Plenty of people have climbed Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro. But not many of them were blind. Sam Atwood and Craig Kiser are, and are setting out next week to climb the African peak, their latest climbing escapade.

It’s interesting how you approach climbing without the benefit of sight:

For sighted climbers, going down a mountain is usually easier than going up. The opposite is true for blind climbers, Kiser says. “When you’re going up, you can put your foot up and try several rocks. When you’re going down, you put your foot down and you’re committed.”

I also liked this anecdote:

Dealing with bias and misconceptions is part of their job. “It’s less about prejudice than about people loving us to death, thinking we can’t do anything for ourselves,” Kiser says.

“I was having dinner in a restaurant once with my wife, and the waiter says to her, “Is he b-l-i-n-d?’

“And my wife says, “Yes, but he’s not s-t-u-p-i-d.’ “

Atwood and Kiser plan to chronicle their trek, via podcasts (I’d rather they type it out, but I’m sure conditions may call for different means), on a State of Florida Department of Blind Services-hosted webpage.