Translation of republican in German

Thank you for correcting my German, I always get confused with the words that put the verb at the end. Like the zu and the ab and the an... All new to me. I truly wish to continue our friendship.
First we got some lunch which was the first normal experience on that day. Then we were told to take a boat. A fisherman and his young daughter were rowing and we continued on the river.
The next day we decided to spend on the other side of the mountain range (antiplano), in Bolivia. We didn't have the courage to drive deep into Bolivia, as everyone told us about the bad infrastructure and condition there.