Man on a Mission – Meet Nyiko “Mr Dynamix” Masango

All photographs supplied by Nyiko, Mr Dynamix and Xpression Adventures.

Meet Nyiko Masango – homegrown here in Limpopo, an avid hiker, a motivational outdoorsman and a father on a mission…

He’s a cycling sage – Johannesburg to Tzaneen in under 24 hours! Beitbridge to Cape Town and Tzaneen to Tanzania!

He’s a hiking guru – summiting Kilimanjaro in 12 hours and completing the hike to South Africa’s highest peak in only 3 days!

Where were you born in Limpopo?

I was born in Nkowankowa which is a township in the Greater Tzaneen area.

How long have you enjoyed the outdoors and activities like hiking and cycling?

My love for cycling started when I was only 8 and I was able to use my friends’ bikes, but it solidified when I finally got my own bike when I was 13.

My love of walking and hiking also started when I was younger – fostered through youth groups where we used to go hiking to waterfalls in the local area. So through all that exposure I have always loved nature.

And I remain an outdoor enthusiast to this day – in fact anything that involves the outdoors and adrenalin – I’m keen!

Why do you do all of these ‘challenges’? Is it just because you enjoy the outdoors and challenging yourself physically or is there more to it?

I started doing all of these challenges initially because they are or were just a part of my life, but now I use them as a means of increasing social consciousness – an example being the 100km walk, Presence in Fatherhood, where we challenge men to be active and involved in their children’s lives. This has been going for 5 years now!

The walk also helps to bring awareness to the plight of fathers who are denied access to their children and where the children suffer because the parents cannot get along. This is particularly close to my heart as I was denied access to my son when Prince’s mother and I split up.

If other hikers wanted to join you on a hike how should they go about this?

A large proportion of the activities that I do are on a more personal level – people contact me via my Mr Dynamix Facebook page when they see that I am going on a hike or doing a particularly long cycle and ask to join me.

However there are also activities that I tailor towards larger groups such as monthly hikes and quarterly camps – where a variety of activities such as hiking, cycling and swimming take place. These are advertised on Facebook under the group Xpression Adventures.

But my favourite challenges are solo challenges – just me and a small support team.

Tell me more about your epic trip to Kilimanjaro.

In September 2019 I cycled to Tanzania. I lost a friend only a month before I left so although I was finally fulfilling a long-held dream, I also used this time of solo cycling as a process of grieving.

Cycling alongside the Zambezi river and Lake Malawi was amazingly special and finally reaching Kilimanjaro and summiting it in only 12 hours was a dream come true.

You recently completed a hike in the Drakensberg to Mafadi Peak – tell me more about the hike.

I like to hike fast so a little over 2 weeks ago some friends and I completed the normally 4 day hike to Mafadi Peak and back in 3 days. Mafadi is the highest point in South Africa, located on the border with Lesotho.

I know you took some of the Trail Food Company’s meals with you – how did you find them?

The Trail Food meals were amazing. Initially I thought the packages seemed really small and I thought to myself how on earth could these tiny packages fill me up? But I was amazed at how filling the meals were.

Do you belong to a hiking group?

Only my own! As mentioned earlier, I lead a hiking group called Xpression Adventures that does hikes monthly.

Recently Xpression Adventures also started running children’s camps – for boys and girls from the age of 7 upwards. I’m excited to share my love of the outdoors with other children and parents too.

Do you have a favourite hike in South Africa?

I’ve hiked in almost all of South Africa’s provinces but I particularly love scenic hikes.

In my mind the hikes in Cape Town can’t be beaten in that regard, although some of the Wolkberg hikes with the associated waterfalls are also personal favourites.

And finally, are there any hikes that you have done with your son that you would recommend for other families with young children?

Well, I first started hiking with Prince when he was still a baby, hiking 10-15km with him in a baby carrier.

More recently though, now that he’s 8, we hiked together in the Blyde Canyon but one of our favourites is also the Debengeni Waterfall hike in Magoebaskloof.