Las Ollas Arriba

About Las Ollas Arriba:

Las Ollas Arriba covers about 26 km² of Capira district, in the hills north of the Interamericana. The way in is a local road that leaves the highway at Villa Carmen, crosses the Río Perequeté and carries on to Caimito and El Cacao, so several communities share the same route. That road is also its weak point. In March 2026 the bridge over the Perequeté at the entrance to Ollas Arriba collapsed and cut off vehicle access to all three corregimientos at once, and a new concrete bridge has been under construction since, with a temporary crossing in use. For banks, hospitals and bigger shops, people go down to Capira town and on to La Chorrera along the highway.

The name describes the land. Hills close in on every side, among them La Juliana, Santa Cruz, El Cántaro and La Tinaja, and between them they form the bowl, the olla, that gives the place its name. Capira’s municipal council made it a corregimiento on 22 January 1960, at the request of the families who farmed there, and for a long time farming was the only work available. Oranges, bananas, papaya, maize and coffee came off these slopes in quantity, and agriculture is still how most households make a living.

The Río Caimito runs through the corregimiento, and its upper basin takes in Ollas Arriba together with Lídice, La Trinidad and El Cacao before the river heads down toward La Chorrera. Here too is the Finca Experimental de Ollas Arriba, a research sub-centre of IDIAP, Panama’s agricultural research institute. It works on robusta coffee for low-altitude farms, keeps native plant collections and conserves Guabalá criollo cattle, and farmers’ groups travel from as far as Coclé for its field days on coffee grown without agrochemicals. If you are buying a finca here, that is a useful neighbour: the trials are run on the same kind of ground you would be farming.

About 1,550 people lived here at the 2023 census, almost double the 803 of 1990, and the lot subdivisions of recent years are aimed squarely at families from La Chorrera and Panama City who want land of their own. Daily services are few. There is the Escuela de Ollas Arriba, and Pandeportes has ordered work to start on a sports complex with a combined football and baseball field, stands and a multi-use court on more than a hectare and a half of community land. There is no health centre in Ollas Arriba, and parts of the corregimiento still have no piped water system, which is why the first question on any plot here should be where the water comes from.

Land and Lots in Las Ollas Arriba:

Nearly everything that changes hands in Las Ollas Arriba is land. The typical offer is a titled lot of 500 to 600 m² in a small country subdivision near the main road, with power and water brought to the boundary and the price spread over a down payment and several years of instalments. Flat parcels of around a hectare, with water, electricity and internet coverage, come up along the road in, and further back there are older family holdings that are still farmed. Level ground is scarce in a bowl of hills, so look closely at the slope of any plot and budget for earthworks before you budget for the house. If you are comparing land for sale in Las Ollas Arriba with plots nearer the highway, remember that every truckload of building materials will come in over the Perequeté crossing.

New Developments in Las Ollas Arriba:

New projects here are country-lot subdivisions, not finished homes. They divide a larger farm into plots of roughly 500 to 600 m² along an internal street, bring electricity and water to each lot and sell it with its own title, mostly to city buyers looking for a weekend house in the hills. Building the house is up to you. Before you put down a deposit, confirm that the internal street is registered as a right of way, and find out who will maintain it, and the water line, once the developer has sold the last plot.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Las Ollas Arriba?

  Take the Interamericana west past La Chorrera to Villa Carmen and turn off onto the local road toward Ollas Arriba, which also serves Caimito and El Cacao. The road crosses the Río Perequeté just before the corregimiento. The old bridge there collapsed in March 2026 and a replacement is being built, so ask locally how the temporary crossing is holding up before you plan a site visit in the rainy season.

• Is there piped water in Las Ollas Arriba?

  Not everywhere. Lots in the newer subdivisions are sold with a water connection, but some communities in the corregimiento still have no water system and are working to build one. Ask who runs the supply that reaches the plot, how many days a week it flows in the dry season, and whether there is room for a well or a storage tank.

• What should I check before buying a country lot here?

  Start with the paperwork behind the word “titled”: confirm in the property registry that the lot is registered in its own right, that the area matches the approved plan and that the seller is the owner on record. Then check the access. The internal street of a subdivision should be a registered right of way, and the lot should reach it without crossing anyone else’s land. Finally, see the power and water connections working at the boundary before you make the last payment.

• What is the experimental farm in Las Ollas Arriba?

  It is the Finca Experimental de Ollas Arriba, a research sub-centre of IDIAP. Its work covers robusta coffee varieties for lowland farms, native plant collections and the Guabalá criollo cattle breed. It also hosts training days for farmers’ organisations, which makes it a good place to learn what grows well on this land.

• Why is it called Las Ollas Arriba?

  Because of the shape of the land. The hills around it, including La Juliana, Santa Cruz, El Cántaro and La Tinaja, enclose it like the sides of a pot, an olla. It has been a corregimiento of Capira since 22 January 1960.