On top of the world after Kilimanjaro

When Wrentham resident Pam Musk says ''Nimependa wanyama siku wote," she means it from the bottom of her heart.

''I've always loved wildlife," Musk repeats, in English.

The director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Stony Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Norfolk, Musk learned Swahili in 1983 while doing a semester in Nairobi through St. Lawrence University. She became even more proficient during a 1985 through '87 tour with the Peace Corps in Kenya. Swahili came in handy nine months ago, when Musk returned to Africa to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, Musk taught high school biology, physics, home economics, agriculture, and English, and coached soccer. ''It was the most rewarding experience of my career," she said.

Teaching began early for Musk, 41, who spent her teenage summers as an assistant nature counselor at a day camp in Connecticut, where she grew up.

''My father was a Scout leader," she said. ''I think some of this comes from wanting to have a connection to him. I was 18 months old when my parents died in a car accident."

Musk and her siblings were raised by their grandparents with help from their extended Italian family. ''Everybody just kind of chipped in."

Musk, in turn, cared for her grandmother after college and her stint in the Peace Corps. She taught high school while earning a degree in environmental studies. She came to Stony Brook eight years ago and has been director the last six.

Musk's duties include raising funds, making speeches, managing the property, and occasionally chasing chipmunks out of the nature center building.

Her talent at shooing chipmunks aside, she has learned that although she may be the boss, the animals are really in charge. Musk recalled a nature walk for sanctuary donors led by famed ornithologist Wayne Petersen three years ago.

As some 20 people paraded along a boardwalk over a pond, ''a mink appeared running toward us with a duckling in its mouth," she said. ''We all froze, assuming that the mink would take a turn or jump into the pond. Instead, she headed straight for us. Apparently getting the duckling to its waiting young was more important than the crowd of people in the way."

Like the mink, Musk is resolute, a key trait if one is going to conquer 19,334-foot Mount Kilimanjaro. It was 6 1/2 days up and 2 1/2 days down.

''It took 29 people to get four of us up that mountain," said Musk, explaining that the Tanzanian government requires climbers to hire porters. The party included guides, cooks, and bearers who carried tents, food, gear, and even a chemical toilet. ''After a day of hiking, we'd walk into the mess tent and there would be fruit and vegetables, coffee, tea, and popcorn."

Each person in the group was assigned a guide in case someone had to turn back. ''At about 15,000 feet [one woman] had trouble with pounding headaches, disorientation, and nausea. The guides made the decision for her to go down."

Musk always knew what was happening. ''When the guides were having a conversation about us, what was going to happen, or [expressing a concern] I could understand."

Musk exercised on a treadmill and an elliptical trainer daily for 10 months before the climb, but knew even that would be no guarantee.

''The person who's in the best shape of your group could be the one who can't handle the altitude," she said. ''We took the longest route because we wanted to give our bodies a chance to acclimatize."

The additional time also gave the group of naturalists more time to survey the landscape, which varies from tropical rainforest at the base to snowcapped peak.

Musk said she really has no grand desire to scale another mountain. ''After having done this, why would anyone want to go higher?"

Pam Musk will give a lecture and slide show of her journey to Kilimanjaro on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. following the Metacomet Land Trust annual membership meeting. It will be held at the Wrentham Senior Center, 400 Taunton St. For more information on the presentation, call the Metacomet Land Trust at 1-888-298-7284.

THE DAILY GRIND -- Peter Meyer grew up expecting to be a lawyer like his uncle, mother, and stepfather; he was a member of his New York City high school's mock trial team and was a prelaw student at Brandeis University in Waltham. But after hearing a guest lecturer tell students that while his specialty was the Supreme Court, he spent 95 percent of his time on tax and real estate law, Meyer changed his mind.

He decided he preferred people to paperwork.

With Lincoln Street Coffee, an upscale coffeehouse near his home in Newton Highlands, Meyer is realizing a dream he and his wife, physician Larissa Nekhlyudov, have talked about since their college days.

''I like doing things for other people," said the 36-year-old, reflecting on his 15 years in the hospitality industry. ''The biggest part about running great service is not the chandeliers or the carpets, it's about doing little things for guests that they don't expect . . . remembering that the last time they were in they liked a particular dressing for their salad or how much foam they like in their cappuccino."

During his senior year at Brandeis, Meyer worked as a valet at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston. ''I was paid well, made great tips, and met really cool people. It turned me on to a different kind of career."

He was quickly promoted to reservations, and upon graduating in 1991 moved to Los Angeles to help open the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Ray. ''Michael Jordan and the Bulls would stay there; I spoke with Madonna a few times," Meyer said. ''Little Richard would come into the hotel lobby and play piano."

Soon after, he was promoted into management at the Ritz Palm Springs, one hotel among nine across the country that taught him to think on his feet and recognize the details that keep the hospitality industry humming.

Meyer recalled one evening when a prominent family had their son's bar mitzvah: ''A new chef didn't realize the challah had to be sliced out in the dining room, after the blessing, and had cut it into 100 pieces. We wound up putting little toothpicks between the slices so the challah could be wheeled out looking whole."

Lincoln Street Coffee, which opened eight months ago, is furnished with large upholstered couches and oversized chairs, creating a living room atmosphere. Rotating exhibits by local artists decorate the walls. Free wireless Internet draws an equal number of web surfers and business types. Sandwiches, soup, and many baked goods are made daily in-house.

Typically, the buzz is low and the recorded background music atmospheric, not overpowering. Friday nights from 8 to 10, Lincoln Street Coffee hosts live folk and jazz.

''This coffeehouse is meant for people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and above who haven't had a place of their own," said Meyer.

Folk acoustic guitarist Casey Abrams performs Friday night at Lincoln Street Coffee, 15 Lincoln St. in Newton Highlands.

AROUND TOWN -- David Gusella of Framingham and Thomas Repetti of Dover took second place at the Roxbury Latin School Debate Tournament last month. There were 32 teams competing. Both are seniors at St. Sebastian's School in Needham. . . . The Northborough Junior Women's Club recently held its Women in Science & Math Conference, created to spur middle school girls toward careers in those fields. Judy Cradler modeled the event after one she had taken part in while in college. Junior Women's Club education chairwoman Laurie Middleton said the 72 students heard presentations ranging from genetic research to veterinary medicine. . . . The Greater Boston Food Bank named Land's Sake Farm in Weston, managed by Mike Raymond of Waltham, as the Second Helping Donor of the Year for providing 22,000 pounds of fresh produce.

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