Jordan Hauenschild traveled from Australia to Ecuador to meet Pitiuruk, the man she fell in love with
Some stories are so incredibly real that it seems like they came straight from the pages of a book or a movie screen. That’s how you can describe the unexpected love story of Jordan Hauenschild, a 26-year-old girl from Queensland, Australia, and Pitiuruk, a 24-year-old indigenous man living in Ecuador’s part of the Amazon rainforest.
One day Bjornan spent some time on the “Explore” page on Instagram when she found Pitiuruk’s profile, and decided to send her a message.
“I was scrolling before I went to bed and I came across this beautiful man who was posting amazing content in a country I knew nothing about,” Jordan said in a TikTok video.
“I was really amazed at how people still live this lifestyle, and to some extent I knew there were tribes in the Amazon, but I never took the time to learn about it. I clicked on her page and sent a message,” he told Australian website news.com.au.
Jordan said he believes you have to take some risks to have the best moments. “You never know, maybe you find magic you never knew existed. My country is on the other side of the world, in a country I’ve never heard of and whose language I don’t speak.”
That night, Jordan sent Pitiuruk a direct message, first highlighting how “beautiful” he was, then mentioning how she would love to learn more about his culture.
She confessed that she didn’t expect to actually get a response, but was stunned when it happened. “I couldn’t believe that from the Amazon jungle, on this exotic piece of land, someone responded to me. For a girl who lives a western life in coastal Queensland, who always goes to the beach, who lives in a house, talking to someone from the Amazon who lives in a cabin was very surreal.
The two began talking, first over text, then over video calls, in which they explained their respective lifestyles to each other.
“Our conversations were mostly about our way of life, what we do during the day, what we eat, where we sleep and how we live,” Jordan said. “I would show him my room, the fact that we have a bathroom and my front and back patio — just little things. And he would tell me about a day in his life spent in the Amazon, which is quite unique.
Pitiuruk’s family lives in Puyo, in the Pastaza Province of Ecuadorian Amazonia, where they offer guided tours to tourists as a way to educate them about their ancestral culture.
Four months of negotiations
Jordan and Pitiuruk spent four months talking on the phone almost every day, until she boarded a plane to South America, quit her office job, booked trips to Peru, Argentina and Brazil — as well as arranged a meeting with the guy.
“I just said to him, ‘Actually, I can come and see you. Call me crazy, but we can do this,'” Jordan told news.com.au.
Pitiuruk agreed to the idea without thinking twice and worked with her family to plan an itinerary for the prospective visitor.
After more than a 30-hour flight and a 5-hour bus from Quito, the capital of Ecuador, to Guayusa Runa (where Pitiuruk’s family lives), she finally arrived.
“When the plane landed in Quito, I realized the enormity of the situation – I had acted willfully with a ‘why not?’ and I was going to meet someone I had never met in real life”, the young woman admitted. However, once she saw him in person, she says she had never felt so comfortable before – and it didn’t take long for a romantic relationship to develop between them.
Arriving in Ecuador
“I couldn’t believe it was real,” Jordan said. “It was my first time in Ecuador and I just wanted to make sure I was really respectful, but I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.”
Jornan spent two weeks learning and living the Pitiuruk lifestyle, and although the two don’t speak the same language, he said much of their connection is based on body language.
“If the spark is there, it doesn’t matter if you don’t speak each other’s language. I’ve never had a relationship with someone where I knew exactly where I was. When I arrived, Pitiuruk, together with his family, had planned a two-week itinerary for me through the capital and then his home region (pastaza).
The couple spent four days in the city and surrounding mountains. Jornan says they had to get used to the climate, as Quito is high enough above sea level to be known as the “city in the clouds.” A family member from Pitiruk drove them by car to the family’s home — where she says she was welcomed with open arms. “‘Our jungle is your jungle,’ they told me.”
Living Day-to-Day in the Amazon
Jordan woke up every morning to the sound of drums, visited local farms, helped his family cook meals, and immersed himself in nature.
“They live about a 15-minute taxi ride from the nearest town. And the town has everything you need,” he said, explaining that in order for the Pitiuruk family to preserve their history and educate people about their way of life, they need to embrace tourism.
“And the best way to do that is by setting up social media platforms and online presence. They had to integrate to understand how to use the internet and create a website to maintain their way of living”, he highlighted, adding that the family does not want to change anything about their way of living and they are happy the way they are.
Pitiuruk plans to one day work and travel to other countries, and dreams of working as an Indigenous model to promote and educate her culture and support her family, she said.
The “magical and undeniable” connection
Jordan said during her stay she and Pitiuruk developed a “magical and undeniable” connection that even surprised her. “To be honest, I had no idea what my holiday would be like, but all I can say is that it was cinematic,” she told news.com.au. “Everything was as magical as you can imagine. It was even better than I had dreamed.”
As the two learned more about each other, their feelings grew stronger. However, time passed and Jordan had to return home to Australia.
When they shared the love story on TikTok, it didn’t take long to go viral and people from across the world started sharing their own stories.
“He’s amazing! He just has a beautiful energy, gentle but strong, handsome but very masculine. He radiates life. And you’re beautiful too,” one person wrote. “We’re so invested now. This isn’t your love story. It’s our love story,” another joked.
One woman said: “I did it. It was 110% worth it and I never thought I would be this happy. Take that leap.” Another wrote: “I had a similar experience with a guy. He didn’t speak much English. “I’ll pick you up at the airport today when we met and somehow it felt like our connection was stronger.
Jordan said he has been overwhelmed by the support he has received from people on social media and, to his surprise, a travel company has offered to fund his next trip to Ecuador.
“They will fund my flights, which is amazing. When I told Pitiuruk, we both cried,” she said. “I got an email saying they were invested in our story and wanted to see us reunited. We were both crying because we hadn’t expected to see each other for almost a year.
Jordan and Pitiruk agreed that they would have regretted it if they hadn’t tried to see things through to the end, and although Jordan hasn’t yet set a return date, she is struggling to organise herself as this time she hopes to be with her loved one for a few months.
