River · Trinidad and Tobago
Ortoire
Ortoire is the longest river of Trinidad and Tobago, a small island country in the Caribbean. After about 50 kilometres it leaves the island at Point Radix and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
Picture credit: Kalamazadkhan (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Kalamazadkhan (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Ortoire?
The river starts here: Hills of the Central Range on Trinidad.
It ends in the Atlantic Ocean at Point Radix.
Countries on the river: Trinidad and Tobago.
The story behind it
The Ortoire begins in the low hills in the middle of Trinidad and then moves slowly east through warm, green country. Its lower course is lined with thick mangrove trees whose roots stand in the water like stilts, and in their shade young fish, shrimps and crabs are safe from bigger hunters. Cocoa and coconut groves grow beside the river, and small boats carry fishers out to the shallow bay at the mouth. Because Trinidad's rivers are short and often measured differently, you may find other length figures for the Ortoire in books. In the rainy season heavy showers can make it rise within hours and cover nearby fields, while in the dry season it becomes a quiet, brown ribbon. Herons, caimans and many frogs are at home along its banks.
Questions children ask
How long is the Ortoire?
The Ortoire is around 50 kilometres long. That is short compared with rivers on the mainland, but on a small island it is enough to hold the record.
Which country does the Ortoire flow through?
The Ortoire lies entirely in Trinidad and Tobago, on the larger island of Trinidad. The smaller island, Tobago, has only very short streams.
Where does the Ortoire end?
The Ortoire reaches the Atlantic Ocean at Point Radix, on the east coast of Trinidad. Mangroves grow all around this mouth and protect the shore from storms.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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