... And a very special welcome, of course, to all those who arrived today from the UK. Dave's been here many times before. He'll be taking you out into the desert and showing you round all seven sectors.
But no matter whether you've been here once or 50 times, it'll always be tough out there. The desert is a hot and dangerous place. The animals you want to see are difficult to find and those you do see may not always be pleased to see you!
But its a magic place too - beautiful to look at, full of surprises and totally unforgettable. During the next few weeks you'll see the desert in all its moods and (if you're lucky) meet up with over a hundred different kinds of animal. None of you I hope will get hurt, but you will be challenged (both physically and mentally) by the heat and the difficult terrain.
But I know you'll respond well to those challenges. Be sure you take out of the desert only what you brought in - plus your photographs! Maybe one day your kids will come here, and then their kids. We want them all to find it just the way it is now.
