As the CEO of Tully Luxury Travel, which she founded over three decades ago, Mary Jean Tully has forged a jet-setting career dedicated to crafting bespoke experiences around the world — from once-in-a-lifetime expeditions to one-night staycations for tired parents. With over 120 countries ticked off her list, ‘well-traveled’ is a serious understatement when it comes to Tully.
But then, with virtually the whole globe at her fingertips, where does Tully find herself returning, time after time? “To Africa — on safari,” she tells me via call from Toronto, where, when she’s not off gallivanting, she lives with her husband. “I typically go twice a year, but I’ve been up to four times a year — I’ve been on so, so many safaris but, if I found out today I only had one trip left, it would be to Africa. “
A safari trip is unique, it’s special and it touches your soul. It’s like nothing else,” she says. “It’s on most people’s bucket list, but even if it’s not on their bucket list, if they’ve gone, they come back and say it was one of the best trips of their life and want to go again.”
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What truly enchants Tully about safari is the sense of total immersion — and a disconnect from the trials of life back home. “It’s the one place where you don’t want to sit there and have your phone,” she says. “You’re not going to be texting your friends, you’re so caught up in the moment.” The safari even puts the infamous trope of ‘iPad kid’ to bed: “I can’t tell you how many parents and grandparents I speak to who are sick to death of the kids being on their phones and iPads — [safaris] are something that, as a family unit, you see together, you learn together.”
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the raw purity of a safari vacation would have city-dwelling Tully roughing it; au contraire — the bush and all of its inhabitants have the pleasure of seeing her in full glam. “I’m a very girly girl,” she tells me with a giggle. “I’ve never camped a day in my life — I’m not a roughing-it kind of person at all. In fact, I wear full makeup when I’m on safari. And I always wear a sundress… I have clients say they’re worried about the bugs or they don’t like camping, and I say: ‘Really?! Look at me! Do you think I do [either]?! No way!’”
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To this end, luxury remains a priority to Tully — even out in the bush. “I want a nice duvet, I want a nice pillow, I want nice towels. I want an indoor and an outdoor shower — I don’t want a bucket shower. Some people do want that, but it’s not me. I want a plunge pool, too. Nothing beats coming back to your room after a morning game drive and getting in your private pool… there are so many little extra touches that make it more special.”
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On safari, luxury takes on different guises, too; it’s not all about amenities. One of Tully’s top tips (and something she always recommends to clients) is to prioritize staying at a safari camp in a private concession (meaning access is limited to guests staying at camps within the boundaries) for the best viewings, if budget allows. “You don’t want to go somewhere where there are 15 other vehicles at every sighting and you have to move on — I want to be able to sit for as long as I want,” she says. “A first-timer might not know the difference to begin with, but once you’ve been, you do.”
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While Tully has been on safari upward of 50 times, there is one camp that continually calls her back: Wilderness Mombo. Primely located in the heart of Botswana’s wild, thriving Okavango Delta — where a rich ecosystem is home to a myriad of species including giraffes, lions, crocodiles, rhinos and baboons — Wilderness’s flagship camp is elevated from the ground, with nine tented suites sitting atop stilts. It’s widely regarded as one of the best wildlife-watching destinations on the continent: “You’ve got everything right there and, because of the location, the game viewing is [amazing],” Tully says. “And the people, they just understand it — they’re some of the best guides in the world… I just love it so much. I’ve been around 40 or 50 times and people say, ‘You’ve been so much!’ But no two times are the same.”
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Tully’s love of Wilderness Mombo goes much deeper than the average favorite hotel relationship: “I don’t have children, but my husband and I built the bridge that goes over the delta into Mombo, and that is my legacy,” she tells me gravely. “It is in my will that when I die, my ashes will be spread at Mombo.”
The emotional impact of safaris on Tully caused her to become a longtime supporter of conservation efforts. “I remember sitting there on my very first safari and hearing stories of elephants being poached for ivory… and you think, ‘Oh my God, what? How can I make a difference? What is it that I could do?’ Being in Africa makes you look at things through a different set of eyes.”
“I own a travel business and I have a voice that people listen to — there is a responsibility,” she says. To this end, Tully, and by default Tully Luxury Travel, is committed to encouraging responsible tourism. “Africa is a place where you have to be careful — I don’t mean from a danger standpoint. You want to go somewhere where they are ethical, sustainable, care about conservation and give back to the animals,” she explains. “And I’ve never had a client come back from a safari and be disappointed.”
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This article appears in the 27 Aug 2024 issue of the New Statesman, Fall 2024
