When we sat down in Santa Rosa, Peru, for our first experience on the world’s greatest river, the thought of a military jet flying over the Brisas del Amazon restaurant to send a hostile message was totally counterintuitive.
We had landed in Leticia, Colombia, the morning of June 15, 2024, checked into the port city’s Waira Suites Hotel, and walked to our first encounter with an iconic, tri-border sign saying we were in Colombia and would cross into Brazil if we continued straight, into Peru if we turned right.
When we emerged from the as-far-as-I-can-tell unnamed Leticia tributary onto the Amazon River itself, daughter Jessica told her sister, niece, and nephew, “I’ve never seen dad smile so much.”
That’s because I had waited 50 years almost to the day for that first float the Upper Amazon, and the experience was everything I had expected – more actually, as I got to experience it with my family.
Santa Rosa is an island situated a 10-minute river crossing from Colombia’s only port city, on which some 3,000 mostly Ticuna Indians live. Characteristic of the Upper Amazon, the village is suffused with houses and businesses and rudimentary boardwalks on stilts, necessary because of the ever fluctuating river levels.
As Colombia One reports, most of the island’s inhabitants subsist through small businesses, fishing, and river transportation. The tri-border region’s economy has a robust ecotourism trade, of which we were proud partakers that early summer day.
Among the small businesses was the Brisas del Amazon restaurant, which has a small, windowed storefront that greets visitors with Coke, local fruit, and other drinks on the town’s main dock, a short tuk tuk ride to the restaurant.
The restaurant’s stilted terrace, as it were, features tranquil views of the surrounding riverine environment. I’m no foodie and only remember the chicken and rice dish I ordered was served in a massive portion. But this review from Evendo.com sounds on point.
“The restaurant’s menu is a treasure trove for food enthusiasts, offering an array of dishes that showcase the diverse gastronomy of Peru. From succulent grilled meats to fresh seafood delicacies, each plate is prepared with care and creativity.”
During a relaxing lunch that featured an up-close-and-personal encounter with brilliantly colored parrots cleaning up floor scraps and happy to pose for photographs, guide Rodrigo Rios and his wife Marcella shared tales of an infamous Leticia character named Mike Tsalickis.
A Greek immigrant businessman who settled in Leticia in 1953, Tsalickis was referred to in the media as the town’s founder and was named its U.S. consular agent in 1967.
He became an original Colombian drug kingpin in the 1970s and, described as a Tarpon Springs, Fla., man in 1988, was charged with attempting to smuggle 9,000 pounds of cocaine into Florida, at the time the largest such drug bust in history, according to the UPI.
Today, sixteen months after our sumptuous lunch, Brisas del Amazon sits in the middle of a geopolitical dispute, which will determine the fate of Leticia’s and Colombia’s Amazon future.
Simply put, the Amazon River’s ever-evolving course is shifting south of Santa Rosa and experts suggest Leticia – Colombia’s only port and economic lifeline on the river – could be landlocked in a matter of years.
Santa Rosa was established when I began traveling in Colombia in 1974 and has always been considered Peruvian territory. The country’s congress recently upgraded Santa Rosa’s governmental status from village to town.
But, as NPR reports, the border between Colombia and Peru was established under a 1922 treaty that says its location is determined by the river’s deepest channel.
With that measurement now lying south of Santa Rosa, Colombia is claiming sovereignty to the island to ensure its Amazon access.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro protested Peru’s Santa Rosa elevation to town by flying to Leticia on Aug. 8 and declaring his country does recognize Peru’s claims of sovereignty. Presidential candidate Daniel Quintero subsequently snuck onto Santa Rosa and videotaped himself planting a Colombian flag.
The day after Petros’ speech, Peru sent a letter of protest saying a Colombian military plane flight over the island violated its territorial airspace.
