Port Au Prince - Post Report Question and Answers
Are there any unusual problems with insects or other infestations in housing?
Geckos, spiders, ants, some termites, but they spray the compounds like crazy. - Aug 2019
We had ants in our house periodically, but they rarely posed a problem to us. Geckos got in the house occasionally but tended to be harmless. Hornets often made nests outside the house but they tended not to bother us. We saw a couple dead tarantulas in the driveway now and then but they were never a menace. We often had cockroaches that were the size of matchbox cars or larger. Perhaps the main problem here was termites, which were eating at some of the wood in the house and ate many of our long-kept packing boxes. Think hard about wooden items that you ship to Haiti, and think harder about the wood items that you ship back. Some expats said that if a wood item was too big to put in the freezer upon your return home, you should leave it on the island. - Jun 2019
Typical Caribbean housing issues, ants, geckos, spiders. - Aug 2018
Occassional tarantulas, ants, roaches can all be a problem. Don't allow standing water inside or outside your home. This is where mosquitoes breed. - Dec 2016
Mosquitoes!!! - Sep 2014
I have experienced much worse. I have had a tarantula in my house, as have most of my colleagues. Sometimes you get tiny ants, but keeping the kitchen clean keeps them away. I had a small roach in the kitchen just once - I am used to much worse in developing countries. We all have geckos too, mostly outdoors but sometimes they get in. I like geckos since they eat the bugs. Worst problem is mosquitos. I take malaria meds but many of my colleagues do not. Mosquitos love me, maybe it is my blood type! So I usually take mosquito spray with me when we go anywhere to dine outside, or to local parties (also usually outside). Not too bad in the house - we use Vape when during the rainy season to keep them away, but do not need a mosquito net, as I used in several prior posts. - Sep 2013
Mosquitoes, ants!!!!, and some roach issues. I find by using household bug repellent (the stuff you spray around your foundations, doors and windows. I use the Bayer/ blue bottle stuff), that my insect problems indoors have been minimal. I sprayed this around my house when I arrived (brought it in my suitcase) and I haven't had tarantulas, most spiders, or other bugs inside my house. I had some minuscule brown ants that started coming indoors three months ago, the blue spray didn't work, but Taro brand liquid ant traps killed those rather quickly. So, bring that too! Bring mosquito repellent to spray on yourself. Even if you're outside for five minutes at dusk to chat with your neighbor or water your plants, you'll walk away with several mosquito bites. Also most restaurants are outdoors. - Sep 2011
Mosquitoes are everywhere and carry malaria and dengue fever. Keeping your home cold and not leaving windows and doors open helps to alleviate the problem a little. Traditional mosquito repellants seem to have no effect. Homes tend to attract giant cockroaches (or, "waterbugs") which are an upleasant surprise when you step into the shower in the morning or open a kitchen cabinet. - Jan 2011
Most of the mosquitoes and small bugs carry malaria then you have a problem with the animals that could carry rabies. It is very difficult to go in and help the people in extreme poverty ..when your risking your own health in the process. - Jan 2010
I've never seen the 'cockroaches' others complain over, or anything else troublesome. Except one morning: a wonderfully black, large tarantula was crawling across my floor to my bed. - May 2009
A few cockroaches a year inside the house. - Feb 2009
