Hi, Ian-
Glad it got sorted.
I'll just note that using conda/miniconda to make a local environment (I use this to manage Python on my own systems) is useful, modular and doesn't require sudo/admin privileges. There are other ways to go, certainly, and it sounds like you are set, but I note this for anyone with similar constraints reading this thread. Here are notes about using miniconda specifically, with recipes for AFNI dependencies:
https://afni.nimh.nih.gov/pub/dist/doc/htmldoc/background_install/miniconda.html
--pt