The Palms Trees of Cocora

Given the fact that Cocora Valley is both high up (about 2300m) and hundreds of miles from the ocean, the existence of these famous wax palms doesn't make a lot of scientific sense.  Nowhere else in the world do palm trees grow at such a high altitude, to say nothing of their incredible, largely unnecessary, height.  The best explanation I've received is that this area, long long ago, used to be a sea-level jungle.  Over millions of years the mountains and hill raised and much of that sea-level jungle vegetation was replaced by competing fauna.  However, these durable palm trees survived and are still evolutionary predisposed to 'thinking' they need to compete for sunlight in a jungle environment, i.e. grow very tall.  That kind of height is no longer required for survival, obviously, but it does result in a surreal landscape.  You'll be walking along an empty field only to encounter a lone, 180 foot tall palm tree, surrounded by nothing but grass for hundreds of yards in any direction - quite a sight!