The first of two home movies made by John Scott Forsyth of a visit to the coffee plantation owned by his son-in-law’s family near Kitale in Kenya. It is Christmas when they arrive at the family estate with one man dressed as Santa Claus and children opening presents. As well as a tour of the coffee plantation to sees how the beans are processed, they are also taken to the Elgon Tea Factory at Saboti to see how the tea-leaf’s are handled. Several treks into the wilderness are filmed as well as...

The first of two home movies made by John Scott Forsyth of a visit to the coffee plantation owned by his son-in-law’s family near Kitale in Kenya. It is Christmas when they arrive at the family estate with one man dressed as Santa Claus and children opening presents. As well as a tour of the coffee plantation to sees how the beans are processed, they are also taken to the Elgon Tea Factory at Saboti to see how the tea-leaf’s are handled. Several treks into the wilderness are filmed as well as visits to one or more villages in the area, and the film ends with a safari and views of giraffe, elephants and zebra. Onboard a train Joanna and Richard Forsyth sit at a table, Richard is reading while his mother sleeps. Passengers, including Joanna and Richard, disembark from a ‘British Eagle’ commercial airliner and walk across the airport tarmac towards the terminal building where a large crowd stands watching from a viewing area. Outside the airport Rosemary and husband Nick help load a car with luggage. Rosemary and Nick show the family around their ivy covered home with extensive lawned area out front. A cat walks across the grass, the family play with it. The family walk past a large warehouse or shed before looking across a plantation. The family stand beside a large sign for the ‘Equator’. Back at the house Richard and another boy play around the extensive front gardens of the estate as the rest of the extended family stand around chatting. A large tent has been erected nearby and a man dressed as Father Christmas approaches. Children gather round him as he shakes hands with two women. Inside the house Santa places presents under a large Christmas tree. The adults watch as the children unwrap and play with their toys. Outside again the extended family relax on the lawn beside the tent. Three small children walk beside a fast-flowing river, back at the house an older couple walks around a garden with Joanna. A group goes for a walk into the bush, they rest under an overhanging rock to enjoy sandwiches. They continue their trek into the wilderness with two women laying on the ground atop a hill. In a local village a hut is being build with bales of straw, a man stands atop the wooden frame putting the bales in place, his colleagues pass more bales up. A motor-grader drives along a track, workmen with shovels clear the earth from the track. A phantom car ride changes to a sign that reads ‘Elgon Tea Factory Ltd’. Inside a warehouse a man sorts fresh tea on a large table. In another part of the warehouse metal buckets full of earth. General views of tea production in the facility eventually leading to another room where processed tea is packed in tea-chests. Rosemary and Joanna walk around a colourful garden beside a large house. A number of men join them as they walk around the extensive gardens. A young girl rides a bicycle. Several local women come over and pour coffee beans from small metal tins into a large vat. Inside the factory a young man shows how the beans are processed with them being washed in long channels and dried outside in large vats. At set of scales, an insect in a tree. Another trek into the countryside where they help to herd cattle at a local village. They pass several Kenyan Police signed for ‘Closed Area West Pokot District’. A local tribesman stands on a dirt road, Richard and another boy look out across a wide vista, they look down into an insect nest made from mud. Back on the road more locals passing in the opposite direction, a woman carrying a container on her head. The group rest and picnic beside a river, the men go skinny-dipping in the water. At another village people gather under a shelter listening to a man holding a stick. Two cars drive across a makeshift bridge, a group of local children gather around one of the vehicles parked in front of a building. A phantom car ride through a village changes to the group looking out across a landscape from a top a hill or mountain. A steam flows down through the rocks, some of the group drink from the water. An estate car drives along a mountain track changes to show women in a field harvesting cotton. On a lawn Joanna and a man play croquet, Joanna takes a seat. Various people walk past either from the house or across the lawn. Four men sit around a table drinking beer. Two dogs chase after a bird in a tree. Beside a sundial Richards holds up a fish. A man leads a herd of cattle through the village changes to a giraffe in the distance. At a river several monkey’s sit together. A small group gather under a canopy atop a hill, one man looks through a telescope. A phantom car ride changes to show both elephants and zebra. The film ends on a local man dressed in a uniform, possibly police.