Freewheel (Tanzania, Zanzibar)

On the beaches of Zanzibar, the bicycle is much more than a means of transport : it is a tool for autonomy, ingenuity, and sometimes even survival. In an environment where paved roads are rare, where the tide constantly redraws the paths, and where villages can be several kilometers apart, the bicycle becomes an essential companion of daily life .

From childhood, young people learn to pedal on the soft sand, push their bikes across coral reefs, or repair their own bikes—often made from salvaged parts from Europe or Asia. Here, every spare part finds a second life , every repurposed object reveals a local logic of intelligent reuse.

In this scene, a boy carries a large tire on the handlebars of his bicycle: will it be used to repair another bike, build a swing, or become an impromptu buoy for the ocean ? The basket attached to the frame carries everything from fish to tools to the day's groceries.

When the tide goes out, the beach becomes a road , a playground, or an access route to the neighboring village. Between ocean and sand, between play and resourcefulness, the bicycle embodies a form of local freedom. Freewheeling, both literally and figuratively.