A group of 23 German journalists, covering science and technology news visited Stellenbosch University on Friday 7 November 2014 as part of a two week visit to South Africa.
The journalists are all members of the German science journalists' organisation, the Wissenschaftspressekonferenz (WPK) and report for major outlets in Germany such as the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Welt and Deutsche Welle.
Dr Lynda Lich-Knight, WPK tour organiser, says they undertake this kind of tour every two years and have already visited countries like China and Brazil.
On Friday the group accompanied Prof Dirk Bellstedt from the Department of Biochemistry at SU for a guided walk up a kloof in Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. There he shared with them his knowledge of the evolution and diversity of African flora.
This was followed by a visit to the experimental vineyard at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Studies (STIAS), where Dr Albert Strever from the Department of Viticulture and Oenology (DVO) explained the unconventional fan-like layout of the vineyard.
Thereafter they were treated to a Pinotage wine tasting at Welgevallen Cellar with Prof Wessel du Toit and Prof Maret du Toit. The Department of Viticulture and Oenology (DVO) at Stellenbosch University is the only institution in the world where research on Pinotage – a uniquely South African cultivar – is conducted.
Last on the program was a visit to Beyerskloof, a commercial Pinotage wine estate, where they were able to meet master winemaker Beyers Truter in person.
The German journalists will also be hosted by the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Pretoria, before they head off for a three-day visit to the Kruger National Park and surroundings.
Two of the journalists are tweeting about their South African experience, using the hashtag #wpkSA. They are Gianna-Carina Grün, freelance online editor at Deutsche Welle (tweeting as @giannagruen), and Michael Stang, a freelancer covering science for Deutschlandradio, WDR, Südwestrundfunk and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagzeitung (tweeting as @herrstang).
