Return to the Land

Crooked Tree, Belize

2,468 miles from San Francisco

The Ford Expedition rumbled down the edge of the lagoon and a tall man stepped out to open the gate for us. “Welcome, welcome! I hope you weren’t waiting too long.” This man is Earl. He and his wife, Nerie, run the Jacana Inn,  a quaint eleven-room establishment overlooking the lagoon of the Crooked Tree wildlife sanctuary in northern Belize. Although we  only stayed at the Jacana Inn for a night, Earl and Nerie took us in like family.

We spoke with Earl for an hour about his life story and Belize’s history. Belize, formerly known as ‘British Honduras’, was controlled by the British up until it reached independence in 1981. Though controlled by the British until 1981, all citizens of Belize were referred to not as British Citizens, rather ‘British Subjects’. As ‘British Subjects’, they were unable to legally own title to property. Earl’s grandparents were previously viewed as squatters on this land where the Jacana Inn now sits.

Earl’s physical appearance is a reflection of Belizean colonial history. His eyes are light - a trait passed down by his Scottish ‘baymen’ ancestors who moved to Belize in the late 1600s to harvest and sell timber. Earl’s dark skin comes from his African ancestors who were brought to Belize as slaves to work alongside the baymen. This Scottish/African ethnicity is known as Creole, and at times has made up as much as 60% of the Belizean population.

One of the most interesting things we’ve been learning about in our travels is the influence the United States has had on Latin American countries. The influence has been very direct at times through supporting governments or wars, or less direct through affecting culture and people. Earl’s life was changed significantly by one of the more indirect influences, the Peace Corps. John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps in the early 60’s as a means to spread “peace and development” to developing countries of the world. As a teenager, Earl was drawn to the idea of living in the United States by a Peace Corps program run in his village in Belize. In the 70’s, he made the decision to follow this idea and moved to Los Angeles, California, where he would live for 40 years.

During his time in Los Angeles, Earl achieved what many call the American dream. He worked  in security for high-end hotels, often several at once, and was able to purchase a home in Los Angeles where he raised a family of 6.

By 2008, Los Angeles had started to wear on Earl. His community had become crime ridden, and he longed for the simple and stable life that Belize had offered in his earlier years. In early 2008, he sold his house in Los Angeles and moved back to his childhood home in Belize where the Jacana Inn now sits. He is proud to have legal title to the property and is not viewed as a ‘squatter’ like his grandparents were.

One large contributor to Earl’s interest in returning to his Belizean life was his age. Earl feels that as everyone gets older, they want to ‘return to the land’ - use their hands, grow crops. Earl spends his time doing exactly this - tending to his land and gardens, building additions to the Jacana Inn, and working on various projects in his community of Crooked Tree. I agree with Earl that there is some innate human draw to a life in which you grow/raise what you eat and live off your land.

Earl has done what so many people we’ve encountered dream of doing: move to the United States and create a prosperous life for themselves and their families. Earl is the first person we’ve met, however, who achieved this American dream and realized he preferred the life he could create in his home country of Belize.

As we said goodbye to Earl, he was outside juicing blackberries from his trees to make blackberry wine. It was a fitting send off, and he seemed to be exactly where he wanted to be.