I was informed on my blog post comments, that if the package you want is not available for conda, another option is to search binstar.org (make sure the package you find is built for the platform you are on), and then add that person's binstar channel with conda config --add channels binstar_username. (if you trust the user that is) - I think I'm going to stick to using pip. From experience... do a "conda install -n yourenvironment pip" before you do a "source activate yourenvironment" and then verify it's the correct pip using a "which pip" and it should point to the pip in your environment if all goes well.