Bloukop in English direct translation is Blue Head, what I have been let to believe is Agama means Dragon Lizard (I am no fundi, just love nature and photography).

We are lucky to have a family of lizards in the thick bush up our driveway, so they are regulars in our garden. We also see them often going on walks in the Amanzimtoti Library Gardens where they appear to have set up home.

The lizard grows relatively big to 38 cm and has a solid triangular head and solid body. Both male and female are brownish, grey in colour and the male delights in his bright colouration during the mating season (show off).

Normally sun bathing on the walls or trees most living people in the Durban region will come across them quite often.

I had to laugh when researching and found the description of the name from our English/Afrikaans heritage and have to applaud the author on his detailed description in pronunciation.

On a side note, this is another of those times when English speaking South Africans reveal their dull and uninspired nature when compared to their Afrikaans cousins. The Englishman who got to name them looked up and saw a bright blue and yellow lizard bouncing frantically up and down in a tree and thought “it’s an Agama. And it’s in a tree. Sorted!” His Afrikaans counterpart, however, did pick up on a minor detail.

He called it a “Bloukop Koggelmander”, which means blue headed mocking lizard. It’s lovely to say. If you’re not from here, you are reading it wrong. The first part sounds a bit like blowcorp. The second part is a bit tougher. There is simply no way to write those g’s. The Afrikaans g sounds more like a man trying to get a pubic hair out of his throat than a letter. It sounds like a garbage disposal. So you end up with “core” (said rather abruptly) “ggghhh” (just try to hack up some phlegm- you’ll be on the right track) “el” “mun” “dur”. Like most Afrikaans names, it’s not easy for the uninitiated, but is deeply satisfying to say.

While everything else may be hunting them down, people round here tend to leave Bloukops alone. For some reason, everyone thinks they’re poisonous. They’re not. Those are not warning colours. Those are stupid colours. (Information Source)

Full Description on the Dragon Lizard - TrekNature

joanstewart

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