An american man who moved to the Amazon to live with an indigenous tribe reveals the mistake that banned him from going near pregnant women.
Justin Alvo is half Amazonian through his father. His father grew up in a remote community called Tres de Noviembre so isolated that he didn’t see a radio until he was 14.
His father eventually left and met Justin’s mother at a Chinese restaurant in the US.
Years later, Justin traveled back to his father’s homeland to document the Shuar people’s culture on YouTube. That’s where he met Maria, who was working as a chef at a local restaurant. He told her he liked her and wanted to make documentaries about her community.
She said yes.
“She had one of those $20 phones that barely works,” Justin told UNILAD.
She gave him her number anyway and the rest followed from there. The couple are now married and welcomed a child earlier this year.
Thought he was going to get kidnapped
Justin admits his first meeting with the tribe made him nervous.
“I genuinely thought I might get kidnapped, we were meeting in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
Despite being half Amazonian himself, stepping into tribal life felt like landing in “an alien world.” He had no idea which plants were dangerous, which insects to avoid or which snakes could kill him.
The tribe quickly filled him in, including warning him about a highly venomous snake called the macanche that can kill a person within two minutes.
The boa incident
That warning didn’t stop Justin from getting himself into trouble. While out in the jungle one day the group came across a boa constrictor. The tribe told him firmly to leave it alone.
He caught it and started showing everyone.
Boas are considered spiritual animals by the Shuar, and touching one carries consequences. Justin was banned from going near any pregnant women in the community until he had been ritually cleansed over fears he might pass on bad energy to them.
Getting accused of organ trafficking
The culture clashes didn’t stop there. When Justin first arrived, half of Maria’s family warmed to him immediately. The other half were more suspicious.
Some assumed that because he appeared to have money, he must be earning it through something criminal. One rumor that circulated was that he was an organ trafficker.
Despite all of it, Justin says he has no interest in going back to his old life.
His American routine involved waking up, going to work and coming home to “basically live in a box.”
His life in the Amazon means waking up to parrots flying overhead and monkeys howling in the background. He has also acquired an unusual pet, a javelina, a type of wild pig he describes as “the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” fully aware it will eventually grow to a significant size.
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