Conakry - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your housing like? What are typical housing sizes, locations, and commute times for expatriates?
We have a large home, in a private compound, surrounded by large walls with razor wire. There is a large yard, with a mango tree & pool. Most houses are large, concrete buildings. Strange layouts. All with generators. The commute to work is only 15 minutes. Occasionally, traffic leads to 30-40 minute drives, but this is rare. There is also a new & modern apartment neighboring the Embassy, where many people stay (mostly singles/couples). It has great amenities: lap pool, tennis/basketball courts, karaoke, restaurants… - Sep 2022
Expat housing seems to be either luxury-ish apartments or single family houses, the latter sometimes in a compound setting with other such expat housing. In most cases it's much bigger than you probably need (maybe 1000sf or more for a single person, 3000sf interior space for a family?), often with big open areas outside. Usually these tend more towards paving stones as opposed to lawns, but kids still enjoy playing on them. And if you're into gardening, there are usually at least some patches of landscape plants, as well as food plants like bananas, mango, etc. Your expat house will have either a water distiller or an office-style cooler, so you’ll have plenty of purified drinking water. You can shower, wash dishes, even brush your teeth with the tap water. It seems like you build up resistance to whatever bothers you after the first few bouts of stomach problems. You will likely get diarrhea a few times during your stay, no matter what you do to avoid it, so I think it’s easier to just do it and get it over with, as opposed to religiously avoiding tapwater and never building up resistance to whatever minor bugs are in it. Houses are solid concrete construction, often with shoddy finish details (tiles out of whack or mismatched, poorly caulked kitchen sink, maybe plumbing improperly trapped or vented), but pretty comfortable. There will be maintenance problems initially, but if you are a handy person, you can detect and point these out preemptively to your landlord/diplomatic employer, and that way you'll fix them before a flooding crisis or whatever. Over time your proactive maintenance will pay off, as problems will become less and less frequent. This works better if you're a man, since the maintenance guys are more likely to actually listen to what you're telling them. I have personally been in situations where workers or landlords (male or female) will be right in front of the problem you're indicating (a door hanging off its hinges, for instance), and argue to your female face that the problem doesn't exist, that you don't know what you're talking about! US diplomatic corps seems to be focused around midtown (Kipe and Nongo), which is where the Embassy is, while European Embassies and housing tend to be more downtown. African Embassies are a bit scattered, though my sense is that African diplomat housing tends to be downtown. If you're in the same general part of the city as your work (which most diplomats thankfully are), it's maybe a 20 minute car or bike commute. The trouble is if you work across town from where you live, in which case it's an hour-plus Calvary every morning and afternoon in solid traffic jams. - Jun 2021
It is large, with a wall and barbed wire surrounding it. There are nearly constant maintenance problems. I have had five significant floods due to the roof needing repair. There are two housing compounds, an apartment building, and detached houses. Commute times can range from 15 minutes to an hour, depending on location and traffic. - Nov 2019
Varied, negligible green space, negligible views, these are not the "Africa houses" you might expect in a place where there is little else to do. Some houses that are non-embassy owned are bigger, but maintenance issues often come with that package. I think having a view of the ocean or a clear look at the sunset versus concrete walls and concertina wire would be of great value to our community since there is so little to distract you from the chaos of the city. - May 2016
For USG, the commute to the Embassy is easy. Trips en ville during peak hours are horrendous as the peninsula can be quite congested. - Dec 2014
There is a mix of apartments and houses for embassy people. There are a couple of housing compounds, but many people live off compound. Houses are nice sized but are older and have many maintenance issues. Most houses are within a 15-minute commute to the embassy. - Sep 2009
Housing for US Embassy employees is in apartments or houses around the city. - May 2009
Housing tends to be large with huge yards and pools as the default. Even apartments are large with 3 or 4 bedrooms not uncommon. The problem is that buildings are not always built to U.S. standards so you may get an electric shock turning on a light switch, or the floor may not be quite level so it may slant slightly. Do not be surprised if bathroom tiles are teal and/or magenta, or if the kitchen is Pepto pink. These issues are generally minor and should be considered charming. Embassy housing is all over the city with 24-hour guards at all residences. They have generators, water reserves, etc. Commute to the embassy ranges from 5-20 minutes, depending on traffic. The new Embassy is in a great location and the commute is mercifully against traffic. NGOs and others working downtown can spend 30-90 minutes in traffic or even longer in rainy season when traffic gets particularly horrible. - Mar 2008
