The best part about renting a car and exploring on your own is it all belongs to you when the tour group departs. The beauty and solitude of the Atacama Desert in Chile becomes overwhelming.

It is easy to see why NASA used the Valley of the Moon in Chile's Atacama Desert to test their Mars Rover before it's journey to the red planet.

Our little Chey Aveo rental car proved that it is not important if you rented a 4 wheel drive or not. What is important is the nut driving behind the wheel. Valle del Arcoiris (Rainbow Valley) in Chile's Atacama Desert.