I just got back from living in Kenya this past semester. As a whole, it is quite safe if you are smart about where you go. You'll pay more than everyone else for nearly everything based solely on your skin color, but it's not all bad. Mombassa is an ok city, but if you travel up or down the beach a ways, the atmosphere is much more relaxed. Malindi, Watamu and Kilifi are all wonderful places to the north (although I know Kilifi was hit by the flooding in November, so the situation might not be so great there). Besides that, if you can get up to Lamu for a couple days, that is always a rich cultural experience. Nairobi has quite a few swank clubs as well as down to earth Swahili restaurants. If you're looking to go all out, go to the Carnivore (in Karen) which has been ranked in the top 50 restaurants in the world several times. As a first timer, you should take a cab most anywhere at night in Nairobi, and stay west of River Road. Things get shady pretty quickly on that side of town (One of my classmates got her necklace stolen and in yelling out "thief" got the kid who stole it beat to death with 2x4s). Nairobi as a whole though is reasonably safe (more dangerous I’ve heard than Johannesburg, but as long as you’re not wearing shorts and playing with your camera you’ll be fine). Outside of the coast and the major cities, there are tons of national parks you can go explore. Mount Kenya has some great routes as does Mt. Elgon in Western Kenya. You can also go to some of the game parks like Masai Mara, but honestly, the road there is pretty shitty and looking at animals in the back of a dusty jeep all day can get old. A great alternative is to go Lake Nakuru (smaller that Masai Mara, but has all the basic animals) or, better yet, to Hell’s Gate National park just outside of Naivasha. You can rent bikes (rather decrepit but they do the trick) and bike through the park. There aren’t the wide selection of animals (mainly just zebras, cape buffalo, giraffes, antelope) but you really get to experience it much more when there is nothing between you and them. Additionally, there are some great sandstone gorges there that you can hike through (and apparently where they filmed Tomb Raider) and you can camp in the park for a nominal fee. Unfortunately, Eldoret isn’t really all it cracked up to be. It is basically a service town, although you can get a tour of the cheese factory there if you go on a weekday (which is a pretty big deal). As mentioned, Iten is small. I only made it there for a morning, but when you go, be sure to head up to Kamariny Stadium (very cool). Lornah Kiplagat’s training camp is just outside of town and they have some amazing facilities there. Also, if you’re up around Iten, check out Thompson’s Falls in Nyahururu. There are some stairs carved out of the rocks going down to the falls, and if you get there in the morning you can do workouts with the local athletes. Kakamega forest is also beautiful (the sunrise on buyangu hill is phenomenal and should be taken in if at all possible). Traveling much further north than Iten can be dangerous and usually people travel in convoys. That being said, if you get the chance to go to Maralal to see the world’s view, you won’t be sorry you took the risk. As far as travel, you can rent vehicles, but it’s much cheaper to go by matatu. Really that principle goes for your entire experience in Kenya. It is easy to ride posh and charter vehicles around, eat and nice restaurants, sleep in hotels for the most part. If you get off the beaten path a little though, the experience is much different. Hope that helps.
-Ryan