When you visit Gede Ruins during your historical beach tour of Watamu, you are taken back to a 12th-century Swahili settlement that served as a model of other townships along the coast of East Africa. Evidence shows that portions of the original settlement were rebuilt during the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of an increasing population from surrounding coastal villages and towns.

The mosques, palaces, houses and other structures demonstrate the abundant growth of wealth that was enjoyed by the townspeople until the 15th century, and the mystery of the Gede lies in the ultimate abandonment of the fruitful and thriving town two centuries later.

Studies of the ruins have revealed many factors that may have motivated the people of Gedi to leave behind the idyllic setting of the beautiful rural metropolis that was built within an ancient forest, such as the 1589 raids of the Wazimba along the coast of East Africa, the eventual demise of the Sheikh of Malindi and Portuguese loss of Mombasa in 1593 and the ever-present threat of a raid by the Galla tribes people of Somalia.