Armed Islamists, most of them in the hilly Berber region of Kabylie, have become bolder.
After the final dinner, we gathered around a campfire to listen to drumming and singing by professional Berber musicians.
Setting up an elaborate Berber camp in the July heat each day looked like hard work but Bobo laughed it off: "We are used to the desert.
Rooms from £41 (riadbamboo.com) Riad Dar Zaman This 18th-century riad in the old town has been refurbished as a four-room guesthouse with African artworks and soft Berber rugs.
In January and February guests can swap their wetsuits for skis and head to Oukmedian for a couple of days' skiing, staying at a Berber mountain chalet.
It's taken a starring role in Gladiator, Rules of Engagement, Alexander and Babel The kasbahs, Berber villages and otherworldly sandscapes are the key draw.
We had spent just one night there, watching the sun drift behind the peak of Mount Toubkal from the roof of our Berber guesthouse, Douar Samra, eating supper cross-legged around a big table, and retiring to our tiny stone room to find a fire in the grate.
Known as 'little Marrakesh', its winding streets teem with life on Thursdays and Saturdays when people from the mountains come to town for the bustling Berber market.
On the five-day trip, you'll stay in the Berber village of Ouirgane in the foothills of the High Atlas to sample the Berbers' simple way of life, virtually unchanged for centuries, with farmers tending their orchards and fields, and goatherds watching over their charges in the hills.
Built in traditional Berber style, with 360-degree views over the Atlas and traditional villages below, there will be 15 rooms and suites, with a further 16 rooms, a second infinity pool and luxury spa opening in 2009/10.
Getting to Ourika from the city took an hour by taxi (though it's just 35km from Marrakech's airport), along bumpy mountain roads and through Berber villages.
