Until the early 2000s, the road to Buffalo Springs (the lesser-known national reserve) between Shaba and Samburu was a long dusty drive from Nanyuki via Isiolo, into the vast territory defined as Northern Frontier District in northern Kenya. Isiolo was a tiny dusty hamlet, a settlement created for Somali soldiers after World War One, and was the last town before entering the then ‘wild’ desert and dangerous region with no roads.
Now Isiolo is a modern hub with a mega-mall coming up to complement the Isiolo International Airport, served by a tarmacked road, from Nairobi to the Ethiopian border at Moyale.
