resist getting closer.

"They told me, 'whatever you do, don't go near that thing', but I love animals, so of course I caught it and started showing everyone," he said.

The tribe views boas as spiritual animals, and Justin's decision to handle one came with consequences he hadn't anticipated.

Because he'd touched the snake, he wasn't allowed anywhere near any pregnant women in the community until he'd been 'cleansed' over fears he might pass on bad energy.

It's just one of several culture clashes Justin has faced since integrating into tribal life. When he first arrived, he says half of Maria's family took to him instantly, charmed by his willingness to bring gifts and get stuck into tribal customs.

The reaction from the rest of the family, he admits, has been rather more complicated. Some of Maria's relatives assumed because Justin had a lot of money, he must have been earning it through something sinister.

Several rumors swirled, including one that he was an organ trafficker.

Despite this, Justin said he wouldn't trade his new life for his old one.

Where his American routine consisted of waking up, going to work and coming home to ‘basically live in a box’, life in the Amazon means being surrounded by nature every single day, 'parrots flying overhead, monkeys howling in the background'.

He's even taken on an unusual pet along the way, a javelina, a type of wild peccary he describes as ‘the cutest thing I've ever seen,’ despite knowing it'll eventually grow to a significant size.

Justin and Maria are happily married, and welcomed a new child earlier this year.