On the third day of our trip, we drove from Nairobi to Oloika, the main town in Shompole. It's only a 3-hour drive, but much it is over dirt roads. We stopped for lunch at Lake Magadi, a soda lake that is inhospitable to all life but a few types of birds, including flamingos, that subsist on algae that thrive in the alkaline environment.
The town of Oloika consists of little more than a dirt road, a quarter of a mile long, lined on both sides by corrugated metal structures. One is a pub, a couple sell basic groceries, another sells hardware. Our camp was at the town's southern end, and the school half a mile north.
