The Inkahtterra Butterfly House (near Puerto Maldonado airport, www.inkaterra.com, US$6) is a great first thing to do upon arrival in Puerto Maldonado. It’s adjacent to the airport and doubles as a welcome center and an introduction to Peru’s 3,700 species of recorded butterflies. The facility includes restrooms with showers, a coffee shop, baggage store, and Internet. Butterflies are raised in the laboratory, which is open for visits, and there is a large, netted garden with hundreds of butterflies flitting about.

Puerto Maldonado has two nice pubs with games and dart boards that are next to each other on the Plaza de Armas. Boulevard (Daniel Carrión 271, tel. 082/57-2082, 6 p.m.–midnight daily) is right behind Hornito’s, the pizza spot.

The similar Amnesis is next door on Daniel Carrión. Live music is available every Friday night at Plaza Bar (Loreto, block 3, opens at 8 p.m. Tues.–Sat.).

Also on the third block of Loreto, but on the other side of the street, is the very popular Snack Bar Tsaica, which is also open Tuesday–Saturday and has live music every other Friday.

For a more hip atmosphere, head to Coconut (Daniel Carrión, block 2, 9 p.m.–2 a.m. daily). The disco-bar plays a variety of music and has an excellent selection of cocktails.

You might also try Teocas (Loreto, block 2, 9 p.m.–2 a.m. daily), a better dance spot that gets swinging after 11 p.m.